Cycling Media by some numbers

What is the size of the US cycling market. Here's the results of some googling:

Number of USCF license holders as of 1997: 30,000

USA cycling currently claims 58,000 members on its web site:

Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 58,000 members and 2,000 annual events.

Bicycling magazine claimed a circulation of 340,000 in 1989:

James McCullagh, editor and publisher of Bicycling, said the acquisition would increase his magazine's circulation to at least 340,000, from 310,000, after eliminating duplicate subscribers.

I've also seen circulation stats of 400,000 (Sports Illustrated is about 3.2M, Golf Digest is 1.5M)

AMERICANS BUY BIKES

More than 20 million new bikes were sold in 2000, a record high. Throughout the 1990s, sales averaged more than 16 million bikes per year, including more than 11 million “adult” bicycles. The bicycle industry generated sales totaling $5.89 billion in 2000. More than 5,400 specialty bicycle dealers and 1,000 companies are involved in the manufacture, distribution, and sales of bicycles in the United States.

How many hard-core fans of the sport are out there in the USA?

My wild-ass-guess is that it's far short of the 300,000 numbers of Bicycling magazine. Maybe on the order of the USCF membership, somewhere between 30-50,000. A total WAG at how much cash the hardcore cyclists invest in their equipment each year. Assume the average is $1000, and the population is divided up into a normal distribution.

30000 Hard Core US Cyclists

3930 Spend 0-500 per year $982,500

10230 Spend 500-1000 per year $7,672,500

10230 spend 1000-1500 per year $12,787,500

3930 spend 1500-2000 per year $6,877,500

Total $28,320,000

Some sanity checks on dollar figures above: So if the high end folks buy a higher end machine @ $5K a pop only 1200 are sold a year? That seems way low!

Holy Shit

Armstrong's seven Tour de France victories between 1999 and 2005 added jet fuel to the bike boom. In 2000 there were 145,000 high-end road bikes -- averaging about $1,100 -- sold across the country, they made up just 4 percent of the total number of bikes sold and accounted for 11 percent of the retail dollars spent, according to Jay Townley, a bicycle market analyst in Wisconsin.

Dayum, that's $159M clams if 145,000 can be believed.

VS 2006 Tour de France Ratings

Live viewership improved 77 percent from the day before. Overall gross total viewers--the addition of OLN's multiple airings on the day's events--gave the network 1.3 million viewers, some 50 percent higher than the first 19-day average of 809,000 for the event. For the rest of the weekend, OLN made significant viewers gains versus earlier parts of the race. For example, its live telecasts on the final weekend rose 85 percent to 622,000 from the weekend before. All major male demo ratings also climbed significantly--men ages 18-34 were up 93 percent; men 18-49 rose 90 percent; and men 25-54 were 98 percent higher.

Can Spurs Play In Europe Every Week?

Whoever said this European football lark was difficult was talking a load of old cobblers. Five games into Tottenham’s 2006 European Tour and with five straight wins we’ve finally found the natural home for our style of play.

Unfortunately our natural home seems to be on the continent rather than the bread and butter of the Premiership but if we keep up the fantastic form we’ve displayed in Europe, both home and away, then there aren’t many of the sides who will join us in the last 32 that we should worry about.

The threat of Barcelona dropping down fron the Champion’s League still looms large although, as with any cup competition, if you have aspirations of lifting the trophy then eventually you’ll have to face the very top teams and, still surprisingly for me despite our 100% record, Spurs are right up there with holders Sevilla as one of the UEFA Cup favourites with the football bookies.

After another clean sheet and another Berbatov goal on his old stomping ground all I can say is bring on allcomers, we’ve been so engrossed for seasons in getting that elusive European place that we’ve forgotten what it’s really all about - getting out there and beating the cream of Europe and bringing home that old pot to White Hart Lane where it belongs and who’s to say that 2006/2007 isn’t shaping up to be as good as chance to do that as anyone could possibly have dreamed before a ball was kicked in Prague the other month?

Photo credit: EPL Talk on Flickr

Even More Adu About Nothing

The will he or won’t he sign for United debate is hotting up as teenager Freddy Adu has just four days left of his trial at Man U to convince Mr Ferguson that he can be a star for the Old Trafford faithful. He has been on a two week trial from D.C United to judge whether he makes the grade for playing at the top level of the Premiership.

