Start a new road racing team or not?

[garyrams]

After a lifetime of cycling for pleasure and following the sport in general I want to get involved in pro road racing in some way on the business end (not riding) ideally in the West Midlands. I’m undecided if I should start my own team and start at the bottom, entering local and national races or look to join an existing team with the view to sponsoring and raising further finance to go to the next level. I’ve spent the last ten plus years working in the film industry raising finance for films. Raising money for a cycling team will be a challenge, but I’m confident enough to take on that challenge and succeed. So I would be interested to get some feedback about either a) New Team for 2019 or b) look to join an existing team who would benefit from my business and organisational background.

[eileithyia]

Where are you based? would it help if you pm'd me some details and I can ask some of those I know who are running teams to get in touch either with advice or with partnership ideas? I guess your level of competition may depend on the level / cost of sponsorship / how much you can put into a team.

[TrevA]

My son has ridden for a number of UK Pro teams - Merlin, Plowman-Craven, Sigma, Cycle Premier, 23c and Metaltek-Kuota. Some of these were well financed, others run on a shoestring. Teams are always looking for additional sponsors, so I would start off by co-sponsoring an existing team. That way, you can learn the ropes and what is needed in terms of commitment, finance and organisation. You can then go solo and be the main sponsor the following year, if you find that you like it.

Are you just looking to put money in or will you be involved in managing the team too? There's a fair time commitment to managing a team, depending on what level they are at. You may find you have to spend weekends away.

[garyrams]

Are you just looking to put money in or will you be involved in managing the team too? There's a fair time commitment to managing a team, depending on what level they are at. You may find you have to spend weekends away.

Thank you TrevA for taking the time to reply and your advice is well noted. That certainly is an option to sponsor a team for one year, see how it is done and then start my own team at some point after. I just don't want to be someone who puts up money, I want to be an integral part of the team but leave the 'racing' to the people who know best, I don't want to interfere with tactics etc, just want to get involved and see how far I can take a team. A huge part of that is raising finance. I'm aware of how much time will be needed but I have all the time in the word now so weekends away sounds great!! Thanks again.

[thirdcrank]

The controlling body is British Cycling AKA the BCF.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/

While I can't see anything on their website about how to sponsor a racing team, I tend to think they must be the people to ask for advice. I can't imagine they shun new sponsors of the sport.

Although this forum is CyclingUK, which might not seem much different, the AKA here is Cyclists' Touring Club.

[garyrams]

The controlling body is British Cycling AKA the BCF.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/

While I can't see anything on their website about how to sponsor a racing team, I tend to think they must be the people to ask for advice. I can't imagine they shun new sponsors of the sport.

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated. I am aware of that avenue thank you, I'm just trying to get a bit of feedback and an ideas. I just don't want to be a sponsor of a team, I would like to get involved at the business end of a team. If it was just a case of sponsoring a team then I may as well start my own and promote my own brand. Thanks again.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Founding a resilient team is very much a rich man’s folly. Even the big ‘household names’ barely scrape by ( on the grand scheme of things) they don’t generate big numbers, and therefore, they generally never make business sense, unless your business is money laundering, or you need something to use as ‘leverage’. Like big premiership football teams, in some senses, the cycling teams that score successes, are ego massages, for the great white chiefs, not brilliant businesses.