It is official! ONCE is gone.

[Alex Beascochea]

It is official, ONCE will stop sponsoring their profesional cycling team at the end of this year
(2003). This together with the dismissal of Banesto can provoke a great deflation on the cycling
market (at least the spanish) in the next few months.

 

[Rick H]

[email protected] (alex beascochea) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> It is official, ONCE will stop sponsoring their profesional cycling team at the end of this year
> (2003). This together with the dismissal of Banesto can provoke a great deflation on the cycling
> market (at least the spanish) in the next few months.

I've been wondering why bicycling didn't evolve to have an official fixed number of team franchises
like other sports, i.e. the ownership of a franchise switches over time but the team stays largely
intact. Certainly, I like the current arrangement. It's part of bicycling's culture, and allows
newcomers with $$ to sponsor a new team. But a franchise system might be more stable, e.g. won't
have a Coast dissolving in mid-season.

Rick H

 

[Kurgan Gringion]

"rick h" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (alex beascochea) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > It is official, ONCE will stop sponsoring their profesional cycling team at the end of this year
> > (2003). This together with the dismissal of Banesto can provoke a great deflation on the cycling
> > market (at least the spanish) in the next few months.
>
> I've been wondering why bicycling didn't evolve to have an official fixed number of team
> franchises like other sports, i.e. the ownership of a franchise switches over time but the team
> stays largely intact.

<snip>

Goddamm, you are a Dumbass -

Those other sports are affiliated with a city and a stadium and paying customers (tickets, parking,
beer, food) to attend their events.

How would a "franchise" charge spectators for admission, parking, food and alcohol in a 250kilometer
point to point road race?

Not possible, so the teams rely wholly on sponsors like Coast or Viatel who may not be able to meet
their financial obligations.

Thank you very much for putting so much thought into your post.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (rick h) wrote:

> [email protected] (alex beascochea) wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > It is official, ONCE will stop sponsoring their profesional cycling team at the end of this year
> > (2003). This together with the dismissal of Banesto can provoke a great deflation on the cycling
> > market (at least the spanish) in the next few months.
>
> I've been wondering why bicycling didn't evolve to have an official fixed number of team
> franchises like other sports, i.e. the ownership of a franchise switches over time but the team
> stays largely intact. Certainly, I like the current arrangement. It's part of bicycling's culture,
> and allows newcomers with $$ to sponsor a new team. But a franchise system might be more stable,
> e.g. won't have a Coast dissolving in mid-season.

A major difference is that cycling is an all-against-all team sport: numerous teams in each event.
It may be the biggest sport, now that I think of it, where you have head-to-head competition among
multiple teams, not just multiple individuals, and with some tactical considerations at hand (team
relay running really only relies on "run as hard as you can," strategy-wise).

Because of this, and the lack of home tracks, teams barnstorm from race to race. At various pro and
amateur levels, it's not unusual to have conflicting races competing for the attention of teams. The
teams themselves have a lot of control over their schedules.

That said, a Premier League of teams, with a recognized race series, might be doable. The problem is
that major teams like USPS are quite happy with the current system where they contest the Tour all
out, the Vuelta as hard as they can, and the Giro not at all. Any Premier League that didn't manage
to include all three races would be crippled.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Van Hoorebeeck]

Kurgan Gringioni schreef:

Those other sports are affiliated with a city and a stadium and paying

> customers (tickets, parking, beer, food) to attend their events.
>
> How would a "franchise" charge spectators for admission, parking, food and alcohol in a
> 250kilometer point to point road race?
>
> Not possible,

Actually Euskaltel-Euskadi, a growing force we might say, has such a basis. They have the 'socio'
system with annual contributions from fans, a system frequent among southern European soccer teams.

Those orange masses don't come out of the blue.

Contributing to cycling in their region and for affirming their regional identity is part
of the deal.

