"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Tour of Missouri in Peril... WTF?

http://www.velonews.com/article/94831/tour-of-missouri-in-peril-as-state-faces-budget-cuts

Political games.

State knows full well they can't use the funds for anything else and they'll get more than 1.5million back in tax revenues generated by the TdM.

Political games.

State knows full well they can't use the funds for anything else and they'll get more than 1.5million back in tax revenues generated by the TdM.

Hmm - I guess I missed something in the article. Where did it say they couldn't use the funds for anything else or are you getting that from another source? Moreover, what if they don't even have the 1.5 mil to spend?

I agree though that they risk losing a significant amount of revenue if they don't pony up. We had a University of Wyoming finance professor help with our two day race. At 350 participants he figured with revenue turnover it put about $150,000 into the local economy (tax take on that locally would be $9000). Given the much larger size of the ToM you might be right on the tax loss.

It would seem likely that the promoter would have an action for breach of contract if they don't come through withe $1.5 million. Of course you'd have to read the contract to know whether the state has an out.

There is a significant political element in play here. The recently elected governor is a Democrat and the Lt. Gov. is a Republican. The ToM has long been supported by the LG - in fact, he was largely responsible for getting it off the ground in the first year and getting support for it across the state. Since it has been so successful, it hasn't really needed much selling after the first year, and the economic benefits it has brought to the state are substantial.

The way the demographics work, most of the "red" votes are across the central part of the state - along the route of the ToM. The blue votes are generally in the cities, primarily StL and KC. The governor knows where his support is - and he knows who his likely challenger is in the next gubernatorial race.

Best evidence that this is not a budget issue is that the state is supporting the All-Star game this weekend in StL. The economic benefits of that event are comparable to the ToM - but the political side is a different story.

Kind of a shame to see this happen, but I am not surprised based on the history of the governor from when he was the attorney general - everything is a political game to him.

I just volunteered for the race :O

The "out" for the state is most likely an "mae" clause (material adverse event) -- the definition of this term is murky and expensive to figure out (litigation needed).
The TurraMizzura promoters should be in contact with the Philly promoters to get all the tricks/strategies they used. Philly was a great race, great time, lots of turnout.

UPDATE:

http://www.velonews.com/article/95146/the-tour-of-missouri-is-on-governor-releases-funds

It's on.

It was the groundswell of public support that turned the tide on this. Apparently, there was quite a reaction when they made the initial announcement, and there were telephone/email campaigns that jammed the voice mailbox.

I sent an email reminding them that Vermont makes 10x more money from cycling tourism than it does from the maple syrup industry. They (MO) shouldn't kill the cash cow.
Whether they read it or not is immaterial at this point.

hmmmm....plan a trip to MO? interesting idea

We are on. For all of you hesitating on coming to MO for the tour, I encourage you to come. There is plenty of good riding out here. Missouri is a fun state to ride and a great state for a stage race. You will be surprised by the overwhelming amount of support and fanfare shows up for our race. Last I heard we still hold the record over the ToC for the most fan presence on a single stage.
~Nick

Picture I took in Missouri the first year:

http://budd.smugmug.com/photos/196658267_x666N-L.jpg

:D

-bullseye

We are on. For all of you hesitating on coming to MO for the tour, I encourage you to come. There is plenty of good riding out here. Missouri is a fun state to ride and a great state for a stage race. You will be surprised by the overwhelming amount of support and fanfare shows up for our race. Last I heard we still hold the record over the ToC for the most fan presence on a single stage.
~Nick

And the Gateway Cup (www.gatewaycup.com) is a 4 day event w/ races everyday in a different part of St. Louis.

Day four (Monday) is on the same day and same circuit as the start of the Tour of Missouri.

Awesome, awesome, awesome event for any racers considering making the trip.

Great event well done.
Can't wait to go back.

And the Gateway Cup (www.gatewaycup.com) is a 4 day event w/ races everyday in a different part of St. Louis.

Day four (Monday) is on the same day and same circuit as the start of the Tour of Missouri.

Awesome, awesome, awesome event for any racers considering making the trip.

+1 For those interested in racing and have raced it in years past, as far as I can tell 2 of the 4 "stages" of the Gateway Cup are the same so you can get exposed to two new courses (Saturday's and Monday's) with Monday being part of the TOM course like McTufferton has already added.
~Nick