This story is my sports/political statement of the week. The Tour of Missouri wrapped up over the weekend. Sounds like a beer pub crawl, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s one of two international cycling stage races held in the United States. The other is the Tour of California.
This race is in its third and possibly last year of existence despite tremendous success. The event that lasts a week rolls from the big cities of St. Louis and Kansas City through the small towns like Cape Girardeau and Sedalia and draws almost a half million fans a year and is said to bring almost 30 million dollars a year in revenue to the state. For that, the state of Missouri has kicked in 1.5 million dollars in sponsorship money each year, but they’re threatening to pull it, putting the races' future in peril. Can you say political stupidity?
A one and a half million dollar investment in your state that brings in close to thirty million in revenue and boosts the tax coffers and Governor Jay Nixon wants to pull funding because the state is cash strapped. Excuse me for asking, but shouldn’t you be funding more programs that actually produce more revenue for the state than they cost and also introduce thousands of people to your state who may never have been here before?
I went to Sedalia to watch the time trials. There were people from all over that came to this small Missouri town just to see this race. Some were from foreign countries. This tour featured seven teams that competed in the Tour de France. Individuals such as Mark Cavendish, winner of seven stages at this years tour, Christian Vande Velde, Thor Hushovd, Levi Leipheimer, defrocked Tour champ Floyd Landis and eventual Tour of Missouri winner Dave Zabriskie were all here.
Some thirty thousand fans lined the streets and State Fairgrounds of Sedalia, many were huge cycling fans, but just as many knew little or nothing about cycling. As I stood near a beer tent sponsored by the Sedalia Rotary Club, George Hincapie flashed by to start his trial race and one of the people standing nearby said to me, “Is he a big deal?”
I responded, “He was Lance Armstrong’s right hand man when he won his seven Tour de France titles and that tour bus right over there with his giant image on the side is selling a Hincapie line of cycling clothes. Yeah, he’s a big deal.”
“Cool”, was the response. They didn’t know Hincapie from the Hindenburg, but the important thing was that this person was at the race as were people from 40 states according to Tour organizers. Cycling is a niche sport in the U.S., but with few opportunities to see many of the international stars of the sport, people will flock to watch a race. Heck, I drove almost two hours.
The same can be said for the racers. U.S. cyclists love the opportunity to perform in their home country and they truly appreciate the fan following here. German cycling veteran Jens Voigt, who suffered a horrific crash in Stage 16 at this year’s Tour de France, said the race was as good as the majority of the races held across Europe and he could almost guarantee he’d be back again next year.
Of course someone will have to step up and sponsor the race if the state of Missouri fails to see a good investment when they’ve got one.
No comments:
Post a Comment