 

[Kurgan Gringion]

"Van Hoorebeeck Bart" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> Kurgan Gringioni schreef:
>
> Those other sports are affiliated with a city and a stadium and paying
>
> > customers (tickets, parking, beer, food) to attend their events.
> >
> > How would a "franchise" charge spectators for admission, parking, food
and
> > alcohol in a 250kilometer point to point road race?
> >
> > Not possible,
>
> Actually Euskaltel-Euskadi, a growing force we might say, has such a
basis.
> They have the 'socio' system with annual contributions from fans, a system frequent among southern
> European soccer teams.
>
> Those orange masses don't come out of the blue.
>
> Contributing to cycling in their region and for affirming their regional identity is part of
> the deal.

Goddamm it Bart, you're ruining my fun.

 

[never_doped]

Wake up kids. In a worldwide recession and dominace by a single rider and team you are running out of reasons to sponsor a 'bike team'.

If you like cycling you should't be happy when a sponsor pulls out.

 

[Nick Burns]

"rick h" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (alex beascochea) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > It is official, ONCE will stop sponsoring their profesional cycling team at the end of this year
> > (2003). This together with the dismissal of Banesto can provoke a great deflation on the cycling
> > market (at least the spanish) in the next few months.
>
> I've been wondering why bicycling didn't evolve to have an official fixed number of team
> franchises like other sports, i.e. the ownership of a franchise switches over time but the team
> stays largely intact. Certainly, I like the current arrangement. It's part of bicycling's culture,
> and allows newcomers with $$ to sponsor a new team. But a franchise system might be more stable,
> e.g. won't have a Coast dissolving in mid-season.
>
> Rick H

As "Kurgan" noted, it really is not a sport that is conducive to a team franchise structure. It was
attempted in the eighties. with the "Mayor's Cup" races. That was a crit series and I think it is
safe to say that it was a flop.

 

[Carl Sundquist]

Originally posted by Nick Burns

As "Kurgan" noted, it really is not a sport that is conducive to a team franchise structure. It was
attempted in the eighties. with the "Mayor's Cup" races. That was a crit series and I think it is
safe to say that it was a flop. [/B]

I don't think the Wheat Thins Mayor's Cup races were a necessarily a flop; certainly from a rider's standpoint they weren't a flop. I think they had a two year contract and decided not to renew it. Dave Pelletier, the promoter, was a rock concert promoter. How he got into promoting cycling I don't recall. What I do recall is that the races were all put on in a very organized manner. If anything, (speculation) bike racing promotion was a temporary diversion or simply wasn't lucrative enough for him.

A better example of a failed 'city based series' would be the NCL, which seemed to break records for hyperbole, misleading statements, and broken promises.

 

[John Forrest To]

"never_doped" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> In a worldwide recession and dominace by a single rider and team

Bettini and Quickstep?

JT

--
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NB: reply-to address is munged

Visit http://www.jt10000.com
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[Dave Clary]

On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 08:49:53 GMT, "Kurgan Gringioni"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
>Goddamm, you are a Dumbass -
>
>
>Those other sports are affiliated with a city and a stadium and paying customers (tickets, parking,
>beer, food) to attend their events.
>
>How would a "franchise" charge spectators for admission, parking, food and alcohol in a
>250kilometer point to point road race?
>
>Not possible, so the teams rely wholly on sponsors like Coast or Viatel who may not be able to meet
>their financial obligations.

Wasn't there a short-lived attempt at doing this on a small scale? I seem to remember Franco Harris
was a team owner. No point-to-point--all crits.

Dave Clary/Corpus Christi, Tx Home: http://home.stx.rr.com/dclary Never Forget:
http://www.politicsandprotest.org RSG Roll Call
http://www.rec-sport-golf.com/members/?rollcall=claryd

 

[Carl Sundquist]

"Dave Clary" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> Wasn't there a short-lived attempt at doing this on a small scale? I seem to remember Franco
> Harris was a team owner. No point-to-point--all crits.
>

Yes, the NCL.