Oath, which is Verizon's new combined entity for AOL and Yahoo, has "inked its first sponsorship deal in professional sports with the Cannondale-Drapac professional cycling team run by Boulder-based Slipstream Sports," according to Greg Avery of the DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL. Slipstream Sports Founder & CEO Jonathan Vaughters feels the exposure the team will "gain from its online media alliance as helping turn the squad from an overachieving upstart into a perennial contender against cycling's big, deep-pocketed European squads." Oath VP/Brand Experiences Stacy Lambatos said that the company aims to use its association with the cycling team to "create media content -- videos, articles, virtual reality -- that could appear in any number" of its channels. Lambatos added that the appeal of sports "crosses borders, and cycling especially has a fan demographic that meshes online audiences." Avery noted Oath sees the potential to "use the affiliation with Cannondale-Drapac to produce fitness and lifestyle content for some Oath outlets, technology-focused content about bikes and training for others, and other kinds of stories for other channels." Sponsorship has been a "constant juggling act" for Slipstream. Its main sponsors include Chipotle, Garmin, Sharp and bike maker Cervelo. Oath "joins bike maker Cannondale and Australian real estate investor Michael Drapac in appearing prominently on team uniforms" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/8).
