Dodgy sponsors

[mjr]

I see Jim twatcliffe has just excelled himself going on about the UK has been taken over immigrants, whilst talking about the positive changes he’s made at Manchester United. What the f¥ck is he going to add when he mentions the positives he’s made to Ineos 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

That's Jim Ratcliffe, an immigrant to Monaco who no longer pays his taxes to the UK, owner of Manchester United with a squad of 21 immigrant and 7 "home" players, complaining about immigrants. The irony meter has exploded.

Butt out, Jim. No representation without taxation, eh?

 

[phreak]

That's Jim Ratcliffe, an immigrant to Monaco who no longer pays his taxes to the UK, owner of Manchester United with a squad of 21 immigrant and 7 "home" players, complaining about immigrants. The irony meter has exploded.

Butt out, Jim. No representation without taxation, eh?

That's Jim Ratcliffe, an immigrant to Monaco, where 75% of the population are immigrants, having the nerve totalk about "colonisation."

 

[CarbonClem]

I never was happy with Team Sky being backed by the Murdoch empire, when they announced an exit, I thought 'that's good, new owners have to be better, right?'.

Jim Ratcliffe - 'Hold my beer ....'

 

[Dogtrousers]

I never was happy with Team Sky being backed by the Murdoch empire, when they announced an exit, I thought 'that's good, new owners have to be better, right?'.

Jim Ratcliffe - 'Hold my beer ....'

At least Sky won things.

 

[mjr]

Team EF and Visma Lisa Bike going public with sponsor searches is discussed in Inner Ring : Brittle Teams
https://inrng.com/2026/02/brittle-teams/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brittle-teams

 

[BrumJim]

I never was happy with Team Sky being backed by the Murdoch empire, when they announced an exit, I thought 'that's good, new owners have to be better, right?'.

Jim Ratcliffe - 'Hold my beer ....'

Wasn't it James Murdoch, the errant son of Rupert who has been written out of the inheritence due to not sharing his Dad's World Domination under Far Right Ideology who was the driving force behind Team Sky? Due to his interest in cycling?

 

[CarbonClem]

Wasn't it James Murdoch, the errant son of Rupert who has been written out of the inheritence due to not sharing his Dad's World Domination under Far Right Ideology who was the driving force behind Team Sky? Due to his interest in cycling?

Yes, I believe so. Its a stretch to disassociate him from the whole thing though.

 

[matticus]

At least Sky won things.

Ouch!

 

[wakemalcolm]

Team EF and Visma Lisa Bike going public with sponsor searches is discussed in Inner Ring : Brittle Teams
https://inrng.com/2026/02/brittle-teams/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brittle-teams

Thanks for highlighting that: as with most of his work, it's a great article.

The worrying thing it highlights is that as cycling becomes a more expensive sport to be competitive, it's also an easy sport to walk away from: most contracts are short and there's precious few fixed assets to dispose of. Supporters are also used to the regular churn of named sponsors so there's not a huge amount of reputational damage to be done (& a lot of the current sponsors don't have much of a reputation to defend).

If I was looking for a return on investment in cycling these days, I'd probably buy the cheapest French team ranked in the top 30 and hire as many disaffected U23 riders who see their paths blocked in the devt teams. They'll get to ride the tour and some of them will get their contracts bought out.

 

[Dogtrousers]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...grenadiers-naming-rights-in-100m-rebrand-deal

Ratcliffe is to retain ownership of the Ineos Grenadiers Netcompany team but relinquish the title sponsorship. I wonder how long he will hang around now that he's no longer promoting his company. Is owning a cycling team a sufficient ego-trip?

The new sponsor, Netcompany, is a Danish IT consultancy outfit, but they seem to have a significant UK presence. They have Heathrow , NHS England and National Highways on their client books.

From the Grauniad link above:

Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Grenadiers cycling team will be renamed and rebranded with a new lead sponsor and new kit before the start of this year’s Tour de France in Barcelona on 4 July.​

​

The Guardian understands that while Ratcliffe and Ineos head of sport, Dave Brailsford, will retain ownership and management of the team, the new title sponsor of the World Tour cycling team will be the Danish IT supplier Netcompany.​

​

It is believed that the Copenhagen-based company will, over five years, invest around €100m (£86m) in the team, which is enjoying renewed success this spring, under the stewardship of Brailsford and the recently retired Tour de France winner, Geraint Thomas.​

​

However, Ineos and fellow sponsor Total Energies will also continue to support the team. The additional investment will mean Ineos relinquishing naming rights​

 

[gsk82]

If he gets Total on board and a few others he could be the owner but it not cost him anything, or just a top up