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Marketing and Sponsorship

Team Sky Faces Uncertain Future After Broadcaster Pulls Out

The loss of its top sponsor puts the future of Team Sky in doubt.GETTY IMAGES

Team Sky’s "future is in doubt after the broadcaster announced it is to bring an end to its involvement in the cycling team," which has been "hugely successful but has seen a succession of controversies," according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. Next year will be the final year of Sky’s involvement in cycling, "but insiders insist the decision is not connected with recent negative publicity" nor the upcoming General Medical Council hearing involving its former team doctor. The announcement "came as a shock to Team Sky’s riders -- several are on three-year contracts and some up to five years" -- and the move "creates uncertainty about their future with the team unless a new sponsor can come forward with the necessary funding." The cost of running the team is increasing and is up to about £30M ($37.9M) a year. Sky and 21st Century Fox -- which had a minority stake in the team and is also ending its involvement -- have spent about £180M ($228M) since the team was launched in '10, two years after Sky "had started sponsoring British Cycling." Sky was taken over by Comcast in September. Team Sky Chair Graham McWilliam said on Twitter that Comcast is "aware and supportive" of the decision, "but it was taken by Sky" (LONDON TIMES, 12/12).

NOT DONE YET: In London, Sean Ingle reported Team Sky Principal Dave Brailsford "paid tribute to his team and said he hoped that a new sponsor would be found" for the '20 season. However, with Team Sky "comfortably the richest outfit in world cycling," it remains to be seen whether a "viable buyer" can be found. Brailsford: "While Sky will be moving on at the end of next year, the team is open-minded about the future and the potential of working with a new partner, should the right opportunity present itself. ... We aren't finished by any means yet. There is another exciting year of racing ahead of us and we will be doing everything we can to deliver more Team Sky success in 2019" (GUARDIAN, 12/12). The BBC reported McWilliam said that it was "the right time" to bring the broadcaster's involvement with the cycling team to an end and added that it had been "our decision." He said, "It's been a pleasure and a privilege to have been on the journey with Team Sky and British Cycling right from the start. Priority now is to help find new partners to take the team into the future" (BBC, 12/12).

HOLDING OUT HOPE: The BBC reported four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome said that Team Sky will "be doing everything we can" to survive. He said, "I can't predict the future, but this is a really special team. We plan to be together in 2020 if at all possible." Froome added, "We will all be doing everything we can to help make that happen -- in different colors with a new partner, but with the same values, focus and desire to win" (BBC, 12/12).

'BRILLIANT PIECE OF WORK': CYCLING NEWS' Daniel Benson reported Havas Agency Managing Partner Richard Gillis said that Team Sky "created a brilliant sponsorship template but that uncertainly over the current markets, and the negative fallout from doping stories," could all be factors in the team's ability to find a new headline sponsor. He said, "One good thing that they've done is that they've created a template to follow. They showed how you sponsor a major cycling team. That's a playbook a new sponsor could just come in and copy. It's a brilliant piece of work and a real plus. But for the price they're asking, the sponsorship has to break out of the cycling world. The message has to reach more than just cycling fans" (CYCLING NEWS, 12/12).

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