What's the point of cycling teams?

[Christian]

I think most cycling sponsors are idealists or cycling-nuts because it is difficult to determine any concrete commercial gain from the sponsorship.

Personally I chose Bouygues as my mobile provider and rented a car with Europcar. FDJ makes sense as well since they mainly do sports gambling. I thought Columbia was a pretty good idea because they make outdoor clothing.

But as others have said before Liquigas, Phonak, Quick Step, Agritubel, Silence, Omega Pharma, that Iranian Petrochemical sponsor ... probably get nothing out of it, compared to what they invest.

That's why IMO it doesn't matter in most cases whether it's a commercial sponsor or a conglommerate such as Katusha or Astana, or a billionaire such as Leopard.

Then you also have sponsors such as Skoda who provide cars for many European races, I wonder how many people have bought a Skoda because of that

 

[Greenflame]

Could write a very long essay about the uses of marketing, since I've studied it quite a bit, but I'll limit it a bit

Often, for a company, it's not as much the hope people will directly buy more of their products when that drives their marketing campaigns. Of course, there are plenty of moments when this is the case, for instance when a new product is launched. The campaigns over those are often TV/radio/newspaper campaigns though, not sports sponsorship.

One of the most important reasons for a sponsorship is simply the exposure of the name to the audience. A well known name is almost always good for sales. For example, if you go into the supermarket and see two brands of, let's say, soap. One is from a brand that has a bad name, you know it doesn't work great. The other you have never heard of. Almost all consumers in this case will buy the brand with the bad name, simply because they recognize the name.

A sport sponsorship is a way to achieve this (the well-known brand name, not the bad reputation.. Well, mostly anyway). If you get offered two vacations, by the looks of their advertising folders they look about the same, but one is from Vacansoleil while you don't know the other brand. You'll almost certainly go with the Vacansoleil one, because you know the name. Same thing if you're buying floors: a Quickstep floor has preference over one from some unknown brand, simply because you know it.

People always say that this kind of thing doesn't work for them, especially in larger things such as picking a bank or gas provider. For Rabobank though, sports sponsorships make perfect sense. They sponsor about all sports in the Netherlands, barring football (soccer). Why do they do this? It's not like people take a mortgage at Rabo because they sponsor a cycling team, right? That's exactly the thing: people do. Humans are not nearly as rational as we like to think. Rabobank has spent years (and millions of euros) on building a reputation of being 'different', 'caring', etc. People do notice and often like that. And despite what we like to think, all scientific research done on the subject points towards the same conclusion: it works.

Now, I don't know enough about Liquigas for instance to decide what their motivation for sponsoring a team is, but I imagine it's similar to Rabobank. Astana builds a name for their home nation, especially it's capitol city. Same with many of the local Spanish teams.

This post has grown a bit longer than I had planned, so I'll leave it at this Hope this helps someone in understanding it.

 

[dancing on pedals]

Could write a very long essay about the uses of marketing, since I've studied it quite a bit, but I'll limit it a bit

Now, I don't know enough about Liquigas for instance to decide what their motivation for sponsoring a team is, but I imagine it's similar to Rabobank. Astana builds a name for their home nation, especially it's capitol city. Same with many of the local Spanish teams.

good post - you are right - Liquigas motivation is entirely the same as Rabobanks. Indeed their sponsorship exceeds just having a team with the off road Liquigas Cup, sponsorship of the top national parks for Italian cycling activities, support to youth teams, to the creation of a cycling school for boys, run with support of athletes and staff of the professional team, the Liquigas Camp.
It all helps their image as a caring, socially committed gas supplier.
thanks

 

[Elko66]

I'm sure liquigas would still disconnect your supply if you didn't pay the bill though!

 

[la.margna]

why do we always think bottom line and $$$? isn't it cool that some people spend money on a team just because they like cycling?

 

[The Hitch]

I see a lot of examples of how the big teams are succesful. But what about small teams. I mean for every one company sponsoring a tdf team there are 10 which sponsor smaller teams. What about teams who ride local races in countries whose tours arent even covered by cn. Local american teams. They surely spend hundreds of thousands on salaries too, and their races arent on tv, people dont know the riders, dont know the teams. The only time they get seen is when they pass people on the steet at 40kmph.

