Dodgy sponsors

[Dogtrousers]

The logo is on the jersey and the team renamed from UAE Abu Dhabi when the airline started sponsoring.

I assumed they were just fiddling with the name to keep Carlton on his toes.

 

[Cathryn]

This is probably wrong, but here's a breakdown of main (team name level) sponsors at World Tour level

Most popular is the construction industry with 6 sponsors: Bora (Kitchens), Wanty (civil engineers), Deceuninck (Windows), Soudal (adhesives and gloopy stuff), Hansgrohe (bathrooms), Quick-Step (flooring)

Then we have 4 sponsors that are places. None of which I have an urge to visit. Astana, UAE, Bahrain, AlUla (Saudi Resort)
Four from Finance/Insurance: Cofidis, Arkea, AG2R, Groupama

Three from the automotive industry: Jayco, Citroen, Grenadiers

Two each from gambling and supermarkets:
Gambling: FDJ (lottery), Circus (online gambling)
Supermarket: Jumbo, Intermarche

That leaves one each from the remainder:
Bicycles (Trek)
Coffee (Segafredo)
Education (EF Education)
Facilities management (Samsic)
Nutrition (DSM)
Petrochemicals (Ineos)
Shampoo (Alpecin)
Shipping (Easypost)
Software (Visma)
Telco (Movistar)
Airline (Emirates) added on advice from @mjr

You might want to point out errors, or argue with classifications - eg are Soudal and Alpecin both actually petrochemicals?. Feel free to do your own breakdown.

So which cyclist has best represented their sponsor?
I'm going for Marcel Kittel and his splendid Alpecin quiff
Peter Sagan gets comedy points for advertising kitchen extractors with the unforgettable line "I'm loooving this coooking revolooootion"

This is a superb breakdown! Thanks!

 

[Dogtrousers]

Here's an attempt at the same thing for the Women's World Tour.

Top of the list is the cycling industry, with 8 sponsors
Basso
Bike Exchange
Canyon
Le Col
Liv
SRAM
Trek
Wahoo

Four software/IT
SD Worx
Tibco
Visma
Xstra(Digital storage)

Then 3 from the finance industry. One of which is cycling specific, so could - at a pinch - go in the first category.
ADQ
CAMS(Cycling Insurance)
SVB(Silicon Valley Bank)

Two Health/Wellness
DSM
Human Powered Health

Two places. One of which I'd be happy to visit.
Nouvelle Aquitaine
UAE

And one each of the rest

Automotive: Jayco
Coffee: Segafredo
Education: EF Education
Engineering: Ceratizit WNT (I think these are one sponsor, not two. Could be wrong)
Gambling: FDJ(Lottery)
Petrochemicals: Uno-X(Fuel stations)
Supermarket: Jumbo
Telco: Movistar
Theme park: Futuroscope

 

[Dogtrousers]

And here's a pretty picture

Women's teams are much less likely to be sponsored by the construction industry and much more likely to be sponsored by the cycling industry than men's.
Men's teams are somewhat more likely to be sponsored by the automotive industry or dodgy places, and somewhat less likely to be sponsored by software or IT companies.

Beyond that it's much of a muchness. A supermarket here, a gambling organisation there.

Of course this is just number of sponsors, not €€€. No one imagines that Ineos and Uno-X put in the same, or comparable, amounts of money. But they are both counted under "petrochemicals"

 

[Alex321]

Of course this is just number of sponsors, not €€€. No one imagines that Ineos and Uno-X put in the same, or comparable, amounts of money. But they are both counted under "petrochemicals"

It really doesn't matter how much they put in. It is the name that is seen by the public, regardless of whether they put in £10K or £10 million.

 

[Dogtrousers]

It really doesn't matter how much they put in. It is the name that is seen by the public, regardless of whether they put in £10K or £10 million.

I think the management of the various teams might disagree with that.

Oh no, we've just lost our title sponsor. Still, no need to worry, the local butcher has offered us free sausages if we advertise them, and it's the thought that counts.

 

[Alex321]

I think the management of the various teams might disagree with that.

Oh no, we've just lost our title sponsor. Still, no need to worry, the local butcher has offered us free sausages if we advertise them, and it's the thought that counts.

The management would yes. But I thought the point of this thread was about the visibility of "unsuitable" sponsors, and that is down to what the public sees, not what management get.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The management would yes. But I thought the point of this thread was about the visibility of "unsuitable" sponsors, and that is down to what the public sees, not what management get.

Even then, the amount of cash will strongly influence to the amount of exposure. For example, before doing this research I was well aware of who Ineos are and what their business is, but I didn't have a clue about Uno-X.

You can bet that if Uno-X put in the same amount of cash that Ineos does I wouldn't be so clueless.

By the way, in case you're wondering: Uno-X is a chain of unmanned fuel stations throughout Norway and Denmark. It is operated as the low-cost section of YX Energi. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uno-X )

That's why my diagram above needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Or at least, it requires a critical reading of the Y axis label.

 

[mjr]

Even then, the amount of cash will strongly influence to the amount of exposure. For example, before doing this research I was well aware of who Ineos are and what their business is, but I didn't have a clue about Uno-X.

You can bet that if Uno-X put in the same amount of cash that Ineos does I wouldn't be so clueless.

By the way, in case you're wondering: Uno-X is a chain of unmanned fuel stations throughout Norway and Denmark. It is operated as the low-cost section of YX Energi. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uno-X )

Yes, you often see Uno-X stations on the routes of races in those countries, but unless you drive there more than I think, Uno-X at the moment probably don't care whether a random person in England knows what they do, as long as people in Norway and Denmark do. Whereas Ineos would probably like you to consider buying their horrible runny hand sanitiser instead of others, like you to think nicely of businesses who display it in their washrooms, and really want you to listen when Sirjim speaks out on politics or feel sorry for him when he's criticised in the press. Their rosters reflect this targetting a bit, as well as the marketing of their teams.

 

[Psamathe]

I think the management of the various teams might disagree with that.

Oh no, we've just lost our title sponsor. Still, no need to worry, the local butcher has offered us free sausages if we advertise them, and it's the thought that counts.

And local butcher might get their name in small text under the bottom bracket competing against petrochemical giant with names blazoned over shirts, vans, flags, etc.

Ian