All things Team Qhubeka NextHash

[OVERDRIVE]

On 10/18/2021 at 9:36 AM, Shebeen said:

surely there's something concrete going on behind the scenes. It was a while ago that riders were told they could go, and they have mostly been tjoepstil. looking at our guys alone, RJVR might get a ride somewhere, I'm not sure about where Nic Dlamini would go, I'd like to think he would get a decent chance somewhere 

 

contracted to 2022

[Andymann]

I see Doug is having a few Video interviews now - with different people appealing for Sponsors.  But he's also thanking people for their help over the years on Twitter.  I think it's game over sadly.

[Vetplant]

1 minute ago, Andymann said:

I see Doug is having a few Video interviews now - with different people appealing for Sponsors.  But he's also thanking people for their help over the years on Twitter.  I think it's game over sadly.

Really hope he himself gets a good opportunity on one of the other outfits. Team UAE might be a good fit.

 

[Yyyy]

Whenever I think of Quebeka financial challenges I think of how other World Tour teams get by with their sponsors

 

I get that there are some mega rich teams like Ineos but there are many sponsors of world tour teams that don’t (at least on the face of it) seem like mega powerhouses.

 

I may be completely wrong (I have done no research on this) but the sponsors below don’t come across as multi-national conglomerates.

 

Bora is a company that manufactures luxury German extractor fans

Hansgrohe is the brand that you should turn to if you want a luxury German showerhead

Deceuninck is a PVC window frame manufacturer

QuickStep makes laminate flooring

Intermarché, a French supermarket chain.

Gobert Matériaux is a Belgian building materials supplier

Soudal is an adhesives manufacturer.

Jumbo is the second-largest Dutch supermarket chain

Visma is a Norwegian software company

Segafredo is a coffee company from Italy

 

I am looking at the list and thinking, we have some big companies in SA that’s already involved in cycling through event sponsorhip. Why not sponsor Africa’s only WT team….

 

 

[J Wakefield]

On 10/18/2021 at 6:10 PM, OVERDRIVE said:

I like this idea 

Premier tech to Israel Nation

[Sid the Sloth]

32 minutes ago, YaseenEnos said:

Whenever I think of Quebeka financial challenges I think of how other World Tour teams get by with their sponsors

 

I get that there are some mega rich teams like Ineos but there are many sponsors of world tour teams that don’t (at least on the face of it) seem like mega powerhouses.

 

I may be completely wrong (I have done no research on this) but the sponsors below don’t come across as multi-national conglomerates.

 

Bora is a company that manufactures luxury German extractor fans

Hansgrohe is the brand that you should turn to if you want a luxury German showerhead

Deceuninck is a PVC window frame manufacturer

QuickStep makes laminate flooring

Intermarché, a French supermarket chain.

Gobert Matériaux is a Belgian building materials supplier

Soudal is an adhesives manufacturer.

Jumbo is the second-largest Dutch supermarket chain

Visma is a Norwegian software company

Segafredo is a coffee company from Italy

 

I am looking at the list and thinking, we have some big companies in SA that’s already involved in cycling through event sponsorhip. Why not sponsor Africa’s only WT team….

 

 

Unfortunately, I think the return on investment for SA sponsors is probably not very high, as the same investment in rugby or football will have far greater reach and impact. I don't think many viewers are watching much outside of the tour. I wonder if the story would be any difference if QA had a similar level of success at the tour as they had at the Giro?

[Jewbacca]

1 minute ago, Sid the Sloth said:

Unfortunately, I think the return on investment for SA sponsors is probably not very high, as the same investment in rugby or football will have far greater reach and impact. I don't think many viewers are watching much outside of the tour. I wonder if the story would be any difference if QA had a similar level of success at the tour as they had at the Giro?

For an SA company the only reasons to sink tens of millions of zar into a cycling sponsorship would be vanity and tax avoidance

What are the 10 biggest grossing companies in SA?

Vodacom and MTN

Capitec

Standard bank

British and American tabacco

Anglo American

Firstrand

Naspers....

Just thumb sucking....... BAT cannot sponsor as France won't allow tabacco products on clothes etc at sporting events

Vodacom vs MTN (Previous sponsor)?

I dunno...... I can't see any of these companies giving a hoot about a world tour cycling team. Qhubeka is not Newcastle United unfortunately

[Eldron]

54 minutes ago, YaseenEnos said:

Whenever I think of Quebeka financial challenges I think of how other World Tour teams get by with their sponsors

 

I get that there are some mega rich teams like Ineos but there are many sponsors of world tour teams that don’t (at least on the face of it) seem like mega powerhouses.

 

I may be completely wrong (I have done no research on this) but the sponsors below don’t come across as multi-national conglomerates.

 

Bora is a company that manufactures luxury German extractor fans

Hansgrohe is the brand that you should turn to if you want a luxury German showerhead

Deceuninck is a PVC window frame manufacturer

QuickStep makes laminate flooring

Intermarché, a French supermarket chain.

Gobert Matériaux is a Belgian building materials supplier

Soudal is an adhesives manufacturer.

