• by Paul Gough , October 1, 2002

Looking for a sponsorship or advertising opportunity that has the potential to leave motor sports in the dust? Try two wheels.

The U.S. cycling industry hopes to build upon the notoriety of Lance Armstrong and his Tour de France success to create enthusiasm for domestic races and lucrative sponsorship opportunities.

The Tour de France, the grueling race through the French countryside and mountains that Armstrong has won five times, is immensely popular in Europe with thousands of spectators lining the route every day and wall-to-wall TV coverage worldwide. The domestic Pro Cycling Tour’s organizers want to see the sport take off among spectators in the United States as the U.S. team’s exploits have at the Tour de France.

“It’s a sport with a lot of potential,” said Cindy Sisson, managing director of Tailwind Sports, which organizes the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. “With role models like Lance Armstrong, cycling has been undergoing a major upswing in America.”

Bicycling is the popular sport in the United States, with more than 62.8 million Americans participating in 2001. That’s far above any team sports or even fishing, tennis, golf or skiing. Recreational cyclists are almost evenly split male and female, with an average age of 25.6 and an average income of $57,1000. Cycling enthusiasts – who total more than 24 million adults 18 to 54 – have an average household income of $72,396, well educated and 58% are married with families. They’re tech savvy (88% own personal computers, for instance) and are involved in community activities at a high rate, according to USA Cycling.

“It really is a marketer’s dream,” Sisson said.

And it’s a dedicated group that follows the Tour de France religiously, second only to soccer’s World Cup in popularity. An Internet site for the Tour de France, with live video streaming, tallied 62 million page views in July. Broadcast and cable outlets – Outdoor Life Network, CBC and Fox Sports – find their coverage is popular not only live but also in the repeats. John West, senior vice president of the Outdoor Life Network, said the Tour de France sparks action, drama and passion – and dedicated viewers. West said the network and companies like Lincoln, Nike and Circuit City received thousands of emails from viewers thanking them for their sponsorship.

“This underscores the passion this audience has for the sports of cycling,” West said.

Several companies have already signed up, with five (including Saturn, Mercury and BMC Software) sponsoring Armstrong’s cycling team to the tune of $14.8 million. The title sponsor, the U.S. Postal Service, supported the tour with a line of commercials, advertising on 11,000 USPS trucks and millions of Priority Mail envelopes. But American companies’ funding is still far below European companies, which pay $31 million to sponsor cycling teams.

In the United States, the 22 Pro Cycling Tour events drawn hundreds of thousands of people in Philadelphia, New York City, San Francisco and Miami. Sponsors include First Union Bank, Hyatt, GlaxoSmithKline and Pepsi.

Organizers say there’s plenty of room on the tour, with a goal of 10 major advertisers by 2005. They hope to use the Tour de France model, where every sponsor owns a certain aspect of the tour to reduce clutter. They say advertisers will benefit from top quality productions, high media exposure and celebrity involvement.

“We think in a few years, we can build a world-class sports property,” said Dave Chauner, president of Threshold Sports.