the cost of losing sponsorship for a "pro"

[Robrider]

How many okes go out and spent R50k on new rugby gear for themselves, then some more for their wives and then again for their kids?

 

The correct question is how many people shop at Mr Price, fly on Emirates, courier using DHL, etc. Its not about buying rugby gear, but supporting the sponsors that hundreds of thousands of people watch on tv every single weekend.

[Butterbean]

Lets see, rugby players have SARU, SA rugby, Players Representation, Sports Agencies and local rugby unions. Cyclists have CSA and perhaps a token provincial setup. How many Saffas watch rugby from 3pm till 9pm on a Saturday? How many spectators were there at this years Epic finish compared to last years Currie Cup Final? Apples and donkeypooh if you ask me...

I like this.

 

However, I think events are to blame. Why was coverage of the epic limited to half hour highlight spots? Why not full live coverage like ASO can provide? Ad that goes for all of the other national events. It's a big waste if you ask me.

[Rider3000]

I Think cycling is tooo "small" in this country... if you ask me its largely to do with no respect from motorists...(as we dont belong on the roads etc.) if you ask the average motorist...sickens me!

 

Ones cycling gets bigger the funds will flow... we need to bring this into schools... proper system with proper racing from juniors then when we get "respect" and more people cycle it will "attract" more funds. Like rugby... theres no shortage on cash!!

 

Just my 2cents

[nonky]

you get 25 000 spending R100 each every Saturday for a home game at Newlands. Not the same numbers in Joburg (hence them having worker boots as a sponsor). Will you buy a bike because some dude who behaves like a 6 year old off the bike rides that bike, or are you more likely to buy a bike that brought a good local race to you and your wife to enjoy together? You have every daily and Sunday Newspaper reporting indepth on each rugby game. Cape Times pulled their Epic Column halfway through stage 1 of the race. A successful Stormers franchise will also "sell" a few Discoveries and a successful Bulls franchise will "sell" a few Isuzu's. With an estimated 3 000 000 local rugby supporters watching at least 2 of the 5 Super Rugby games over a normal weekend you see that sponsor's kit for much longer than watching a local mtb race highlight package at 11pm on SuperSport 9 on a Monday night. If our Rugby players feel hard done by with contracts, they can play in Japan or Europe for competitive teams, our "pro's" that have tried to race on the European circuit usually end in the second half of the field, Burry being the obvious exception. Cycling is a very popular family activity, but consider how many school kids play rugby compared to taking part in cycling events.

4-man cycling team (as per above comment) costs R500k per annum - that's the cost of so-so player contracted to a largish franchise, so the costs aren't remotely in the same league.

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Tour of Flanders was shown in full and live on Supersport over the weekend, so there must be an audience.

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New bike stores look like car dealerships - someone must be supporting them.

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All the multi-day stage races are sold out months in advance.

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What I'm getting at it that there's a lot of money bloating about in cycling, yet SA cannot support a very well-known pro team like Cannondale Blend? 

[GLuvsMtb]

I like this.

 

However, I think events are to blame. Why was coverage of the epic limited to half hour highlight spots? Why not full live coverage like ASO can provide? Ad that goes for all of the other national events. It's a big waste if you ask me.

 

That is a fred on its own. Cost of logistics is one aspect. Consider a live broadcast for 2 days from Elgin vs every second Saturday from Newlands with all the infrastructure in place.

I am sure we will see live Epic broadcasts in the future, but then the event will be limited to a few areas with the infrastructure to cope with this. 

A fairer comparison is Rugby vs Netball. Both turned pro world wide at around the same time, but Rugby had a better base to grow its commercial arm from and they did a much better job in marketing themselves. Here SARU and SA Rugby were key. Netball SA is almost as useless as CSA, and much of the problems in getting the pro's earning a decent living spouts from CSA's inability to market the sport to a wider audience. Blaming the corporates for this is like blaming Jan van Riebeeck because we now have blackouts. 

[RocknRolla]

I recall a conversation with a bikeshop owner regarding sponsorship of riders.

He is of the opinion that it is the job of the team to be visible at races, not for the couple of hours it takes to complete a marathon or ultra marathon, but to finish the race and even after prize giving, mingle with the other riders, and essentially do PR.

 

We as cyclists all love talking about equipment, and if a pro choones you how awesome the electric shifting is and how little problems he had in the mud, it will sell group sets a whole lot faster than reading a magazine review? Perhaps not? Once again - how do you measure this in terms of sales?

 

I donnuw hey, I think our sport is small fish in a huge pond consisting mainly of Rugby, Cricket and Soccer Fish.

 

 

[GLuvsMtb]

4-man cycling team (as per above comment) costs R500k per annum - that's the cost of so-so player contracted to a largish franchise, so the costs aren't remotely in the same league.

.

Tour of Flanders was shown in full and live on Supersport over the weekend, so there must be an audience.

.

New bike stores look like car dealerships - someone must be supporting them.

.

All the multi-day stage races are sold out months in advance.

.

What I'm getting at it that there's a lot of money bloating about in cycling, yet SA cannot support a very well-known pro team like Cannondale Blend? 

Don't look at the corporates here. Look at CSA and how they have failed to market the sport to a wider audience. How many SA riders were in the Tour of Flanders? How much TV time did they get? I was in the Cederberg, so I did not watch the coverage. My guess is that MTN sponsored the broadcast at least. 

