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Amgen Renews

August 4, 2011 by  
Filed under Mind

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RKP isn’t really a news site, so the announcement that Amgen has renewed its contract with AEG Sports to continue its sponsorship of the Amgen Tour of California might seem odd material for a post. The reason it’s here is because this isn’t your garden-variety cycling news. This is big.

I confess, for weeks, more than a month, in fact, I’ve been writing the obituary for the Amgen Tour of California. I thought an announcement notifying cycling fans of the race’s demise was a formality, so the news that the company has renewed isn’t just a pleasant little news brief. This is big.

So why was I so down on the future of the Tour of California? Let me count the reasons.

  1. In the United States, races have a terrible history of folding after a sponsor’s contract is up. The Coors Classic folded up shop following the 1988 race after the race’s contract with Coors ended. Race director Michael Aisner approached Nuprin and Dodge, both of whom agreed to sponsor the race only to decline involvement at the 11th hour. The Tour de Georgia was notable for the fact that it’s the only major U.S. stage race that managed to sign three different title sponsors—Dodge, Ford and AT&T.
  2. Losing a race director has had dire consequences for races. When Mike Plant left the Tour DuPont at the end of the 1996 edition, the prospective next sponsor (DuPont’s contract was up) didn’t have much confidence in the new race director and ultimately the race couldn’t secure a new sponsor.
  3. The 2011 edition of the Amgen Tour of California got off to a rocky start with a stage cancellation and the start of a stage moved. Sponsors don’t like to see their events not happen as planned.
  4. The 2010 and 2011 editions of the race were upstaged by doping revelations that cast cycling in an unusually negative light. Landis’ and Hamilton’s revelations made much bigger news than the typical positive test. Who wants to spend millions to sponsor an ugly press conference?
  5. The economy still sucks. It’s why there’s no Tour of Missouri and no Tour de Georgia. Finding sponsorship money is as unlikely as winning the lottery two days in a row.
For me, the takeaways are that Amgen has supreme confidence in AEG Sports. Despite the departure of race director Andrew Messick, Amgen believes AEG will put on the same quality event they have in the past. Obviously, Amgen sees a brighter future for itself despite the economy than many other companies do. Further, the two-year deal will give AEG time to prove that the new race director is as good as Messick was, which will be crucial if they are to sign another sponsor after Amgen, for they were certainly end their association some day. If the race can get through the next two years with no RP black eyes due to canceled stages (this year, with record snowpack in the Sierra, was the wrong year to plan stages in the mountains—wait for the drought to return) or doping (the only thing that could compare to this year’s revelation would be if Lance Armstrong held a similar press conference during next year’s race—and that’s less likely than little green men abducting the peloton).

In the U.S., races come to an end. That’s the unfortunate reality. But these next two years could be key for the event’s longevity; it’s up to AEG to use the time to court (and land) a new sponsor. Make no mistake, this news is huge.

Image: John Pierce, Photosport International

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