So far it seems the teenage sensation has impressed the coaching staff but winning over Sir Alex may prove to be a more arduous task. Adu has been tracked by the Manchester Club since he was 14 years old and it seems that this is the time if they are to make a move to capture his signature. Chelsea have also shown an interest in the Ghanaian born midfielder and a move to Old Trafford could be seen as a coup d’etat for United over their title rivals.

Adu is hailed as a footballing superstar in the Major Soccer League but whether he can transfer his skills to the English game is another question. With the big names such as Sheva failing at Chelsea it begs the question whether players can adapt to the style of play of the Premiership. Adu has said “MLS has been great. I’ve enjoyed my time with D.C. United and I’ve really grown as a professional - but to see a huge change in my abilities I need to go to Europe with all the best players”. It seems Freddy wishes to make a move to Europe and if Man United turn the youngster down then other clubs could be happily waiting in the wings to snatch his signature.

Should Man United take a chance and put pen to paper or will Freddy end up as another “what should have been” contender together with the likes of Veron and Rebrov?

He’s Got No Hair and We Don’t Care: What The F*ck Was That?

Lee on the ball, right hand edge of the Arsenal area, he beats his man and cross to the near post. Lehman goes to collect, spills, Berbatov…… GGOOOAAALLLL!

That’s how it should have went instead, about an hour into the game and Spurs 2-0 down it went like this

Lee on the ball, right hand edge of the Arsenal area, he beats his man and cross to the near post. Lehman goes to collect, spills and comfortably collects because Berbatov cannot be bothered to even chase in the cross.

It was a feature of today’s humiliating defeat to Arsenal and I feel for any fans that paid their money and made the journey across to the Emirates Stadium to watch the game. There was talk before the game of naughty workers that had hidden Tottenham scarves in the cement when building the Stadium. If it is true, it was the only thing anyone from the white half of North London did to try and win this game.

I am going to be critical but what I saw on TV today was an embarrassment and for the first time in my life, I turned off the TV before the end of the game. I could not watch and I was getting too annoyed. I was literally screaming at the TV, it was as bad as I have seen Tottenham play for a long time. I have no problem with the team getting beat, it is part and parcel of the game, but the lack of effort the eleven that started game but in was unbelievable. The only person that can probably hold his head high was Pascal Chimbonda, I thought he had an OK game but even he was not at his usually best.

Yes, there will be some fans that blame the referee. That is fine, have a go at him, have a go at the assistant linesman but finding a scapegoat does not solve the problem. Below is how I saw it.

1st Goal
Onside or Offside? I am going with onside. I thought Chimbonda was playing him on. However, the blame does not lie with Pascal, it lies squarely on the shoulders of Michael Dawson. He was miles away from Adebayor, I was sitting at home in California and was closer. He jumped out, with Ledley it must be said, not knowing where his full backs were or where the striker was. If it had been flagged offside, it would still have been shocking defending. Also, Robinson should have closed him down a lot quicker. For someone that is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, he is doing a very good impression of being the opposite.

2nd Goal
Penalty or not a penalty? Not a penalty in my mind and the ref got it wrong. However, again you have to look at the build up. Assou-Ekotto always looks so laid back to me, chewing his gum and wandering around the pitch. Ledley dropped the ball off to him and it should have been up the field, quick as you like. Instead he tried to turn and lost out. Yes, Poll did get the decision wrong and it cost a goal and perhaps 1-0 down at half time we have a chance but it was poor defending.

3rd Goal
I could not tell you. I turned off at about 65 minutes. Why? It was not good for the old heart! I was screaming at Lennon when I turned off the TV. He had just gone down the right wing and lost the ball. If it was me, I would be turning around and chasing the defender down, trying to win it back. This was, after all, a North London derby, wasn’t it? Lennon jumped up and down on the spot in frustration as Arsenal, under no pressure whatsoever, carried the ball clear. It was a joke and I was embarrassed to be watching.

