Lance Armstrong is more than a man who has won 7 Tour de France titles. He is more than a man who has beaten cancer. And he is more than a man who has raised $500 million USD for his Livestrong Charity.
Lance Armstrong is a global brand, a global icon.
But what impact will his decision to lay down his guns in the fight with USADA, have on not just his endorsement dollar and brand value, but that of athletes who dream of walking in his rather large footsteps?
USADA said Armstrong would be banned for life from the sport of cycling and called for “forfeiture of any medals, titles, winnings, finishes, points and prizes.”
In reality, this will not happen. But this is an agency that wants to be seen to be flexing their muscles right now. And Armstrong was their biggest fight to date.
Let’s answer the question in 2 parts. 1, what impact will it have on the Armstrong brand and the sport of cycling? And 2, what impact will it have on the sports dollar in general?
Nike, a loyal partner of Armstrong’s Livestrong Charity, were quick to issue a statement declaring their support: “Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.” This is not surprising given Nike’s unwavering support of Tiger Woods, during the scandal that rocked his personal life in 2010. The bottom line is that Nike is a company that trades off embracing rebellious or controversial figures.
The experts agree, Armstrong is estimated to lose $10 million in endorsement deals because of his decision to surrender to USADA. But let’s put this figure in perspective. He is at the end of his career, and cycling is not a mainstream sport in the USA.
In the corporate world the sport of cycling is ‘tainted’. Just like Athletics in the 1990’s, cycling has to overcome the stigma that you can only win the Tour de France if you are a drug cheat. When it comes to spending the endorsement dollars on an athlete, or a sport for that matter, cycling and golf are not as innocent as they once were.
My big pick for the endorsement dollar in the next decade is women’s sport.
For what its worth, I own a framed cycling jersey that is signed by Lance Armstrong. It will continue to hang proudly on my office wall. In my eyes his signature represents excellence and the fight against cancer. We, the fans, will ultimately decide the value of the Lance Armstrong brand.
David Tucker
Guest
Fact: Lance was part of the U-23 USA squad in the early 90's Two members: Greg Strock and Eric Keiter developed auto-immune disorders courtesy of Chris Carmichael and Rene Wenzel's wonderful pharmaceutical assistance..Litigation, that was eventually settled out of court. Lance Armstrong and Ernie Lechuga developed testicular cancer. I wonder how many other promising cyclists of this era were fed drug cocktails.
sittingbison
Guest
Fact: lance has had approximately 236 test. Failed 12 (3 T/E, 1 corticosteroid, 7 EPO, 1 dodged) Fact: Lance has won zero Tours de France. In fact zero results since 1998 Fact: Lance beat cancer So you have one out of three facts correct. Not bad.
Nathan Godfrey
Guest
Thank you for your comments. My story served its intended purpose, to provoke emotion and debate, in what will be the most controversial sports story in 2012. Fact. Lance Armstrong passed 500 drug tests. Fact. Lance Armstrong won 7 Tour de France titles. Fact. Lance Armstrong beat cancer. End of story.
sittingbison
Guest
Yup, Lance will never admit anything. But that's the problem, because it will all come out. Thats when general public perception will change. We are not even at end of first week, and the press is finally starting to make negative reports. It will be very interesting to see what the state of Livestrong is in a year. And the perception of Armstrong.
sittingbison
Guest
Sigh. Just goes to show you can fool some of the people all of the time
James
Guest
USADA want* to have his titles strip but USADA does not have authority to actually do that. so for the time being, lance still retains his titles and achievements. and if you go on this the livestrong.org site, you can still how the donated funds are utilized. lance armstrong, was near death, survived from his cancer, and did something a lot of people wouldn't have done after recovering from near death; live stronger. he started a world known foundraiser, promoted cancer awareness, supported those in need, and should be a role model on just this. whether he doped or not; to have beaten cancer, then to even want to compete in the Tour de France (one of the highest levels at the sport), and to win (against 200+ cyclist, for his whole career) should stand for something; he beat cancer and he wanted to help others beat it with him.
j.s.
