A version of this article appeared in the 23 October 2009 edition of the Dakota Student at the University of North Dakota. It is reposted here by the author.
By the time you read this, the UND Cycling Team's eBay auctions of sponsorship will be over for the year. The pennies will have been counted, another temporary budget constructed, and the jerseys will have started to be designed. Whether the process will be repeated next year has yet to be determined, because this year it was a resounding failure.
I'm submitting this in advance of the final totals, but unless bids for the cheapest sponsorship package far surpass those of the most expensive, the sponsorship received by the club won't make an appreciable difference for the spring road season; already team members are trying to figure out how they will be able to afford everything, and because some sponsorship was received, the price of new jerseys and shorts is now included in that total, along with food and fuel to carry several athletes to multiple-race weekends as far away as Kansas (contrary to some reports, sponsorship money was never intended to purchase new bicycles for the team).
Where did the plan go wrong? The legwork was done, to contact (in person) as many area businesses as possible, to set up the eBay auctions, and to work with the media. The cost of each sponsorship package was reduced to $100 starting bids-a small amount when you're getting jersey, website, and race-day advertising to reach people throughout the upper midwest for a whole year (thousands of hours in all). Many of the businesses spoken to were very excited, both to get such a deal and to support UND athletics.
Then it all fell through. The auctions sat unnoticed. The title sponsorship package-including naming rights for UND Cycling Team events-went for $102.77, a fraction of the $2,500 estimated value (if you think this is steep, check out what Texas A&M gets). The gold package didn't get a bid, and neither has the silver. Did the potential sponsors spoken to think the team had enough support from UND without their help? Did they think a jersey advertisement wasn't worth it-even though it would be worn by not only a UND team during competition but by the alumni and local residents who are already asking about pre-orders?
Not being an NCAA sport, the cycling team gets no funding from the UND athletic department (the governing body of collegiate cycling is USA Cycling). The organization is limited to whatever funds can be withdrawn from SAC, the same as any other. Given that fact, racing with "UND" across the front of the jersey may be a disservice to the other sponsors, considering who actually paid for a spot, but who am I to suggest removing the identity of the team-especially when the university could cut them off for it?
It's disappointing to see such a reaction from the people of Grand Forks. Maybe cycling is too niche a sport for the area, even though it continues to grow more popular everywhere else in the country. Maybe cyclists (those on the team, in the club, or on their own) are too foreign for Grand Forks businesses to consider supporting-even though the team is a gateway into advertising on campus. It may even be that the team is considered too small to sponsor-but if you turn down the unique opportunity of having your name on the jersey during races being won by UND student athletes, can you really claim to support UND athletics beyond the mainstream?
Since sponsorship was not finalized as this went to press, an up-to-date list of 2010 sponsors for the UND Cycling Team is available at the UND Cycling Club website at http://www.und.edu/org/cycling. The author is a member of the UND Cycling Team.
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