The organisers of cycling’s Tour of Britain and a new series of televised city-centre races to launch in 2009 are calling on ‘contemporary consumer-facing brands’ to capitalise on the sport’s growing popularity in the UK.
SweetSpot has high-profile commercial partnerships on offer for the Tour of Britain [September 12-19] and are looking for a title sponsor to take ownership of ‘The Tour Series’ of city-centre races, which will occupy six weeks in May and June 2009.
SweetSpot commercial manager Alastair Grant told BritSport Weekly: “We are looking for official partners, (manifested via the ownership of an individual jersey competition) for The Tour of Britain, the UK’s biggest free-to-attend sporting event.
“In addition we have now created The Tour Series: a 10 round series of dynamic urban circuit races, which will be held in major towns and cities across the country as the culmination of a programme of community based cycling events.
“Brands can become involved in The Tour Series at a range of entry points, from Title Sponsorship, all the way down to Official Supplier level. Both events will attract fields of the best cyclists in the world, including many of Britain’s Olympic heroes.”
Grant explains that that both the Tour of Britain and The Tour Series are part-funded by the regions and cities that host the event, and are therefore not reliant on commercial sponsorship.
“Both events are not-for-profit entities with all sponsorship funds directly spent on improving the activity and experiences available around the races, “Grant said.
“In uncertain economic times, partnership with an elite sporting event that is delivered directly to the public in communities across the country can be a unique and valuable platform for brand awareness and brand warmth.
“The type of sponsor that would be interested in either or both of our events (as we can combine a preferential deal across both events to give one brand ‘ownership’ of the best events in British cycling) is a contemporary consumer facing brand, who is keen to appeal to a young, affluent audience.
“It could also be a brand that wants to be perceived as caring about the environment, which manifests itself in the support of cycling as a green and sustainable sport and mode of transport.
“In addition, The Tour Series and Tour of Britain will greatly appeal to a brand who needs a proxy for association with the Olympics, as cycling is Britain’s best Olympic sport and will remain as such on the road to London 2012, and was one of just four sports to have been given full financial backing by the government moving towards the London Games.”
More generally, Grant argues that cycling is one of the few sports and businesses to buck the trend of the economic downturn. This, he says, is partly due to the British Olympic success but also government influence as a sport that is actively ‘pushed’ by government, RDA’s and local councils.
“Cycling has now reached a tipping point in terms of its perception as a UK sport that is ready to be commercially exploited, as evidenced by the announcement of Sky as the major commercial partner of British Cycling, and the likely sponsor of a planned British team to take on the Tour de France, “said Grant.
“Media awareness and coverage of cycling in the UK has grown exponentially due to recent British successes such as Mark Cavendish’s four Tour de France stage wins in 2008, and the unprecedented success of Team GB at the Beijing Olympics. The Tour of Britain and Tour Series stand alone in the UK in terms of their ability to exploit the surge in media coverage and popularity of the sport for event sponsors and partners.”
Both The Tour of Britain and Tour Series will be televised daily on a major UK broadcast channel, says Grant, with the television broadcast sponsorship rights forming part of the overall packages on offer to commercial partners. There will also be post-event coverage on Eurosport and international highlights programmes across all major television markets
Races in The Tour Series will be held on Tuesday and Thursday nights: Milton Keynes, Woking and Southport have already signed up to host rounds of The Tour Series, while many of the other remaining venues will be Cycling England Cycling Towns and Cities.
