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team sky rapha collection1.jpgRapha boss reveals why sponsorship of Team Sky ended
The co-founder and chief executive of Rapha has spoken of why the upmarket clothing brand’s sponsorship of Team Sky, which began in 2013, came to an end last December.
Established in 2004, the North London-based business was announced as Team Sky’s kit supplier in August 2012, when the team was still basking in the glow of Sir Bradley Wiggins victory at the Tour de France the previous month, the first by a British rider.
> Rapha to supply Team Sky's kit for next four years
Rapha boss Simon Mottram said at the time that the company, which took over the role from Adidas, shared Team Sky’s “passion for performance and team ethic,” and that it was “enthusiastic to inspire and engage a wider fan base around the globe.”
Over the following four seasons, three more Tour de France victories thanks to Chris Froome, and the team also enjoyed numerous successes in stage races including Paris-Nice and also won its first Monument last year through Wout Poels at Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
Yet a couple of months before the start of the 2016 season, Rapha and Team Sky announced that the sponsorship would not be renewed at the end of that year, and Italian brand Castelli now supplies the UCI WorldTour outfit.
> Rapha and Team Sky announce parting of ways
No reasons were given at the time for the decision not to renew the deal, but Mottram has now given some insight into the background to it in an interview with City AM.
“We sold a lot of stuff, which made Team Sky some royalties and it was good for us,” he said.
However, he added: “The connection with cyclists and engagement and getting fans more connected with the sport never worked quite as well as we wanted.
“That was not a black mark, but disappointing.”
The announcement that the sponsorship would not be renewed came long before the controversies centred around Wiggins – whose own team Rapha still supplies – that have seen Team Sky investigated by UK Anti-doping and team principal Sir Dave Brailsford quizzed by a House of Commons select committee.
While some may view Rapha as having dodged a bullet in that respect, Mottram points out that scandal is nothing new in the world of cycling.
He said that negative headlines about the sport have not prevented Rapha, whose private equity backers are reportedly looking at appointing an investment bank to handle a sale of the business, from thriving.
> Rapha owners reportedly seeking advisers to handle sale of business
“It’s been crisis after crisis after crisis,” he said. “And yet we’ve seen our sales grow dramatically. And through recessions as well. We’re doing incredibly well with a broken sport. Sort out the sport and we can do even better.”
He hinted at another reason the company may have decided not to carry on with its backing of Team Sky, saying: “The proportion of team kit wearers is less and less.”
He added: “It’s another sign that pro racing is a little bit broken. We don’t even want to wear the team kit. That’s not good, is it?”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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57 comments
@dottigirl
If it costs cash to sponsor a team with kit, it'd be more 'spensive to sponsor a mens team you can bet. I'd imagine Tiff Cromwell's PR efforts will keep em safe for a bit. (I seem to remember Peter Kennaugh doing his PR bit also a couple of years ago..)
I've not seen anyone in a full canyon kit on the roads. Yes it looks amazing, but so did Condor and Sky when it first came out.
It must be a real drain to sponsor a team, I don't know how much, but having, Sky, Canyon, Wiggins on the books can't be easy...
I think I read once it's something like 270bits of kit provided per rider per year... 28 riders in Sky, 11 in Canyon, 19 in Wiggins x 270 = 15660, which sounds a bit silly, lets say the 270 bits of kit is over exaggerated.. lets call it 100 which is probably entirely reasonable.. that's still 5800 bits of kit, man hours tailoring, individual requirements, plus all the 'added designs' TDF, country champs, track champs, TT champs.. olympic medalists... it's a huge undertaking.. now halve that investment by sacking off team sky... start investing in cool hipster stuff like a new broom wagon to drive around shoreditch and park up at races, open a smattering of shops in bearded hubs of cool around the world, sponsor some one day races, ultra distance stuff... make your own community, organise your own events... invest in some tracks or velodromes.. invest in brand ambassadors and it'll pay back in literal dividends.
QOTD - well said, sir.
http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#17
Rule #17 // Team kit is for members of the team.
Wearing Pro team kit is also questionable if you’re not paid to wear it
Hmm, for me, cycling is about freedom, and I didn't sign up to someone's random set of rules.
