SPONSORSHIP REPORT ON PRO CYCLING 2013 IN ASSOCIATION WITH ©Tim De Waele SPONSORSHIP REPORT ON PRO CYCLING 2013 GLOBAL INSIGHTS ©Tim De Waele TV SPONSORSHIP EXPOSURE DELIVERED ACROSS 2012 SEASON (DOLLARS) 2.1bn AVERAGE TV, PRINT & ONLINE EXPOSURE DELIVERED BY WORLD TOUR TEAM ACROSS 2012 SEASON (DOLLARS) 88.4m DOLLARS RETURNED FOR EACH DOLLAR SPENT ON TITLE SPONSORSHIP OF A WORLD TOUR TEAM 5.4 TV HOURS BROADCAST ACROSS 175 COUNTRIES IN 2012. A YEAR ON YEAR INCREASE OF 54% Source: Repcuom Cycling24 & Eurodata 68,000 02 IN ASSOCIATION WITH SPONSORSHIP REPORT ON PRO CYCLING 2013 WELCOME WHY COMMISSION CYCLING COMPETING ON THE THIS REPORT? WORLD STAGE COMMERCIALLY Global interest in professional Repucom works across all cycling has never been higher, major sports with governing with increased broadcasting bodies, event rights holders, hours, TV audiences, roadside teams, sponsors and agencies attendances and booming to evaluate and improve public participation. Cycling is back on trend. their sponsorship investments. This report Despite this, the sport of professional represents a commercial health check for cycling struggles commercially. The debate pro cycling and an opportunity to drive on its governance, ethics, racing calendar debate around sponsorship in the sport. and commercial structure is louder than Being heavily reliant on sponsorship ever, but until these issues are reconciled income is a significant strategic risk for the sport will continue to be sustained by the sport. However our findings show that sponsorship revenues. professional road cycling delivers significant In an uncertain economic and political value for current sponsors and its fans climate the importance and composition are more engaged with sponsors when of sponsorship revenues warrants further compared to other sporting audiences. attention, which is why we’ve published the We believe cycling, in comparison to other Cyclingnews Sponsorship Report 2013, sports, is under valued by sponsors. in association with Repucom. Our measurement of sponsorship goes Our aim is to quantify the size of the deeper than the analysis featured in this market, analysing its key segments and report and we look forward to working with how its teams and events pay back industry stakeholders to share and develop to sponsors. more detailed insights. Daniel Benson Charlie Dundas Managing Editor, Cyclingnews.com Managing Director, Repucom UK & Ireland AUTHOR PROFILES Stephen Farrand, European Editor: Steve Beckett, Founder: Bike Brands Cyclingnews.com Steve is former Head of Cycling Stephen Farrand has been a for BSkyB, working across Team cycling journalist since 1994. Sky and Sky’s Partnership with He joined Cyclingnews.com British Cycling (SkyRide). In in 2010 and returned in 2012 2012 Steve created Bike Brands, after time as Editorial Director at the Shift a company specialising in the commercial Active Media agency. development of cycling. [email protected] www.bikebrands.cc 03 IN ASSOCIATION WITH SPONSORSHIP REPORT ON PRO CYCLING 2013 THIBAULT PINOT (FDJ-BIG MAT) WINS STAGE 8 OF THE 2012 Tour DE FRANCE ©Bettini TV MEDIA EXPOSURE DELIVERED BY TEAM FDJ-BIGMAT DURING STAGE 8 OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE Source: Repcuom Cycling24 $9.9m 04 IN ASSOCIATION WITH SPONSORSHIP REPORT ON PRO CYCLING 2013 CONTENTS 06 KEY FINDINGS THE SPONSORS 08 OF CYCLING THE SPONSORSHIP VALUE 12 OF A WORLD TOUR TEAM THE VALUE OF 14 TEAM BRANDING CONSUMER ATTITUDES TO 16 SPONSORSHIP IN CYCLING THE VALUE OF THE 18 TOUR DE FRANCE 20 THE ROAD AHEAD 05 IN ASSOCIATION WITH SPONSORSHIP REPORT ON PRO CYCLING 2013 KEY FINDINGS ● V ery few global brands participating in a global sport. Sponsors from the traditional heartlands of the sport still dominate. Big opportunities for new entrant international brands to the sport. ● P rofessional cycling sponsorship delivers substantial and efficient media exposure returns. The sport’s appeal is broader than ever before and title sponsorship creates unique opportunities to sponsors concerned about brand clutter in sport. ● P erformance on the road and media exposure returns aren’t a direct correlation. Aggressive riding tactics and best practice in kit branding impacts greatly on media value delivered to sponsors. ● Cycling fans appreciate the integral role that sponsors play in their sport. They are more engaged with sponsors, more favourable towards their products and are early adopters of new technologies. ● T he Tour de France dominates the commercial landscape of cycling, accounting for nearly four fifths of WorldTour team exposure. Undoubtedly Le Tour is good for professional cycling but more effort is required to promote, package and present the sport more consistently to consumers across the season. The true value of sponsorships and their rights must be considered in the context of a brand’s strategic objectives. As the industry becomes more sophisticated, brand building and the media exposure that drives this, becomes part of a far greater suite of benefits. For the purposes of this report however, we will concentrate on media equivalency, brand