Ok… so, I just read the post about LA being on the cover of SI. Went to Wal-Mart real quick and bought it. I’m reading it and it says “and the need to find a sponsor to replace the USPS”. Am I to understand that LA and USPS have separated??? I knew the Discover Channel picked them up but I figured they were an additional sponsor.
I apologize if this is old news… I guess you can tell I’m not the most cycling savvy person out there.
thisbetc621,
The USPS sponsorship contract expires after this season. I believe it was originally pegged for five years at $50 million total. The Postal Service took some heat from some “watchdog” group for “poor use” of tax dollars by sponsoring the cycling team. This was in spite of the fact that tax revenues do not subsidize the Postal Service! There was discussion of this some time ago. The team has been looking for a new primary sponsor for the forthcoming seasons. I believe it was Bill Stapleton who was saying that there were numerous organizations interested in stepping in to pick up the slack.
Just so you know, The Discovery Network is the new primary sponsor of the team. This was just announced in the last week or two. Lance flew back to the States for a quickie press conference and then flew back to Europe to continue preparation for the Tour. US Postal Service will be the sponsor through the remainder of the cycling season this year, but next year there will be no more USPS Cycling Team. It appears it will be The Discovery Network Cycling Team presented by Berry Floors if the Berry Floor relationship continues which I believe it does.
Hope this helps and puts you in the know.
yes, it does help. thanks for the info. gotta say though even though i’m not the cyclist others are… i’m gonna miss “big blue”.
i did a search and saw the white discovery cycling jersey they held up at the press conference. could we be going from “big blue” to “great white”?