If I want to wear some team kit I will thanks ... though I'd be embarassed wearing yellow/pink/green/polka jersey!
Yes cyclists do tend to have favourite riders than support actual teams. I'm not sure why that is historically, but for me it's because there's a total disconnect between the teams and myself. The names keep changing and to somethiing naff about hair shampoo that makes you faster or some balls. The kits often looks ridiculous, though yes, Rapha were able to solve that part of the equation, SKY and especially Condor kits were stylish as opposed to looking like a child's collage attempt. SKY however were never going to be well liked, SKY isn't even a neutral sponsor, let alone a liked one.
Qhubeka/Di Data is the way forward. A cycling tech company paired with a charity. Support your team, because your team actually stands for something more than upside down frying pan steam extraction.
There are other issues with cycling that probably aren't solvable. One being that fans of any sport are attracted to personalities and football has plenty of room for that. The players attract huge sums, seem to have quite a bit of free time to get up to no good, and regularly express themselves on the pitch and off of it. People really get to know the players, warts and all. You don't get that with cycling - I don't think it's that cycling attracts automatons, I think it's more that it's just oppressive enough to turn you into one unless you're a real free spirit (Sagan/Mario/Cromwell). The training is relentless, the lifestyle is claustrophobic, the sponsorship deals are short and careers are precarious. It's also hard to express yourself when you're riding in a massive bunch and appear as a colourful maggot squirming along from the heli cam.
Which is another thing - the peloton is huge compared to other sports, no wonder people have a hard time getting a fix on what's happening. Imagine football with all the teams playing at the same time. Cycling also looks slow and boring. They need to use better available tech to let us in on the action - protectionism is stalling that.
Personally, I don't care much for Rapha sponsoring big mens teams. I'd much rather see them do some good so I can feel good about buying their kit. SKY put me off them, but their kit is ace, so yes I bought it anyway. Glad when the deal ended. Keep at the women's professional and amateur sponsorships, and keep supporting the riders in more relatable races like the Indi Pac. Races where any one of us can enter if we dare. Rapha went in and kitted out a bunch of the riders, did pre race meets etc. Hardly anyone gives a toss about ultra racing so it meant a lot for the no.1 posh kit company to come in and show it's behind them. A win-win. Yes I'm sick of that term too, feel free to give me the heads up on an alternative.
Team kit looks shit. It's generally gaudy and entirely for the purpose of advertising and branding on a technically well-made outfit. It's better for the manufacturer to ensure that their brand is visible enough to ensure that buyers go "Oh wait, so Sky/QuickStep/AnOtherTeam wear this, I'll go have a look"; great example of this being the rise and rise of the Gabba.
That said, I'm another ninja/club-kit-only wearer
I've got 3 bits of team-branded kit - a Discovery Channel top and pair of arm warmers, which came out of an LBS bargain bin for next to nothing and have been brilliant bits of kit in spring and autumn.
The other is a Garmin-Cervelo branded Castelli top that was a present from a friend of mine that worked for one of the sponsors. Really nice top, even if I don't own a Cervelo.
I do have a company-branded top and shorts set from a corporate assault on a charity sportive last year, which is actually pretty tasteful and not bad kit, so does get worn.
As a general rule, though, I wouldn't wear team kit. I wouldn't wear Team Sky kit on principle, apart from not liking the styling.
My wife really liked the Astana kit from a couple of seasons ago, but doesn't have any.
I suspect that the fashion victim market has been saturated and the actual cyclists are doing what they always have done, wearing what they feel comfortable in. Cycling fans tend to favour particular riders rather than teams so they won't slavishly buy everything with the team logo on it.
Castelli have been in the cycle clothing market for a very long time, they may well have a better understanding of how it works than have some with less experience.
The only current team kit I'd consider wearing would be Lotto Soudal, but won't do that until they change sponsors. I liked IAM's kit from last year but I'm not Swiss. Also Danish national team kit from the Olympics.
i'm perfectly happy to wear a Southampton football shirt or England/Barbarians rugby jersey, or Cubs/Patriots/Mariners kit. I guess its because I'm not actually participating in those sports.
Which begs the question - what if non-cycling sports started selling cycling kit in their colours? I'm sure there's a bunch of Juventus fans who are happy to wear the old Carpano black/white retro jersey.