I can see why the bigger teams might get exposure but what about these teams. How does it benefit them.

I guess Womans cycling too, though WS did say he worked for a company that sponsored them and it worked out. Somehow, i just dont get how.

@Parulo. that agr example, if true is very good to hear.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

They surely spend hundreds of thousands on salaries too, and their races arent on tv, people dont know the riders, dont know the teams.

Hundreds of thousands? On salaries? In Conti Teams? Are you kidding?

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

@Parulo. that agr example, if true is very good to hear.

Ag2r also did a study of some kind in the last couple of years into the value of sponsoring a cycling team.

If I recall correctly, they came to the conclusion that the amount of coverage their name gets, in France alone, during the Tour alone, would cost them a significant multiple of their annual sponsorship money if they paid for it through more conventional means of advertising.

And they they get added to that whatever TV and press coverage comes from every other race. And as an extra bonus, they get a bunch of billboards on wheels passing through nearly every town in France in the smaller domestic races.

I don't think (please correct me if I'm wrong) that Ag2r operates outside of France, so the coverage their name gets internationally is less relevant to them than it might be for a company which does business internationally.

 

[The Hitch]

Hundreds of thousands? On salaries? In Conti Teams? Are you kidding?

Well minimum wage is what £20 grand a year. even if you only got 15 riders, thats in the hundreds of thousands. Or do they get payed less or what?

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Well minimum wage is what £20 grand a year. even if you only got 15 riders, thats in the hundreds of thousands. Or do they get payed less or what?

As I understand it, most Conti riders aren't full time employees of their teams and are not earning anything close to 20 grand a year in salary.

 

[dancing on pedals]

As I understand it, most Conti riders aren't full time employees of their teams and are not earning anything close to 20 grand a year in salary.

thats how i understand it tooThere is no minimum wage for riders on Continental teams and below - a lot of "pro's" at this level are riding for expenses and hopefully prize money so I dont think they will be spending "hundreds of thousands".
Taking the argument right down to an individual level - I was out a couple of weeks ago and came across a cyclist sponsored by a commercial lawyer. When i asked him about the club he said "no i am the lawyer - i just got these made up for me to ride in - had to order ten but i got 5 winter and 5 summer jersey's cost me about £400 - paid for themselves in a couple of months I had a phone call from someone who had taken the number off my shirt and has given me a lot of business since".
Advertising at whatever level does work. Why would anyone buy Heinz tomato sauce?. In this article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...d-Heinz-ketchup-comes-BOTTOM-taste-tests.html it came 12th out of 13 in taste tests yet it will outsell all the other brands put together because of advertising.
In terms of reward with a very small advertising budget my lawyer cyclist friend not only generated business but also got himself 10 unique design jerseys as a bonus.
The same will be true of many of the smaller sponsors.
I think AG2R la Mondaile do operate in other nations (thats the Mondaile division)
thanks

 

[Greenflame]

I see a lot of examples of how the big teams are succesful. But what about small teams. I mean for every one company sponsoring a tdf team there are 10 which sponsor smaller teams. What about teams who ride local races in countries whose tours arent even covered by cn. Local american teams. They surely spend hundreds of thousands on salaries too, and their races arent on tv, people dont know the riders, dont know the teams. The only time they get seen is when they pass people on the steet at 40kmph.

I can see why the bigger teams might get exposure but what about these teams. How does it benefit them.

I guess Womans cycling too, though WS did say he worked for a company that sponsored them and it worked out. Somehow, i just dont get how.

I do not know the technical details of the teams and why they are sponsored, just the general way this kind of marketing works. Sponsors for smaller teams generally have a different motivation from the 'conventional' major teams. The best way to find out why and how the minor teams are sponsored would be to just study the individual cases. While I have not done so and don't know much about the teams, I can speculate a bit.