Guest
I have to disagree with your comment "destroyed the faith of millions of cancer survivors." LIVESTRONG had a record turnout at Philly. Yes it was just prior to giving up the fight to clear his name. Everyone that has been following the story knew what was on the line and they still showed up to support the cause. I think those that have been Anti-Lance are even more angry now because they did not get what they wanted most of all...an outright admission of guilt. If anyone honestly thought he would ever admit to doping...they would have to be delusional. We won't know until next year if the brand is going to suffer. As long as he stays in the public and people like Vaughters continue to say stupid things on Twitter...LIVESTRONG will be fine.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
And Fanboys gonna work 'em selves into a frenzy
sittingbison
Guest
yup, the truth will set you free, but the cost can be immense. Frankie Andreu had to admit to Betsy he doped to get up Sestriere, and lost his contract because he refused to keep doping. Betsy got publicly humiliated, and recieved threatening messages from Stephanie McIlvain, a close friend of Armstrong's who worked for one of his sponsors, the Oakley eyewear company "I hope somebody breaks a baseball bat over your head, I also hope that one day you have adversity in your life and you have some type of tragedy that will.definitely make an impact on you." Bassons and Simeoni got sent to coventry by the peleton. Greg LeMond lost his bike company when Trek got pressured by Lance to stitch him up.
William Goat
Guest
Haters, gonna hate.
sittingbison
Guest
sigh. More delusion. $500m? What $500m. The figure mentioned in his communique? Perhaps he got mixed up with 500 tests. After all, he spelt his own name wrong. At last count it was $235m TOTAL since 1997. They stopped donating money to cancer research in 2005 after a grand total of $20m. Awareness? As rabbitz sayz, what does that even mean. And I won't mention Livestrong.com. BTW Lance has won zero Tour de France titles. In fact he has zero results since 1998. Unfortunately for Lance (and your article) the cold hard reality is that USADA HAS banned Lance for life from ALL Olympic sports and he HAS forfeited all "medals, titles, winnings, finishes, points and prizes" - whether he actually hands them over is another matter, but given he a a lying cheating thieving narcissistic fraudulent scumbag who has destroyed the faith of millions of cancer sufferers who believed he competed after recovering from cancer WITHOUT FILLING HIS VEINS WITH POISON, I doubt it. As to the other points of your article, you might want to research what Woods has done to his own image and sponsorship. And Marion Jones - after all Nike said they were not going to abandon her either. Darryl, Jamie, 1908SPORTS, there IS no positive side to this whole thing, other than it is the opportunity for cycling to finally recognize the depraved parlous state to which it has sunk, and make a genuine attempt to recover. With Fat Pat and Hein still running the completely corrupt UCI, the lack of comment from Wiggo and inane mutterings from the peleton for fear of retribution, I don't hold out much hope.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
I really wonder what the money that LiveStrong has raised really does. What exactly is "cancer awareness"?
Joe Rutkowskii
Guest
Too bad L.A.could not live up to the Livestrong credo and fight for his name with the same courage he used to fight for his life against cancer.But I guess the truth isn't worth fighting for as much as keeping intact the myth of the hero above and beyond any and all reproach.Live strong by facing the tough questions fully aware that often the truth hurts.Many of Lance's colleagues found the strength in their darkest moments to step out from the shadows of their fears to stand in the light of the truth which revealed ugly facts about themselves which they admitted to at great cost to themselves as well as their families, friends and fans.
Darryl Kotyk
Roar Pro
I agree with Jamie. It's nice to hear the positive side of this whole thing. NIce post.
Jamie
Guest
Thanks for a positive spin on the Lance Armstrong story. Whether or not he doped is now only a matter of speculation unless they decide to publish complete findings. What he has done for cancer patients and their families through Livestrong should surely be the highlight of all he has done to date and what he should be remembered for.