I have a few of the NRL ones that Wiggle dumped a year or two back...
https://hubcycling.cc/collections/nrl-ss-jerseys
If you're a fan of Grimsby Town you're in luck.
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/grimsby-town-release-a-cyc...
If Rapha is looking to be sold, the sponsorship line coming off the accounts must also make it look a much better bet!
I certainly don't want to be a cycling billboard for brands - and having to pay for that too!
Actually, I think it's much smarter for Rapha to support events such as the Indian Pacific Wheel Race in the way they've done:
- daily branded high-production value videos
- free clothing and shoes to well known participants such as Cycling Maven.
- supporting social media efforts
etc
That will provide much more return I suspect.
Couldn't agree more. Same reason I don't wear branded 'fashion' clothes either. Fashion doesn't make you cool, it makes you a sheep.
Signed, another ninja.
It is a shame people don't want to be shown 'supporting teams' by wearing the kit on one hand. I say wear what you want and sod the rest (but then again note I'm generally either in all black like a ninja or non matched kit looking like a dogs dinner).
I think it does boil down to the way the sport is a bit broke financially. I believe teams are so stretched that there is no outreach for grass roots, which is a failing, imagine if there was a small vein of association from a world tour team to local club level, imagine the support/pride that would be gained from having a 'Local Wheelers' club with the team sky logo on the kit.. maybe they part fund the kit or something, it could be done. Naysayers may hate, but everyone loves their 'local kid done good pro' and by association their team.
I think they should cap rider wages and share TV rights, 'Crazy Oleg' had some ideas before he went all crackpot and irrelevant.
I don't blame Rapha for quitting it, they've had all the benefits for three years, time to find a new path.
I don't think that'll catch on, brapp
If you are interested in teams that reach out to their fans and support grass roots cycling, then you could do worse than taking a look at Dimension Data team. Subscribing to their newsletter gets me frequent pre and post race reports as well as updates on their charity work (and the opportunity to donate :-)). They also have a development structure to be proud of. There is of course the World Tour team, but there is also a full continental team racing in Europe whose goal is to provide a stepping stone between national level racing and the WT team. Last time I checked it had a nearly entirely African roster. I have not lived in SA for a few years now, but back when it was sponsored by MTN, there was quite a lot of sponsorship at national level as well as local club level (by club I mean both racing an leisure cycling). It was team that grew very much from it's grassroots up. And finally, there is of course the Qhubeka bikes element which is less recreation and more a life-changing transport angle that the team is regularly involved with (bike hand out days). Whether a recipient of a bike ever goes on to be a WT riders is irrelevant as the intention is to change people's lives in a non-sporting sense.
“The proportion of team kit w***ers is less and less.”
"The connection with cyclists and engagement and getting fans more connected with the sport never worked quite as well as we wanted"
Rapha, the brand of the people, connecting kids with sociable cycling...
Because Altura/Endura/Aldi/lidl do this...
They must have been confusing cyclists with football fans.
I wouldn't say that the people not wanting to wear the team kit is a sign that pro racing is broken.
I just don't want to cycle round with Sky branding in case i may be seen endorsing the broken British media landscape.
I always wait until a team is defunct/changes sponsor before wearing their kit - hello Belkin and Caisse d'Epargne, but nothing would ever convince me to ride around in a proper Sky kit because of Murdoch being clearly evil
I did get the Ian Stannard/Ghent Hustle/Bear of Flanders jersey in their Sky fire sale though. An achievement worth marking .... and very subtle Sky branding, the orange and yellow brevet stripts are much more visible, and it has Yogi bear on
http://pages.rapha.cc/team-sky/ian-stannard-and-the-ghent-hustle
Aye, there is that. But another reason, for me anyway, is simply the design of (modern day) team kit. The phrase "walking billboard" comes to mind. It's just too busy, too shouty. I really like Rapha, have got lots of their kit, but precisely because the look of their non-team kit is understated and tasteful.
Wouldn't have an issue with the "Walking Billboard" bit if the price was substantially reduced. After all I'd be providing an advertising service for them.
Not sure how many comapnies would want to advertise with (should that be "on") a 45yr old fat bloke though....
Except he is talking about all team kit you muppet.
You waited a whole year to say that?
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