Jumbo is the second-largest Dutch supermarket chain

Visma is a Norwegian software company

Segafredo is a coffee company from Italy

 

I am looking at the list and thinking, we have some big companies in SA that’s already involved in cycling through event sponsorhip. Why not sponsor Africa’s only WT team….

 

 

Almost all of those companies are multinational. Sure they're more European than global players but most of them have a presence in many European countries. 

[DieselnDust]

For a SA company to get any benefit form sponsoring a world tour cycling team they would have to be exporting to Europe. Dimension Data made sense. MtN made sense when they were looking to expand into Africa because there were African riders getting a spot on the GT teams.

SA's major exports are;

RANK	SOUTH AFRICAN EXPORT PRODUCT	2019 VALUE (US$)
1	Platinum (unwrought)	$8,245,494,000
2	Cars	$6,681,545,000
3	Iron ores, concentrates	$5,743,361,000
4	Coal, solid fuels made from coal	$4,838,972,000

 

 

So you're looking at a Mining house, SASOL, BMWSA, VWSA, Mercedes Benz SA, Toyota SA, Isuzu?

Until very recently SASOL was in a spot of bother due their Ethylene cracker in the USA overrunning on project expenditure. It's up and running now so maybe they're in a position but does it make sense for them? Probably but they'd be competing against Total Energies. The problem would be that SASOL isn't perceived as green so they stand the most to gain through a green energy campaign and promoting Cycling.

The Mining houses sponsoring a cycling team that rides carbon fibre bikes... hmmmm, not such a good fit.

Fruit producers make some sense but they don't really need to market themselves abroad.

Car manufacturers all have international principles with global marketing strategy and already sponsor teams in various countries.

SA banks don't have many branches outside of SA except for offshore clients. Not a good fit either as offshore banks tend to not advertise themselves.

In terms of exporter marketing opportunities cycling doesn't really provide the best platform .

But we have plenty of wealthy people around. ...

 

[Yyyy]

 

 

Reading all of the above

I can say then if the company is not operating in major European markets, they not likely to sponsor WT cycling.

The other thing is that given its Africa’s team, why would a European company with no presence in Africa be interested in sponsoring Africa’s team. It’s like you need a sponsor that operates across Africa and Europe.

What are your thoughts about the team folding…..

I personally think it will have a negative impact on Cycling in SA.

I don’t know what is means for the Charity but the whole inspiring kids to ride bikes and aspire for greater things in the sport will be set back.

Does this close the gateway to future Nic Dlaminis etc?

For me the Qhubkea is more than just a WT team but when I see what they do as a charity, that alone deserves sponsorship. It would be nice if they could team up with Exxaro given what they doing in the MTB world.

[Shebeen]

1 hour ago, YaseenEnos said:

Whenever I think of Quebeka financial challenges I think of how other World Tour teams get by with their sponsors

 

I get that there are some mega rich teams like Ineos but there are many sponsors of world tour teams that don’t (at least on the face of it) seem like mega powerhouses.

 

I may be completely wrong (I have done no research on this) but the sponsors below don’t come across as multi-national conglomerates.

 

Bora is a company that manufactures luxury German extractor fans

Hansgrohe is the brand that you should turn to if you want a luxury German showerhead

Deceuninck is a PVC window frame manufacturer

QuickStep makes laminate flooring

Intermarché, a French supermarket chain.

Gobert Matériaux is a Belgian building materials supplier

Soudal is an adhesives manufacturer.

Jumbo is the second-largest Dutch supermarket chain

Visma is a Norwegian software company

Segafredo is a coffee company from Italy

 

I am looking at the list and thinking, we have some big companies in SA that’s already involved in cycling through event sponsorhip. Why not sponsor Africa’s only WT team….

 

 

I don't think sponsoring a cycling team is really a financially viable endeavour*.

The French teams are different, they're normally banks and it's like ABSA/FNB fighting over rugby eyeballs.

For many of the rest, most of it is vanity stuff. through the years BMC, (iterations of)Greenedge, Tinkoff, and other there's no real ROI on what they threw in.

Astana/Bahrain/UAE/Katusha? are all mainly national teams with different financial requirements.

Greenedge just missed out on premier tech, so Gerry is throwing more of his money at it next year (team name changes between his various different companies). this was an interview in 2015!

There's a reason why plenty of teams have had "lotto" in their name, free money!

Even team Sky was basically just the Murdochs wanting a cycle team the same way sheiks have race horses, once they sold to comcast they needed another sheikhish figure to step in (sir Jim from stage right).

So back to the ZA/African perspective, the MTN one was a loong term commitment to local cycling that got a bit out of hand and kept on growing. Barlowworld threw money into a team that made us cycling fans by plascon paints, or CAT plant machinery????? Jeremy Ord (DiData) has said  \in an interview that Doug Ryder pulled a great move on him and before he knew it they were spending way more than they thought they should on the team for questionable return (but loved drinking champers in provence during tour week, to hell with stock value).

