Professional Cycling For the Fans - Team Discovery

Ive gotta question about discovery. Okay i saw the whole Lance Chronicles thing. But i am kinda confused. Did Discovery buy usps pro cycling or is Lance just changing teams. I am kinda surprized becuase i thought lance was happy with his usps team. I think they are the best team of domestiques (sp??)

Can some one please sort this out for me.

United States Postal Service (you know the mail and stamps folks),
due to pressure by a group of "concerned citizens" from Lake Worth
Fla. Chose to stop sponsorship of the team at the end of the 2004 season.
Discovery Media has chosen to sponsor the team, they will provide money
(couple million) and in turn get alot of advertising.
So, no Discovery didn't buy the team and Lance didn't change teams.
USPS will become Discovery (has happened before, Once became Liberty Serquero's,
I forget who Motorola became (usps?)).

Hope this helps,
Marty

If I may ask, what were this "concerned citizens" from Lake Worth Fla. so concerned about?

Is anyone else reminded of the Simpsons episode when the kids are coming up with names for teams they were forming (forgot what it was for) and Ralph Wiggum, who was paired off with Nelson the bully, suggested "Team Discovery Channel!" and Nelson groans. :D Well, at least I can amuse myself with the thought...

Lake Worth Fla. has a large contingent of retired postal workers. The reported problem
was that the postal service was running in the red, that workers were getting layed
off and that postal service was spending money (1.8 million USD I believe) on sponsoring
a bike team. They neglected to mention that the amount they actually paid was something
like 3% of the total advertising budget. A few infuential people (congress?) got involved
and that was all it needed so they (postal service) dropped support.
There is more info at www.postalwatch.org (http://www.postalwatch.org)

Marty

United States Postal Service (you know the mail and stamps folks),
due to pressure by a group of "concerned citizens" from Lake Worth
Fla. Chose to stop sponsorship of the team at the end of the 2004 season......

Huh??

ok, i searched myself, found this:

link to article (http://www.postalwatch.org/news2004/2004_03_24_au_revoir_lance.htm)

Lake Worth Fla. has a large contingent of retired postal workers. The reported problem
was that the postal service was running in the red, that workers were getting layed
off and that postal service was spending money (1.8 million USD I believe) on sponsoring
a bike team. They neglected to mention that the amount they actually paid was something
like 3% of the total advertising budget. A few infuential people (congress?) got involved
and that was all it needed so they (postal service) dropped support.
There is more info at www.postalwatch.org (http://www.postalwatch.org)

Marty

I thought it was closer to $10MM.

-mark

Is there any truth to the rumor I heard that Postal will be sponsoring a NASCAR team next year?

It's a little confusing. The team itself is owned by Tailwind sports and CSE. They then go out and sell sponsorship to run the team. So right now the US Post office sponsors the team, next year it will be discovery communications.

http://www.tailwindsports.com/
http://www.planetcse.com/

United States Postal Service (you know the mail and stamps folks),
due to pressure by a group of "concerned citizens" from Lake Worth
Fla. Chose to stop sponsorship of the team at the end of the 2004 season.
Discovery Media has chosen to sponsor the team, they will provide money
(couple million) and in turn get alot of advertising.
So, no Discovery didn't buy the team and Lance didn't change teams.
USPS will become Discovery (has happened before, Once became Liberty Serquero's,
I forget who Motorola became (usps?)).

Hope this helps,
Marty


Yea thanks That helps alot. :D

Well, I guess the post office will be out of debt in no time since they're not sponsoring USPS, since that's their logic.

I'll keep track of those idiots in Congress that put the pressure on USPS to *save money* by dropping the team if their bottom line doesn't increase next year.

:rolleyes: There's always an excuse...

Koffee

FWIW, I used to always ship via UPS (give me a second to shudder...*shudder*). Pissed that my packages were taking a long time to reach their destinations and feeling it in my wallet too, I decided to give the USPS a shot.

Much, much cheaper and incomparably faster. Provided it isn't a huge package or has to go overseas, I always use USPS. The sponsorship of the bike team probably played a decent role in my giving USPS my business. That and the fact that the FedEx station is on the other side of town.

It'll be weird to see Discovery branded Treks next year.

