Cycling Sponsorships Suffer From Effects Of Doping Scandal

Doping Scandal Playing Role In Shrinking Cycling Sponsorships

The sport of cycling is “taking brutal spills in corporate suites, where deals are made to sponsor competitions with little attention to return on investment,” according to Doreen Carvajal of the N.Y. TIMES. The annual Championship of Zurich was canceled last month after organizers were “unable to enlist new sponsors to replace backers scared by the doping scandal,” and the Tour of Utah was also canceled after organizers “failed to attract enough sponsors.” Amsterdam-based sports consulting agency Trefpunt Managing Dir Henri van der Aat said, “It’s much different this year. The [Floyd Landis scandal] didn’t really help much. In every boardroom, if you talk about sponsorships for any big cycling race, they all discuss the doping problems.” Carvajal notes a drop in total live audiences has “depressed the worth of cycling sponsorships.” Tracking six major TV markets in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Britain, Germany-based sports research company IFM found that television coverage of cycling events Sstarted to drop off after the Landis affair from almost eight and a half hours, to five and a half hours” (N.Y. TIMES, 5/11).