If we sell a million yo-yo's in SA a year, does that mean that ABSA will want to pay to put their badge on one? Does that justify a pro yo-yo team that will take part in the world yo-yo champs? 

[101SCC]

Mass spectator sports vs small (in SA) spectator following for cycling?

 

I think it is a global problem (Not just SA), not sure teams get TV Rights for Paris Roubaix either.

I think the UCI needs to step up the fight,

 

Most spectator friendly sport. Free viewing!

 

No Stadiums etc, guys were paying $100 to watch the Fight this weekend potentially only 45 min on Pay per View.

 

We all watched 6 hours of Tour of Flanders on DSTV

[HappyMartin]

It's about spectators and spectator appeal really

 

Marathon MTB is dead boring to watch in its current format. Sorry but there it is. I also think the two man format of the Epic, which I haven't done, and Berg and Bush, which I have, is a dead end. You get pretty arbitrary teams that don't often have continuity. Who cares about it.

 

Perhaps if that drone thing people were talking about happens it will be a bit more exciting.

 

Now XC is a whole other animal. That has real spectator appeal and no daft two man team thing going on. If that's what our MTB pros were doing and if that was being broadcast we would see more spectators and more money in the sport.

 

I had had money to sponsor cycling I wouldn't go near marathon riders. Mass participation OK. I see a return there. You can say I am wrong but the money flows tell you that the marketers agree with me.

[Skubarra]

It's about spectators and spectator appeal really

 

Marathon MTB is dead boring to watch in its current format.

 

Agree 100%. Love mtb'ing, watching it on tv? Can't be bothered.

[Shebeen]

Comparing cycling sponsorship with rugby is just silly. 

 

john smit chasing an oval ball on tv - supersport pay a crapload to broadcast this and charge a premium on subscriptions AND adverts whilst it's on.

 

john smit competes in a mtb race (ok not epic). The mtb race highlights will be on SS7 late on a random night, and the RACE/sponsor will pay supersport to broadcast it.

[nonky]

Comparing cycling sponsorship with rugby is just silly. 

 

john smit chasing an oval ball on tv - supersport pay a crapload to broadcast this and charge a premium on subscriptions AND adverts whilst it's on.

 

john smit competes in a mtb race (ok not epic). The mtb race highlights will be on SS7 late on a random night, and the RACE/sponsor will pay supersport to broadcast it.

They said the same about local soccer until Supersport paid a billion rand for the rights...

[GLuvsMtb]

They said the same about local soccer until Supersport paid a billion rand for the rights...

Local Soccer has a 30 million following in SA. SA cycling perhaps 300 000. Even if you double the cycling following by pumping huge sums of cash in the ROI will still be very unattractive.

[Paddaman]

An interesting idea to pursue is the concept of branding.  A lot of "teams" in soccer, rugby ext are actually clubs that maintain "pro teams" for visibility purposes.  The club is the brand.  So as a club you have club members, supporters club, merchandise and a large social footprint.  Sponsors engage with the club to access this large social footprint, in the hope that the supporters and members will use them as a way of proving loyalty to the club brand.

 

So if we take this into cycling, Speke Cycling Club, Centurion Cycling Club, ext can be seen as possible "brands".  When these clubs are able to "put" a team on the podium and gain visibility for the club, its members and its supporters,  then two income streams are opened, one selling club merchandise and the other accessing sponsor dollars.  If the club has a strong development plan, then they can develop further riders in their stable, thus increasing its support from members and sponsors.  The virtuous cycle begins....

[RocknRolla]

So what do we want to see?

 

Better marathon broadcast packages?

XCO coverage?

DHI Coverage?

Road coverage?

Track Coverage?

 

In what format?

 

TV?

Live streaming?

Live commentary?

 

 

We are straying from the original question of how a "pro" is affected by losing a sponsorship.

 

My thinking is that cycling market structure is not condusive to having full time employed professional cyclists in South africa.

 

The XCO scene regionally is a shambles (Gauteng)

The XCM scene is saturated, and personally i cannot watch a marathon highlights package. it never does any justice, and if you want the best report of how a marathon was, go and ride it, there is more choice available than a $2 buffet and it has been made extremely accessible in SA

I have been to a couple of DHI and XCO events and I must say the enjoyment value of spectating these events are the best. Unfortunatley we all know Gauteng is seriously lacking in the DHI track department, so getting to spectate is becoming an expensive excersise (for me anyways)

 

So one has to look at the revenue structure of cycling in General to be able to see how to market a team of pro's successfully. Perhaps waiting for a big corporate to pour in large chunks of cash is not the way to go, as it's not sustainable for them. Perhaps sponsors are wary for their name getting unwanted publicity because some self righteos "pro" is caught with the needle in his/her arm...or in a dark corner rubbing cream on the soles of their feet...

 

The turnover of main sponsors for a cycling team must not be something new or disasterous, because to think that the current goose with the golden eggs is going to be there forever is short sighted. Team needs to do serious marketing of themselves, and when required of the sponsor's product. Driving t a race in a team bus, racing, and leaving as soon as the prizegiving and interviews are gone, in my mind (as stated earlier) is not on. Visiblity, accessibility and networking is very important to grow the sport, as well as their revenue stream.

 

 

 

[Shebeen]

They said the same about local soccer until Supersport paid a billion rand for the rights...

no they didn't, Supersport just saw way more value in the product that SABC just assumed they would always own. Once again, that's apples and bananas, you been smoking these?

 

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