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Kim Fournais, Bjarne Riis and Lars Seier Christensen: delivering results |
The value of advertising or sponsorship is not easy to quantify but if it is measured purely by how many column inches it generates, Saxo Bank’s decision to take over the main sponsorship of the CSC cycling team from 2009 is likely to prove a masterful decision.
The bank announced in June that it would become the team’s immediate co-sponsor, a move that will mean its name will be in focus prominently throughout the whole of July as a result of the Tour de France. Although portrayed in some media outlets as a parochial event competed for by a load of drug-fuelled cheats, the Tour de France is the world’s largest annual sporting event. Therefore, it attracts huge coverage, importantly in many of the countries – such as France, Switzerland and Australia – where Saxo has recently started to make a commercial push.
Cynics will argue that Saxo risks having its name tainted by a drugs scandal, something for which professional cycling is well known. Team CSC Saxo Bank is owned and managed by Bjarne Riis, the only Danish cyclist to have triumphed in the Tour de France, which he won in 1996. However, his victory is now seen as tainted after he admitted in 2007 that he had used illegal drugs during the race and throughout his career. Riis has made much of the strict anti-drug regime he now has in place, which includes regular testing of his cyclists, but questions will always remain of whether a poacher can truly turn gamekeeper.
Riis himself is open about the difficulties this presents. "Not everyone believes in what we do. That is fine with me: I am happy knowing that our team is different. I am even happier knowing that we have delivered results in both sports and business that speak for themselves," he writes on the team’s website.
Saxo hasn’t disclosed the financials of the deal, but it is likely to be putting in about $12 million a year. "I can’t give you the contract details, sorry, but no doubt it is the best value available for the number of eyeballs in any sport. We didn’t think there was any point negotiating a low sponsorship contribution, though. Bjarne Riis needs the best riders to continue to be the best team in the world, which is the ambition. If we wanted to be second best, I am sure we could have found a cheaper team," says Saxo CEO Lars Christensen.