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Is Matt Prior’s new cycling venture sustainable?

Roar Guru
18th February, 2015
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Former England Test wicket keeper Matt Prior officially launched his new cycling team, One Pro Cycling yesterday in London, and the imaginative funding model is poised to tap into the surging popularity of the sport in England.

Cycling at the top level has been a sponsor driven game for over half a century. Riders were initially grouped into their country of origin as early as 1930 and sponsor branded teams first appeared in the Tour de France in 1962.

In the tough recent economic climate, and as the fall out from a multitude of doping scandals continues, sponsors are getting increasingly difficult to come by. Rabobank famously abandoned their 17 year-long support of cycling in the wake of the Lance Armstrong revelations, resulting in the team racing under the moniker Blanco for a season.

Another famous example was the Euskatel-Euskadi team. The team had operated under various guises from 1994 until 2013, when an announcement was made that no further sponsorship would be made available, forcing the team to face disbandment.

However, this crisis brought a new player to the scene, Formula One driver and avid cycling fan, Fernando Alonso. He attempted to take up the licence commitments of the team and allow it to continue racing, however he was unable to come to an agreement and the team folded.

Alonso has expressed further interest in acquiring a pro-licence to launch his own team, however frequent delays and miscommunications have led some to question as to whether it will ever happen.

Whether or not Alonso actually gets a team together, his potential involvement generated plenty of column inches and interest from both fans and sponsors across all sports. And he is not alone in jumping across from a different sport into cycling.

Matt Prior, England wicket keeper and casual cyclist, announced his intention to start a team last December, but the official announcement took place in London Tuesday night, where the team’s jersey and main sponsor were revealed.

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Team One Pro Cycling will ride at the UCI Continental Level, the same level as the Australian Avanti Racing Team – a level below the Australian Drapac Racing Team who race at the Professional Continental (Pro-Conti) level, and two levels below the likes of Orica-GreenEDGE and Team Sky in the WorldTour.

One Pro Cycling will initially target local British races including the WorldTour event, the Tour of Britain. The team’s inaugural race, the Perfs Pedal Road Race in Hampshire, was very successful, with riders finishing first, second, third and fourth.

Prior has illustrated his commitment to the team by embracing the British cycling fad of implementing a five year path to success – targeting a spot on the UCI World Tour alongside the likes of Team Sky.

This highly ambitious plan is just as, if not more difficult than Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford’s five year plan to get a clean British rider on the top step of the podium at the Tour de France.

But it’s the funding model that interested me most.

One Pro Cycling does not have a title sponsor and has no plans of taking one on any time soon. The game plan is to raise funds by utilising an inventive Membership Scheme, whereby fans pay a membership fee to join the team in order to gain access to exclusive deals and offers, attend team events including training camps, and other events hosted by the team. The team has also announced a deal with clothing brand F&F, who will act as their Lead Partner.

The team is attempting to tap into the average cycling fan in the UK, who are embracing cycling in ever increasing numbers on the back of Great Britain’s notable Olympic successes on the track, and the trail blazing efforts of Wiggins, Cavendish, Froome and Team Sky on the road in the WorldTour.

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But team One Pro Cycling faces significant challenges.

The Pro-Conti level is becoming incredibly competitive, with teams going to greater and greater lengths in an effort to gain one of four wildcard spots available at each of the Grand Tours, craving the added exposure that a spot would bring.

Just to get into and then competing in the second tier of cycling is going to be a tough ask, and will require significant investment that might not be forthcoming from the, in theory, excellent Membership Scheme.

But Prior is confident of success, and in an interview with the Telegraph , he reiterated his commitment to the project. “I am the CEO of this company and like any CEO of any company, that is the amount of involvement I will have. I am involved in every decision, from clothing to equipment to staff. Believe me, I am hugely serious about this.”

Time will tell if Prior’s WorldTour ambitions will be realised, and whether or not this funding model will be a success for start-up teams in the future.

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