The Economics of New Sponsorship

New season means new sponsors and teams sporting new uniforms (sorry - I just have trouble saying "kits"). And obviously the new uniforms often are a result of new sponsors. This always makes me question the economic model for a lot of teams and riders. So you bring on new sponsors and as a result make each team member purchase new clothing to display the new sponsor logos. For most team riders this new sponsorship will end up in an expediture of $150 to $500 for new clothing when most have plenty of jerseys, arm warmers, skinsuits, etc. Riders paying to become billboards.... and perhaps get some reimbursement back at the end of the season (very rarely exceeding the clothing costs).

And then there's the JERSEY REDESIGN so people are forced to get new clothing or race in completely different looking clothing from their teammates. The economics of "we picked up 5 new sponsors who contributed $3,500 to the team" so we had to go out and purchase $5,000 worth of uniforms, just doesn't make sense to me. Particularly when it involves an entirely new design. Reminds me of the story Jeff Parker told me about a co-worker when the scratch tickets first game out from VA Lottery. This guy would go out and spend $100 on scratch tickets.... go into the shop and scratch them all off. When he was done he'd throw his hands up and yell "yeah... I won $35!!!".

For our part - we only look for new sponsors when it's time to refresh our jerseys (for new team riders, crash replacement or just can't get wash the funk out any longer) to help offset some of the cost (every 2 - 3 years). And we've kept the same basic design for 15 years - I can race in a new jersey and a teammate can race in a 10 year old jersey and you'd still be able to pick us out as teammates. Better yet - we can order vests and arm warmers one year, jackets another and jerseys and skinsuits yet another and they all match. Yes, retro for sure. But inexpensive too.... and inexpensive is good.....