Discovery sponsorship going, going...

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycli...nsorship_x.htm

Getting out while the gettins good. Before that LA Confidential get reprinted into English and distributed in the Nike & Disney-ESPN owned USA.

Maybe Stapletom can get Thom Weisel to sign Amgen and EPO (araNesp) as a replacement.

EPO and aggressive Chemo drug sales by Bristol-Meyers-Squib are complimentary.

Most cycling and Olympic sponsors remain wholly unconcerned about athlete doping---only that a professional cover-up is in place.

Reputable companies are running away from the sport of cycling.

Stapleton can choose to paint it whatever way he likes - bottom line reputable companies cannot afford to have their names linked to cycling (and cyclists) who run the risk of doping.

The worry is that companies who have no profile, but are solely investment vehicles, take up these vacant sponsorship lots.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Lim---yes and no. Running away from cycling only because its cover up is so lame. Cycling has now become a global joke. WADA focuses on it. Yet many firms will still underwrite it.

The Olympics is rife with doping---yet still collects $12 BILLION in underwriting fees from Corporate marketers. Coke, Pepsi, Nike, Bank of America, Chevron, ATT, Disney, etc.... Itegrity is not the key--image is.

The NFL collects $5.7 BILLION in revenues---TV/radio being 65% of it and that time is resold by ESPN-Disney for a cool $3 BILLION profit. The NFL had several doping scandals in 2006 and NOBODY cared. NOBODY.

Cycling is a fun hobby. People can relate to it. Lazy people have trouble with it. Hence cycling's fragile marketing nature.

Doping will continue at toxic levels in any case--with or without Nike or OLN.

I'm pissed.

__________________
TrekDedicated no more

Orbea Orca
Full Dura-Ace
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Wake Forest Cycling

The Small Biz. Guru

Just make certain that no WADA certified lab tech mops up your urine---because if you are truly Trek Dedicated it contains:

synthetic testosterone
EPO
hGH
insulin
corticosteroids
hCG
Salbutamol

and probably Deca Durabolin too.


Don't fret--Amgen will pick up the slack. They support EPO cycling and araNesp sales.

I'm not surprised. Discovery had a good thing going in America when Lance was a houshold name. Basso is not going to grab America's attention. I wish it was different, but there are far better advertising venues then cycling... And then to have a sponsorship with the crap that is coming out of cycling today is risky...

My opinion is that OP is about to explode...... I think JU will go down and that is the name that matters. Again , I wish it was different. But if his DNA shows anything that slants toward guilt, people will start talking breaking the silence... We have already seen accusations start flying that seem pretty easy to believe with Lefevere. Accusations without any real substance at this point. But deep down we believe that it could very easily be true. There is not a cyclist out there on the podium we do not question.

Cycling is crumbling. If I was a sponsor I would put my money somewhere else...

__________________
"Since we started [selling the Livestrong wristbands], we've sold 75 million of these bracelets," said Armstrong. "What's different this year, is that anybody who buys a bracelet during the Tour, all the money stays here. I think it's important for people to understand that the money they spend - 1 Euro - is not going to Texas or the United States, it stays in France."

Like Amgen is.


EPO and araNesp rock Dude!

DC's decision is not related to Puerto. The head of the sponsors and of five main TV stations were fired from their jobs. So it is obvious that the decision is not turning on Puerto, but on a change in leadership at the sponsor.

Inotherwords, it is Operation Puerto, Ivan Basso, Lance Pharmstrong's SCA leaked testimony, Frankie Andreu's confession, LA Confidential and Floyd Landis verified Tour de France doping.

I agree with Discovery. They finally 'discovered' the truth.

This shows that some members here may not be aware of how large corporations work, and how their agendas (esp with respect to sponsoring teams as advertising) are influenced by the desires of their leaders. This is as simple as DC having had a CEO who was supportive of cycling, and now the new person coming in and not being as interested.

There. Fixed it for you.

__________________
"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

More likely poor marketing results drove the termination of the CEO & Lance's doped team. Just corporate business, without ethics.

1) Lance retired and OLN TV ratings sunk 50% in 2006
2) the winner of the 2006 Tour de France--a Lance alumni was drug busted
3) Lance's SCA doping testimonies were leaked out in 2006
4) another Lance teamamate confessed to illegal doping (Frankie Andreu)
5) Discovery employed Ivan Basso amigst a blood doping and steroid inquiry.

Only ratings matter. Lies are tougher to sell when so much truth leaks out.

Hysteria and conspiracy theories aside, this is another indication the fallout from the doping scandals. Discovery was at best a marginal sponsor. The sport got a big boost from Armstrong, but when he went, the interest waned and the doping scandals started. It was a change in leadership at Discovery that directly led to this, but if cycling wasn't in the dumps right now, they might have stuck with it.

The fact that Disco had a weak year in 2006 didn't help matters any. Well, it was fun having a big league cycling team based here in the US.

Given the current situation, that's probably the end of Tailwind. Doubt they'll find another US sponsor willing to put up that sort of money for a sport that's being ridiculed right now.

Agreed - more or less the same point that I made earlier.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.