It's a little confusing. The team itself is owned by Tailwind sports and CSE. They then go out and sell sponsorship to run the team. So right now the US Post office sponsors the team, next year it will be discovery communications.

http://www.tailwindsports.com/
http://www.planetcse.com/

Correct.

Discovery Channel is just a new sponser, it's the same team.

USPS will be sponsering a second rate NASCAR Busch Team at about twice the cost of the cycling team. How do you justify dropping the third most recognized athlete in the world? The citizens group in Florida had no impact on USPS's marketing budget.

Is anyone else reminded of the Simpsons episode when the kids are coming up with names for teams they were forming (forgot what it was for) and Ralph Wiggum, who was paired off with Nelson the bully, suggested "Team Discovery Channel!" and Nelson groans. :D Well, at least I can amuse myself with the thought...



Bart: Milhouse, you and me will be Omega team, Todd, you and Data are 'Team Strike Force'. Nelson, that leaves you and Martin.
Martin: Team Discovery Channel!
Nelson: Aww... your wussiness better come in handy.

FWIW, I used to always ship via UPS (give me a second to shudder...*shudder*). Pissed that my packages were taking a long time to reach their destinations and feeling it in my wallet too, I decided to give the USPS a shot.

Much, much cheaper and incomparably faster. Provided it isn't a huge package or has to go overseas, I always use USPS. The sponsorship of the bike team probably played a decent role in my giving USPS my business. That and the fact that the FedEx station is on the other side of town.

It'll be weird to see Discovery branded Treks next year.

I used UPS also, but when it comes to overseas, they gouge you, and then they gouge the person you're sending the package too. This time, I went with USPS to send my package overseas, and not only did it get there without incident, they didn't charge a penny to the person receiving the package, and it got there in good time. I can't stand UPS. They are @ssholes.

Koffee

The Team Discovery Channel jerseys are ugly :X

The Team Discovery Channel jerseys are ugly :X
I doubt that the Jersey they showed on "The Lance Chronicles" is the real jersey, but rather a something that they whipped up so that they'd have SOMETHING to present.

When are they making the Sponser Change? After the tour de france?

When are they making the Sponsor Change? After the Tour de France?
Next season.

In answer to the question "I thought it was closer to $10 million." The total budget for the team is about $10 million, but there are numerous sponsors that contribute smaller amounts that add up to $10M. Some of the other sponsors are Berry Floor, Thomas Weisel, AMD, Nike, etc. The more money the sponsor puts up, the more real estate they get on the uniform. The sponsor that puts up the most money is the title sponsor. I'm not clear what constitutes the "presented by" sponsor. Second highest amount?

Correct. That's why they are part of the team name.

In answer to the question "I thought it was closer to $10 million." The total budget for the team is about $10 million, but there are numerous sponsors that contribute smaller amounts that add up to $10M. Some of the other sponsors are Berry Floor, Thomas Weisel, AMD, Nike, etc. The more money the sponsor puts up, the more real estate they get on the uniform. The sponsor that puts up the most money is the title sponsor. I'm not clear what constitutes the "presented by" sponsor. Second highest amount?


Just FYI: it will cost about US$20 million for the NASCAR sponsership if they plan to win a championship.

Does anyone have a copy of the Lance Chronicles on video or dvd to buy?

kudos on the simpsons tie in. it's brilliant.

oh, and as for the whole postal watch folks: they're morons. blithering morons. well, them and that other group that didn't seem to comprehend the relationship between USPS dollars and their taxes.

and i, too, started using USPS whenever possible for packages. no longer, now. and i plan to let them know why.

Well, I guess the post office will be out of debt in no time since they're not sponsoring USPS, since that's their logic.

I'll keep track of those idiots in Congress that put the pressure on USPS to *save money* by dropping the team if their bottom line doesn't increase next year.

:rolleyes: There's always an excuse...

Koffee
Koffee..You are tracking those idiots in Congress....I would like to know...Who are the idiots in Congress you are referring to....?
I agree, i also hate UPS...Refuse to use them..Never...I have personal issues with their being Azzholes.

I heard on the news a couple of weeks ago that the USPS is considering raising the price of stamps to .41 cents. No one will be able to blame the cost increase on Lance (I have actually heard that in the past).

The new Discovery uniforms won't be on display until January.

Here is a link where you can keep up with Lance & co.

http://www.thepaceline.com/