I imagine that a large part of the money in those types of teams are from material sponsors. This is pretty self-explenatory. If you sell bikes, where else would you market yourself if not in bike racing? For a company like Trek, which produces thousands of bikes each year, giving away 20 bikes and perhaps a few grand to a small American team is a very small investment. That investment pays off in two ways: you promote your brand directly (since people reading the local newspaper will see a rider from Team X-Trek winning) and indirectly (riders from that team will advise their friends to buy Trek bikes), but you also promote the sport. And promotion of the sport means a bigger market. The more teams, races and exposure of bike racing, the more people will be motivated to buy a bike and race for themselves. This means a market for bikes, in which Trek already holds a major share, which can only grow by the exposure through the sponsored teams.

Besides those material sponsors, there's a variety of reasons companies could sponsor a team. The teams often have a very local character, which works two ways. On one hand the area the team is from is promoted (inter-)nationally, but on the other the companies sponsoring the team are promoted locally. A local cycling team will get a lot of attention in local newspapers or regional TV. If you're a company that sells stuff locally, it promotes your stores locally. Or if you're a industrial company that pollutes the environment, you could sure use some goodwill, and sponsoring a team is a lot cheaper than cleaning up your act. It builds a 'we care' image; "Look, we sponsor that nice local cycling team, we can't be that evil a company then right?"

This is a pretty pessimistic look on human nature so far, but there's another side. Especially in smaller teams it's often just a owner of a company that happens to like cycling and therefore decides to sponsor a team. Or perhaps the son/daughter of the owner rides a bike, and the team is sponsored if they give him/her a contract. Or a group of little companies gets together, all add in a few bucks and form a team, possibly to promote the city and draw in tourists.

Besides all this, especially in Europe governments are a major player. National governments want to promote sports, so they subsidize each bike team, major and minor ones. Local governments sponsor the teams both to increase tourism and to promote sports. National lotteries and similar organisations sponsor teams because that's basically the only reason they're allowed to exist.
I don't know how this all works in the US though, I imagine the governments there will be less likely to support cycling or any sport, but perhaps an American citizen can elaborate on that.

Again, this is all just speculation from my side. I can see plenty of reasons for companies to sponsor a bike team, even if it will never race in the Tour de France.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I see a lot of examples of how the big teams are succesful. But what about small teams. I mean for every one company sponsoring a tdf team there are 10 which sponsor smaller teams. What about teams who ride local races in countries whose tours arent even covered by cn. Local american teams. They surely spend hundreds of thousands on salaries too, and their races arent on tv, people dont know the riders, dont know the teams. The only time they get seen is when they pass people on the steet at 40kmph.

I can see why the bigger teams might get exposure but what about these teams. How does it benefit them.

I guess Womans cycling too, though WS did say he worked for a company that sponsored them and it worked out. Somehow, i just dont get how.

@Parulo. that agr example, if true is very good to hear.

Not a great deal of money in women's cycling, so doesn't cost too much. Certainly the sport tends to thank those who stand by it - the Giro Donne last year, one of the few televised events in the season, featured a stage finish that included several laps around the Pasta Zara company headquarters, as thanks for the company sponsoring the sport for many years.

In some scenes, various local councils and regional/state groups see it as a matter of local pride, similar to football teams and the like - most of the Portuguese teams are tied in to their area - Tavira, Loulé, Paredes, Maia, Cantanhede, Boavista, all have appeared in team names. Benfica obviously are tied to the multi-sport behemoth that is Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Quite often it comes down to just one or two times a year making it justifiable to cover the whole year - eg in Portugal the ratings of the Volta are enough to justify spending out on the whole season.

 

[robertocarlos]

As I understand it, most Conti riders aren't full time employees of their teams and are not earning anything close to 20 grand a year in salary.

every country is different and i will give the case of the us. most people that i know that are into cycling are the adventure yet conservative types that are more likely to own a house and be diy for home improvements. for this people we have quickstep flooring supplies. some of them are the totally outdoor type (garmin) and if they own a cycling gps they might like gadgets like android phones(htc). they are probaly bussiness people that need to be connected to their intranetwork (htc wimo7). If i want to buy a new cellophone i might just go to radio shack. some people that get into cycling do so because they need to loose weight and are inder medication that were pharma might ring a bell. italians are fmous for their wines and if i am watching il giro and hear about farnesse vini, i might want o search for that and buy a bottle, but colavitia wines might be easier to find in california. i am middle aged and in the market for a retirement fund plan that makes sense (rabbo bank rings a bell). there are others invoved with the cycling scene that i might just give a try. if i travel to europe i might rent a car (eropcar) that happens to be scandia. i had never heard about festina but i already have a movado and a rolex, and my next watch could be a festina watch. here in the u.s. it could mean a tax write off as well. and other companies like liquigas might have a presence in more that one country and in more than one form.

