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Cannondale-Drapac crowdfunding effort launches with major matching pledgePierre Rolland wins Stage 16 of 2017 Giro d'Italia (picture LaPresse - D'Alberto - Ferrari - Paolone - Spada).jpg

Cannondale-Drapac crowdfunding effort launches with major matching pledge

#SaveArgyle campaign is to keep Slipstream Sports alive in 2018
by Alex Bowden
Wed, Aug 30, 2017 16:11
6

Slipstream Sports has launched its crowdfunding campaign and announced that the first $2m of donations will be matched by Fairly Group.

On Sunday we reported how Slipstream Sports, which owns the Cannondale-Drapac UCI WorldTour team, was planning to launch a crowdfunding campaign in an attempt to secure its future following “discouraging news” about an anticipated sponsor for 2018.

AD.nl has reported that Swedish online gambling company Unibet withdrew sponsorship at the last minute. Ten years ago the company sponsored another team – for whom this year’s Tour de France runner-up, Rigoberto Uran, now with Cannondale-Drapac, rode. However, Tour de France organisers ASO refused to allow the team to ride its races, citing French laws restricting gambling.

Slipstream CEO Jonathan Vaughters has been left needing to fill a $7m hole in his budget to secure the team’s future and is looking to crowdfund a sizeable proportion.

The team initially set up a webpage on which people who wanted to back it could register their interest and earlier today an Indiegogo page was launched.

It was also announced that every dollar donated, up to $2 million, will be matched by risk management firm Fairly Group and other key supporters.

Alex Fairly, President of the Fairly Group, commented: “American pro cycling has a rich history of competitive excellence and Slipstream has carried the torch for many years, having developed many of America’s best cycling talents and taken them to the Tour de France.

“Our ethos is built on our willingness to step into our client’s most difficult challenges, and our goal in making this commitment is to provide a spark that continues to ignite the flame of support for America's best pro cyclists competing on cycling’s WorldTour stage.”

For $25 you’ll get regular email updates and access to a member’s section of the Slipstream website.

Larger contributions will get everything from mugs and totes to handwritten thank you notes from the riders, team kit and invitations to training camps. $20,000 will get you a used team bike at the end of the season.

The team makes it clear that donations will only be processed if the team continues in 2018.

Even if it is successful, it is questionable whether the same trick could be pulled off for 2019, but it would at least buy Slipstream another season in which to seek out new sponsors.

Slipstream Sports
cannondale-drapac
Crowdfunding
Indiegogo
Fairly Group
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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6 comments

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dgmtc | 7 years ago
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I think it's a bit naive of Vaughters & co and  Unibet to think that the exact issue that caused Unibet to pull out of cycling 10 years ago would have magically gone away.
Even before getting in to serious talks about sponsorship, and long before renewing rider contracts based on the assumption that Unibet money was coming in, they should have called ASO, RCS etc.
And to the moaners: PMU, FDJ, Lotto (BE) and Lotto (NL) are a completely different thing than Unibet and other for profit internet-bookmakers.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/race-exclusions-contribute-to-end-of-uni...

 

Avatar
kitkat replied to dgmtc | 7 years ago
1 like
dgmtc wrote:

And to the moaners: PMU, FDJ, Lotto (BE) and Lotto (NL) are a completely different thing than Unibet and other for profit internet-bookmakers.

No, gambling is gambling. Yes there might be more benefit to 'good causes' (however they're decided)  but as Crampy said, that probably doesn't make the person who spent excessively on tickets and scratchcards feel better

Avatar
Crampy replied to dgmtc | 7 years ago
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dgmtc wrote:

I think it's a bit naive of Vaughters & co and  Unibet to think that the exact issue that caused Unibet to pull out of cycling 10 years ago would have magically gone away.
Even before getting in to serious talks about sponsorship, and long before renewing rider contracts based on the assumption that Unibet money was coming in, they should have called ASO, RCS etc.
And to the moaners: PMU, FDJ, Lotto (BE) and Lotto (NL) are a completely different thing than Unibet and other for profit internet-bookmakers.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/race-exclusions-contribute-to-end-of-uni...

 

 

Whilst I agree that the Cannondale Drapac managment should have checked that using a for-profit book maker was all above board before taking thier money and using it to budget for the next year; I cannot agree that national lotteries are any less "gambling" and therefore potentially life shatteringly addictive (I have personally seen the effects of gambling dependency - it is NOT funny or cool) than internet poker or having a flutter on the gee gees. 

Surely it is this latent potential for addictiond that is the reason ASO et. al. do not want to advertise this - and not what the money generated by the gambling gets used for? 

Yet another case of two sets of rules - one for the Eeeenglish (speaking) pig dogs and another for the rest of the baguette / chorizo / frites /waffle / garlic buddies brigade.

Avatar
Crampy | 7 years ago
0 likes

But what is the issue? That the money is used for community projects etc is really immaterial - gambling is gambling. Folks can get hooked on scratch cards just as much as they can on video poker / slots or blackjack. 

I'm willing to bet that if Jonathan Vaughters was called Jean le Vaughtiers and Slipstream Sports / Cannondale Drapac was based in France it would be a different story...

ASO are a bunch of crooks, end of.

Avatar
kitkat | 7 years ago
1 like
Quote:

Swedish online gambling company Unibet withdrew sponsorship at the last minute. <snip> However, Tour de France organisers ASO refused to allow the team to ride its races, citing French laws restricting gambling

WHAT?!

So Lotto NL Jumbo - not gambling? Lotto Soudal - not gambling? + a number of other smaller teams?

On The Cycling Podcast JV gave an interesting perspective on how ASO are keeping cycle racing funding in a box through their behaviour

 

Avatar
turboprannet replied to kitkat | 7 years ago
0 likes
kitkat wrote:
Quote:

Swedish online gambling company Unibet withdrew sponsorship at the last minute. <snip> However, Tour de France organisers ASO refused to allow the team to ride its races, citing French laws restricting gambling

WHAT?!

So Lotto NL Jumbo - not gambling? Lotto Soudal - not gambling? + a number of other smaller teams?

On The Cycling Podcast JV gave an interesting perspective on how ASO are keeping cycle racing funding in a box through their behaviour

 

Lotto NL, Lotto, FDJ - all national lotteries where money is also used for community projects and other things like that.

Unibet is a for-profit bookmaker which is different. It may be a restriction on this but it is probably down to the terms of the sponsorship that PMU give to the Tour (green jersey etc)

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