association with the sport and the additional buying propensity this provides. Even considered in isolation, these elements deliver a substantial ROI. 06 IN ASSOCIATION WITH SPONSORSHIP REPORT ON PRO CYCLING 2013 HOW WAS THE REPORT COMPILED? REPUCOM ANALYSIS COMBINES media MEDIA VALUATION (QI) evaluation, consumer research and industry Repucom uses QI image recognition intelligence tools. The primary source of data technology to monitor brand exposure in for this report is Repucom’s CYCLING24 service: sport across TV, print and online in over 30 world markets. CYCLING24 Brand exposure ($) is calculated using the CYCLING24 is the world’s largest single source following inputs: database of cycling media analytics delivering data and insight that allow comparative media ● TV, print and online audience measurement equivalencies across brands, teams, races and ● Media advertising rates by market and markets. It tracks brand exposure in live TV media channel broadcasts across the UCI WorldTour, covering ● Weight of exposure calculated by all the Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro measuring the size, location, duration d’Italia and La Vuelta), seven-day stage races and legibility of sponsor branding in each and one-day classics on a global basis. medium For the purpose of this report, CYCLING24 covers the 2012 UCI World Tour Season: SPORTS DNA SPORTS DNA is the world’s largest multi-client ● January to October study in sport, based on more than 30,000 ● All UCI World Tour Events interviews in over 30 countries. Tracked metrics by sport and by market include: As part of the CYCLING24 product, Repucom also tracks footage upon request ● Demographic profiling for clients for potential analysis should it be ● Levels of interest and participation in sport needed. For example, races outside of the UCI ● Views on sponsorship and perceptions of WorldTour (e.g. Tour of California) and one-off sponsors in sport TV broadcasts. ● Media consumption, attitudinal and For consistency purposes, a Eurosport feed lifestyle data is taken for all events. For the events Eurosport does not cover, an alternative feed is used SPONSORGLOBE (e.g. ITV 4 for the Tour of Britain). SponsorGlobe is the world’s most extensive sponsorship and sports business intelligence database, containing commercial and sponsorship rights information covering thousands of current and historical deals between rights holders and sponsors 07 IN ASSOCIATION WITH SPONSORSHIP REPORT ON PRO CYCLING 2013 THE SPONSORS OF CYCLING A global sport on a commercial tipping point The economic outlook for professional cycling renowned for its inability to adapt and change seems forever uncertain. While other sports with the times? To begin to answer this benefit from a number of revenue streams question we profiled the leading 325 of 700 (most notably match day ticket sales, and TV sponsors in cycling who account for 75%+ of rights income), professional cycling depends sponsor exposure in the sport. largely on commercial sponsorship to fund its Our analysis shows the total brand operating costs. And the fragility of this model exposure ($) is substantial. From TV coverage is tested in times of economic contraction alone, the leading 325 sponsors in pro cycling like today. generated $2bn of sponsor exposure during Despite this, professional cycling has the 2012 season, 65% ($1.33 billion) being developed into a global sport. In 2013 the delivered by team sponsorship, while 35% UCI WorldTour will be broadcast to audiences ($743 million) of exposure was generated by across 175+ countries, with an international race/event sponsors. peloton of riders originating from 44 different Beyond these numbers a picture soon countries. This geographical expansion of the emerges: the sport of pro cycling orientates participant base of pro cycling has been most around demand from domestic sponsors and evident at the Tour de France, pro cycling’s contains few global brands in comparison to showpiece event. Over the last 30 years other major sports. Sponsors originating from The Tour de France has diversified from 16 three countries (Italy, France, Spain) generate rider nationalities competing in 1981 to 31 nearly half of total sponsor exposure. This nationalities in 2012. demand, driven by the three Grand Tours Commercial demand for sponsorship (the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta rights usually follows consumer demand from Espana), inevitably skews the commercial national audiences following their national landscape of the sport. teams and athletes. So to what extent is this These top level insights are evidence of a true of sponsorship in pro cycling, a sport disconnection between a sport which struggles to market itself globally and the demands of (non-cycling industry) brands looking for THE POWER BRANDS OF CYCLING sponsorship as a means to build international reach and engage with consumer audiences. TEAM SPONSORS ($1,337,359,511) 1. Sky 2. BMC 3. adidas 4. Movistar 5. Ag2R The Power Brands of Cycling 6. Specialized 7. FDJ 8. Cervélo 9. Saxo Bank Our analysis of the 30 leading brands in pro 10.