 

[dancing on pedals]

......other companies like liquigas might have a presence in more that one country and in more than one form.

thats correct, Liquigas are closely related to Primagaz ( France and Germany) and Calor Gas (UK Ireland) - in addition they also have connections with Poland and I believe in one Tour of Poland they rode in the local companies name with the permission of the UCI - they choose not to ride the TDF for example in Primagaz kit, but i think if the sponsor thought it was the best option they would be allowed to do so under UCI rules.
Incidentally, a lot of the points made seem to have been around individual potential purchases, but for a lot of companies involved it is the corporate business they are after. AG2R la Mondaile look after around 4 million french pensions and 800,000 insurance policies - they will be looking to woo big business in the grand tours and gain a higher public profile during the smaller races.
I would guess that sometimes big garmin contracts for airlines have been sealed with "well i'll see you in Paris with the team"- and no they dont have to be huge cycling fans to enjoy a day out in the corporate village - fine foods, wines , pretty girls, oh and there's a race on somewhere- and that is the same for all sports and all sponsors,but for certain businesses cycling makes a lot of sense. (80% of the Danish population watched the chicken recieve the yellow jersey - for instance)
thanks

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

ACF will be delighted to know that when my other half was complaining about my snoring a couple of years ago, the bottle of Silence leapt to my attention at the local pharmacy (but didn't stop my snoring). It would take a lot of nagging partners to have paid Cadel's wages though (I guess there are a lot of nagging partners).

 

[joe1265]

When Astana had Lance and Levi in the Tour of California and the Governator (Schwartzenegger) joined Levi on the podium, I was thinking "Jeez if some Minister of Interior or whatever for Kazahastan could follow up with an intro to Arnold, that could be worth tens-hundreds of Millions alone in trade".

That would seem like one reason for a govt backed team like Astana.

 

[nobilis]

and what about the amateur cyclists that wear the proteam kits and are moving billboards all over the world.

 

[Archibald]

And for teams like Androni which only make 1 gt a year anyway and have like 50 sponsors on their shirt. How many people are going to even see the sponsors written on the shoulder. Heck, the riders probably dont even see it themselves.

Androni is a major toy manufacturer in Italy, which is where the team gets most if its exposure? Makes sense for them to be sponsoring a local team, or are they looking to expand into the world market (if they haven't already)?

 

[The Hitch]

Androni is a major toy manufacturer in Italy, which is where the team gets most if its exposure? Makes sense for them to be sponsoring a local team, or are they looking to expand into the world market (if they haven't already)?

I was talking about all the little sponsors they have placed all over the jersey, rather than the main one - Androni.

 

[Archibald]

I was talking about all the little sponsors they have placed all over the jersey, rather than the main one - Androni.

sure.
how many are not local, or in a wider market?
sella italia, santini, kenda, but what about the rest?

 

[The_Z_man]

I thought sponsoring a cycling team is still one of the cheapest forms of sponsorships, with a pretty big exposure/dollar ratio. Where else could you drop a mere 10M and still get global exposure via TdF, the Giro and several classics?

I distinctly remember a news item saying that you can get a year of sponsoring a cycling team for the same price as a 1 min. ad on the Super Bowl. Not to be Americo-centric, but that's a good deal. The money you spend on sponsoring the team, turns into tons of ads, both on TV and in person. It really is a great marketing scheme.

From the same article, I remember it saying that Columbia wanted to get more market share in Europe, which is why they went into cycling. It was a realtively cheap and easy way to get the word out. I assume it's the same with Garmin.

I always do find it funny when I find out what some of these sponsors are. Since I'm on the other side of the pond, I don't know what many of them are, unless I look them up. I never new Vacansoleil was a chain of campgrounds, or that Androni Giocattoli made plastic toys.