USA Pro Cycling Challenge Donating Presenting Sponsorship To Millennium Promise

The USA Pro Cycling Challenge race is donating its presenting sponsorship category to the Millennium Promise, a global nonprofit that targets extreme poverty. The race, which will be the country’s second largest when it debuts Aug. 22-28, will now refer to itself as the USA Pro Cycling Challenge for Millennium Promise. Sources familiar with the event said the sponsorship category could have brought in $2.5-4M annually. The race in April dropped the name Quizno’s Pro Challenge, but event CEO & co-Chair Shawn Hunter said he is not worried that two name shifts will cause confusion. “We have two very successful investors who have great vision and the resources to do (the race) long-term,” said Hunter, who referenced FC Barcelona’s '06 choice to donate its jersey sponsorship to UNICEF. The race is owned by Quizno’s founder Rick Schaden and his father Richard, both of whom volunteer with the Millenium Challenge. The change will not affect the QSR's sponsorship of the race (Fred Dreier, SportsBusiness Journal). The sponsorship donation to Millennium Promise includes $2M “worth of advertising during the 27 hours of TV coverage on NBC, Versus and online.” Race organizers said that it is the “first time a professional sporting event in the U.S. has donated the competition’s presenting sponsorship to a charitable organization.” Schaden, who met Millennium Promise co-Founder & President Jeffrey Sachs five years ago, said the charity’s global mission “is a nice fit with our global race” (AP, 5/12).