So no, while patrice motsepe, oppenheimers, Johan, Koos, christo et al all could rescue this thing tomorrow, they would first need someone to pull the wool over their eyes first and convince them it's a good idea. The "do it for Africa" thing has fallen by the wayside, as there are practically no africans in the team in a (largely failed) bid to chase better results. 

Maybe there can still be another rabbit pulled out of the hat, Nizzolo and Campanaerts going makes it harder and also reduces the prospects of decent results even if rescued.

You have to hand it to someone like Vaughters (and others) who has managed to balance this act for ages, and still get results.

 

*granted i know didly squat about how this stuff actually works and have made massive generalisations here, and is probably mainly me rehashing what i remember from an article like this one years back https://cyclingtips.com/2017/08/analysis-pro-cycling-sponsorship-worth-cost/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NC_lurker]

Can someone please explain why the team needs to be WT. Surely they could drop down a level to Pro-continental which would reduce the sponsorship requirements?

Obviously they wouldn't be guaranteed entries to the Giro, Tour & Vuelta, but wildcards are available. Surely rather live to ride another day than just fold?

[DieselnDust]

1 minute ago, NC_lurker said:

Can someone please explain why the team needs to be WT. Surely they could drop down a level to Pro-continental which would reduce the sponsorship requirements?

Obviously they wouldn't be guaranteed entries to the Giro, Tour & Vuelta, but wildcards are available. Surely rather live to ride another day than just fold?

The same reason they are where they are

[NC_lurker]

7 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

The same reason they are where they are

Yoda seems unavailable for insight, perhaps you could expand on that comment?

[OVERDRIVE]

1 hour ago, NC_lurker said:

Can someone please explain why the team needs to be WT. Surely they could drop down a level to Pro-continental which would reduce the sponsorship requirements?

Obviously they wouldn't be guaranteed entries to the Giro, Tour & Vuelta, but wildcards are available. Surely rather live to ride another day than just fold?

[DieselnDust]

40 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

I don't think sponsoring a cycling team is really a financially viable endeavour*.

The French teams are different, they're normally banks and it's like ABSA/FNB fighting over rugby eyeballs.

For many of the rest, most of it is vanity stuff. through the years BMC, (iterations of)Greenedge, Tinkoff, and other there's no real ROI on what they threw in.

Astana/Bahrain/UAE/Katusha? are all mainly national teams with different financial requirements.

Greenedge just missed out on premier tech, so Gerry is throwing more of his money at it next year (team name changes between his various different companies). this was an interview in 2015!

There's a reason why plenty of teams have had "lotto" in their name, free money!

Even team Sky was basically just the Murdochs wanting a cycle team the same way sheiks have race horses, once they sold to comcast they needed another sheikhish figure to step in (sir Jim from stage right).

So back to the ZA/African perspective, the MTN one was a loong term commitment to local cycling that got a bit out of hand and kept on growing. Barlowworld threw money into a team that made us cycling fans by plascon paints, or CAT plant machinery????? Jeremy Ord (DiData) has said  \in an interview that Doug Ryder pulled a great move on him and before he knew it they were spending way more than they thought they should on the team for questionable return (but loved drinking champers in provence during tour week, to hell with stock value).

So no, while patrice motsepe, oppenheimers, Johan, Koos, christo et al all could rescue this thing tomorrow, they would first need someone to pull the wool over their eyes first and convince them it's a good idea. The "do it for Africa" thing has fallen by the wayside, as there are practically no africans in the team in a (largely failed) bid to chase better results. 

Maybe there can still be another rabbit pulled out of the hat, Nizzolo and Campanaerts going makes it harder and also reduces the prospects of decent results even if rescued.

You have to hand it to someone like Vaughters (and others) who has managed to balance this act for ages, and still get results.

 

*granted i know didly squat about how this stuff actually works and have made massive generalisations here, and is probably mainly me rehashing what i remember from an article like this one years back https://cyclingtips.com/2017/08/analysis-pro-cycling-sponsorship-worth-cost/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sports sponsorship is just like any other, how many people can I reach and influence by buying this space?

Cycling competes with Football (way more people, way more fanatics, still about ego does anyone know who sponsors Man United other than some company called 5nil@home?

Everyone know who sponsors Petronas Mercedes, or RedBull, but no one really cares who Sponsors Williams or Ferrari (Still Phillip Morris btw)

World Tour Cycling is a very European flavoured sport, since 85%of the season is conducted in Europe. How does an Africa team succeed in this market then?

For a start it needs results. With results comes exposure with exposure comes sponsorship due a better ROI. Results are lacking, and in fact save for a good Giro , or was it Vuelta, there's not been much to write about.

As a platform was African cyclists its a failure. The feeder system in SA and even Africa is poor compared to what exists in Europe so the availability of riders with the "required engine" are few and far between. A team can't sit around waiting for a messiah, it needs to get on with the business of winning or at least being seen to be close to winning. How often is a Qnext# a choice for a podium??

Pro cycling is a cut throat business, the platitudes to the team management are wearing thin

 

1 hour ago, NC_lurker said:

Yoda seems unavailable for insight, perhaps you could expand on that comment?

poor management