gpsblake

This really doesn't come as a surprise to us here who followed this race, especially last year that it was in deep trouble. Hopefully they can get it organized and the bloated expenses eliminated.

USA Pro Challenge won't race in 2016 - The Denver Post

I reference this last year that they were in trouble
https://www.bikeforums.net/profession...l#post18104494

jyl

How are successful, or at least surviving, races funded?

Not the Tour de France. I'm more asking about smaller races like Tour of Utah, Tour of California, GP Montreal, etc.

It would be interesting to know how much it costs to put on a race, what the main expenses are, what the main revenue sources are.

Pemetic2006

That's too bad. In 2014 my wife and I had the privilege to be on Lookout Mountain in Golden and we watched Jens and Michael Rodgers battle it out to the top. I hope they get this race back sooner than later.

CafeVelo

ToC has had a wealthy owner from the start that's willing to pay up to keep it going. ToU has the Larry Miller foundation doing the same. Before they came on board it was in deep as well. Without a major sports organization or a wealthy benefactor backstopping the sponsors no race lasts long

Marcus_Ti

The problem is that these things tend not to be wildly successful business adventures of vulture capitalism....and wildly successful vulture capitalism is the only reason anyone with resources spends money in the USA.

My twit state Governor Petey Ricketts characterizes himself an avid cyclist and he does club rides....but that is as far as his interest goes. He has enough raw cash to single handedly fund Team Sky's entire operations for a decade in case with barely a hit on his net worth. But nope, he like most people who are in a position to better the community/hobby elect to say "screw you" and keep their $$$ hoarded in offshore bank accounts.

ToC is sponsored by a steroid manufacturer....that is part of it.

CliffordK

It is always a lot easier to justify spending someone else's money than spending one's own.

I might expect a city to cover logistics support for a big race. Police, Fire, Ambulances. I was surprised to see the pro races hitting cities up for hundreds of thousands of dollars to go through the city. Perhaps because it is difficult to regulate spectators for a road race. Do hotel room taxes help defray some of the costs?

Eugene and Corvallis are college towns, and Oregon isn't a big Pro sports state, other than the Portland Trailblazers.

I'd much rather see the local cities or the state chip in a few thousand worth of police services for a local sports event rather than paying hundreds of thousands to get a pro team to ride through.

Now, somehow we do regularly get the Track and Field Olympic tryouts.
Apparently it is a 10 day event costing about $10 million. Half covered by ticket sales, and half by corporate sponsors including Nike.

Hmmm, it looks like Eugene will also get the 2021 World Track and Field Championships for a cost of $108 MILLION.

So, for this 1 week event, they're planning on permanently/indefinitely doubling the statewide motel and hotel room taxes. And the prize-pot is nearly equal to the entire Olympic Tryouts budget.

Maybe my High School should apply for a chunk of that pot of gold.

Do the prizes of these events really have to be in the millions of dollars when most of the competitors are also paid employees of some team?

Marcus_Ti

Look at the "racing" that happens when there's little $$$ on the line. In short, it is a snoozefest. See Vuelta intermediate sprints, it is basically lunch money on the line-and the result is the pack just rides through only for the drag race to happen after an easy 150km pack ride.

Also whether they're paid or not depends on gender. Most women's UCI pro teams don't pay salary or even health insurance to their riders.

gpsblake

The state of Colorado were quick to point out that the USA Pro Cycling challenge pumps $130 million in economic impact in the state of Colorado.

If true, then the state and towns should be funding this entire race. They would be flipping a profit.

WCroadie

I was in Breckenridge in 2014, great time. I skipped 2015 to go to Worlds in Richmond and was hoping to go back in 2016, guess not...