The only positive thing in this game was the fact that Martin Jol looked how I felt. I still think he is the right man for the job and I hope in a couple of years time we will have a really competitive squad that can compete in the league and Europe on a regular basis. Jol is the man to lead us to that and I bet he put a rocket up the arse of each and every player in this game. You could see the look on this face. Yes, he would be disappointed with the ref’s decision but I bet you he was more disappointed with the players. Prem Plus should his reaction to the first goal. He was shaking his head well before the ball went into the back of the net and why? Because Berbatov had gave the ball away far too cheaply. It was typical of the Bulgarian front man. Brilliant one minute, absolutely awful the next.

I think the attitudes in the tunnel showed it was not going to be our day. While Henry chatted to his team mates and gave them a last minute good luck, you could see Dider Zokora walking over to the Arsenal players and shaking hands with them? I looked again, surely not, but yes, shaking hands with them. I know he is friends with Toure but wait till after the game for this kind of thing. It was a joke and something I hope Jol disciplines him about. Ledley did this thing where he turned to the players behind him, clapped his hands and (presumably) said “Come On”. How many players joined him in an “I am up for it” clap? Zero. If you have not got the right attitude before you go on the pitch, you will not have it when you get on.

All in all it was a shocking day at the office. It was joke, an embarrassment and the team were a waste of space. This was billed as the North London derby. One of the best in the world. If only the Tottenham players knew this. I was so disappointed in their effort and I think each and every one of them should give their daily wage to charity because they did not deserve it.

A "European" victory?

You would not have guessed it from the blizzard of blue and gold flags at the K Club in County Kildare today that the Ryder Cup was originally a sporting event between the best American professionals and those of Great Britain. The first contest was in June 1927 at the Worcester Country Club, Massachusetts, when the United States team defeated their counterparts from Great Britain 9½ -2½.

This victory was to set something of a precedent in that in the first 19 matches (played every other year, with none during WWII) from 1927 to 1971, the British won only three times and drew once – in 1969.

In an attempt to balance up this uneven competition, Ireland was officially added to the British team in 1973, it becoming an Anglo-Irish team for the three tournaments of 1973, 1975 and 1977. The addition, however, did nothing to change the fortunes of the players on this side of the pond. The US also won those three contests.

Almost in desperation, therefore, the British Professional Golf Association prevailed on its American counterpart to widen out the competition to all of continental Europe and, in 1979 the first of the modern matches was played, styled as the USA versus Europe. The US won that and the next two matches.

Meanwhile, the great dream of a "European identity" was stirring in the bosom of the nascent European Union (yet to acquire that name) and, in 1984 the European Council at Fontainebleau (where Thatcher got "her money back") commissioned a report from a committee chaired by Italian MEP Pietro Adonnino to recommend various measures to build the public's sense of European identity.

He reported back at the Milan Council in 1985, suggesting, amongst other things, a Euro lottery, an EU driving license, the adoption of the blue flag with gold stars; and the creation of European sports teams.

The latter endeavour has been singularly unsuccessful to the extent that when Romano Prodi in 1999 suggested "European" teams should represent the 25 EU nations at the Olympics, he was laughed out of court. But, ironically, the one area where the commission has had some success is in hijacking the "European" Ryder Cup, flooding the venues with its emblem.

Thus, as the headlines proclaimed, "Europe wins historic third victory in succession over America in Ryder Cup", there were "ring of stars" symbols everywhere, on hats, scoreboards, flags, shirts, etc. All the television symbols and other publicity logos were blue with the ring of stars.

This was all that Adonnino could have wanted when he proclaimed in 1985 that sport provided a key opportunity to promote a "sense of a European identity".

But, like so many things the EU touches, the victory was an illusion. The victorious "Europe" team included two Swedes (one of whom lost in the final day singles), two Spaniards (one of whom lost), two Irishmen (one of whom lost, the other ended all square) along with six citizens of the UK (four English, one Scot, one Northern Irish), all of whom won. In all, 21 of the 25 "European" nations were not represented. There were not many Latvians in view, or Italians, or French.

Effectively, the 1927 dream of a victory by Britain over the US has come true – only now it is under the cover of an EU flag. Perhaps that is the only model to which the EU can ever aspire which might even bring it "victory" in a wider sphere, which might explain why – for all the provocation – the poor little Europeans are so keen for Britain to remain in the EU.

Nevertheless, one does wonder how much of the EU's publicity budget was spent by the European Commission to see six Brits beat the USA.