Sky ends sponsorship deal with British Cycling

(Radu Razvan / Shutterstock.com)

According to reports 2016 will be the final year of the long running sponsor partnership between Sky and governing body of cycling British Cycling.

Sky has sponsored British Cycling for eight years, overseeing the sport grow exponentially. The landmark partnership began in 2008 following the Beijing Olympics, which saw eight gold medals for cycling.

The deal between the two was renewed four years later just before London 2012, where Team GB went on to win eight gold medals once more.

No formal reason has been given for the end of the partnership, and it raises questions as to why Sky would allow this to happen just as cycling’s popularity is at an all-time high. One reason could be that it may be virtually unattainable to continue the level of success achieved in recent years.

According to statistics from British Cycling, the partnership did help promote it as an activity or viable way to commute, with more than 1.7 million people now cycling regularly.

The media have suggested that money might be a key factor in the decision, as Sky paid over £4 billion to keep hold of the maximum possible number of Premier League football matches, nearly double the £2 billion it paid 2 years ago.

The professional road team Team Sky will be unaffected by the split, with manager Sir Dave Brailsford outlining details of a new five year vision to take the squad up to 2020.

British Cycling now faces a challenge to find a partner capable of providing high quality financial and marketing support than can continue to sustain the huge growth of recent years, and to hopefully expand up on it.

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