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Do sponsors know?

scottydoubleewe

Jul 18, 12 7:14

Post #1 of 9 (1303 views)

Do sponsors know?	Quote \| Reply

I am just wondering, do team sponsors in the Tour de France know that their riders are doping? Do the sponsoring companies just give money to a coach and ask for an itemized receipt of goods and services or do they actually follow the process close enough to know that their riders are using performance enhancers?

It seems to me that if riders are caught doping, the sponsoring companies should see some form of punishment as well. Doping in today's world is an expensive process, if companies are less willing to fund it, the instances of occurrence will be less. Discuss.

styrrell

Jul 18, 12 7:19

Post #2 of 9 (1271 views)

Re: Do sponsors know? [scottydoubleewe] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

As a rule sponsers don't know. The vast majority of sponsers are passive. And most don't care, it all about exposure. People aren't going to not buy Garmins because of a scandal, but the scandal may get more airtime for their name.
Styrrell

scottydoubleewe

Jul 18, 12 8:01

Post #3 of 9 (1132 views)

Re: Do sponsors know? [styrrell] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

bad publicity is still publicity, you're right. I have more questions now though, does UCI levy any fine on the team when a rider is caught? Is anything done to anyone but the rider?

Also, as per your previous comment about how most sponsors are just passive investors, are there just teams for hire out there that large sponsors can bid on? or does the sponsor pay a coach to bring together a team for them?

thanks for the insight,

Scott

Rappstar

Jul 18, 12 8:25

Post #4 of 9 (1039 views)

Re: Do sponsors know? [scottydoubleewe] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Teams are run by a management company. That management company then goes and gets sponsors. In some cases, the "team" - aka, the management company - has been prosecuted.

Like Garmin-Sharp is run by Slipstream Sports. So Slipstream could be prosecuted - if they could prove there was organized doping. But neither Garmin nor Sharp.

I chose Slipstream because they seem to be the team that most actively fights against doping, so they seemed like a good hypothetical, because I'd guess they are the least likely to actually be guilty of something like that...

cidewar

Jul 18, 12 9:08

Post #5 of 9 (934 views)

Re: Do sponsors know? [scottydoubleewe] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Don't you think the Sports Marketing Managers at the sponsor companies that pay big $$ to the teams follow the sport at least as much as the average Slowtwitch reader?

They hear all the same rumors you do.

USPro Tri

Jul 18, 12 12:03

Post #6 of 9 (721 views)

Re: Do sponsors know? [scottydoubleewe] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

edit......sorry I misunderstood the question

Anyway I should hope that there's some sense of decency somewhere along the line and hope that the sponsors are not part of the doping conspiracies!

http://USProTri.com
US Professional Triathlete Team!

(This post was edited by USPro Tri on Jul 18, 12 14:54)

styrrell

Jul 18, 12 12:13

Post #7 of 9 (678 views)

Re: Do sponsors know? [scottydoubleewe] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Whole teams have been kicked out of races and teams woith bad reps haven't been invited to races you'd expect they would but that doesn't happen much anymore. basically no the rider is kicked to the curb and incurrs all of the penalties.

Personally i think this sucks. Their have been pretty high profile doping cases where management pretty much had to be part of it. At the least they do their own testing and should notice when a rider makes has on blood results.

As far as how teams are run its kind of unique. If you want to "own" a team all you have to do is hit the streets and get sponsers, then hire riders. Their is some registration paperwork, but its not like baseball where you buy an existing team for big $$. Of course putting together sponsers to the sum of 10 million plus isn't easy but it can be done.
Styrrell

Record10Carbon

Jul 18, 12 12:34

Post #8 of 9 (616 views)

Re: Do sponsors know? [styrrell] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

styrrell wrote:

It would not shock me if hard asset tangible sale companies like Garmin might WANT a scandal for that very reason. Companies that have no durable good - maybe not so much so (Discovery for instance). I am not sure what the ROI on Discovery was ever going to be - three quarters of the world simply cant get it, nor would they understand the commercials. But, if every time some meat head on ESPN said Team Garmin - that is money in the bank baby. I am certain that most folks sitting at REI remember where they heard the word Garmin as relating to bicycles, they just know they heard it over and over and over
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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

scottydoubleewe

Jul 18, 12 12:43

Post #9 of 9 (572 views)

Re: Do sponsors know? [Rappstar] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Thanks Rappstar, I always wondered how teams were formed, makes sense now.

cidewar, I should have been more specific, I know that sponsors keep track of what is going on in their teams - I was really just wondering if the sponsors themselves are providing the doctors/drugs/laboratory techs to make doping possible. From the picture Rappstar painted, this is unlikely.

It's definitely an interesting environment though, where a large company can put tons of money into a team and suffer relatively little if/when that team gets caught doping.