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Marketing and Sponsorship

Doping Cases Seem To Have Little Impact On Professional Cycling's Sponsorships

Doping accusations "do not seem to bother" some pro cycling sponsors, and despite all the scandals, the sport "continues to power forward," according to Jack Ewing of the N.Y. TIMES. Former German professional cyclist Jan Ullrich last week signed on "as a spokesman for Alpecin, a line of caffeine-laced hair products that has used the slogan 'Doping for your hair.'" Repucom Int'l President for Europe Danny Townsend, whose company provides research and analysis on cycling and other sports, said that cycling was "benefiting from a surge in popularity among affluent, middle-aged men." Townsend: "It isolates a tough-to-reach demographic very well." Surveys conducted by Repucom's German-based consulting division Sport+Markt indicated that in the U.S., interest in the Tour de France "has generally declined in recent years." But broader interest in cycling "is rising, with 14 percent of adult Americans surveyed in 2011 saying they are interested in cycling, compared with 11 percent in 2010." Townsend pointed out that while "some sponsors like HTC are dropping out, others are joining, including the carmaker Nissan, which in January became one of the main backers of the team now known as RadioShack Nissan Trek." Its roster includes '10 Tour de France winner Andy Schleck. Rabobank team media officer Luuc Eisenga said that his financial services firm, which has sponsored a team for 16 years, sees cycling "as a way to build visibility as it moves into new markets like California," and to that end also sponsors the Amgen Tour of California. Eisenga said, "Cycling is the best sponsorship vehicle in terms of visibility, participation and worldwide presence." He also said that doping cases "can be seen two ways." Eisenga: "You can look at it in a harmful way. You can also say this sport has invested a lot of time a lot of money into making sure the sport is fairer and cleaner.” But Ewing noted others "remain skeptical that there is really a determined effort by the cycling authorities to cull teams and riders who dope." Former cyclist and team manager of HTC Highroad Rolf Aldag said last month, "The structural problems remain. Things are moving in a better direction much too slowly" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/12).

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