A new agreement unlocks investment and expertise that will see Velon taking the lead in delivering the full athlete experience to fans in a never-before-seen way.
Today Velon announces that it has entered into a revolutionary partnership with Infront Sports & Media, the leading international sports marketing company. The deal will give Velon access to Infront’s market leading technology, media production and sports marketing expertise and enable Velon to build a long term and sustainable economic model for the sport, its teams and riders. The first phase of the partnership will enable live race data to revolutionize the fan experience.
This 10-year agreement is a significant step towards Velon achieving its core goals of, which include:
– Bringing fans closer to the riders, races and teams through technical and media solutions.
– Aggregating the rights of 11 of the biggest teams to improve the financial stability of the sport and thus benefit their staff and riders.
Infront is now Velon’s strategic partner across all of Velon’s new and existing business opportunities; they have also been tasked with growing the commercial revenues/revenue streams with Velon and work with key partners including event organizers, their partners and the UCI.
Technology Solution
Initially, this agreement will provide investment into a technology solution to bring the racing alive in an innovative and meaningful new way for the fans. In order to provide the broadest array of expertise, Infront involves its subsidiaries Host Broadcast Services (HBS) and Omnigon. The agreement will result in the ability for bikes to carry the necessary technology to live stream performance data and video to feed into the race coverage.
This is pivotal to a core goal of Velon, bringing fans closer to the riders, races and teams, enhancing their experience in following cycling while also growing the core fanbase of the sport through this exciting development.
More information about data capture and the next steps is available here.
Graham Bartlett – CEO of Velon said: “We are delighted to be partnered with Infront Sports & Media. Our partnership enables us to make a major step forward to enable data to be shared with fans and it is going to be fantastic. Just imagine how great it will be for fans to see the performance of the riders as they follow races on their screens or see them at the race. This is something that has been available in other sports and now we’re bringing it to cycling so fans can better engage with the riders and get a much better experience.”
Stephan Herth – Executive Director of Infront Sports & Media, commented on the agreement: “Cycling is a key sport in Infront’s long-term strategy and also an important pillar of the wider Wanda Sports Holding business. We are therefore proud to partner with Velon in revolutionizing the cycling experience of the fans, as well as the way that the sport is positioned and marketed in the digital sphere.”
Iwan Spekenbrink – CEO of Team Giant-Alpecin said: “The fans are key for any sport. We share the belief that engaging the fans with exciting insights in the sport through modern technology will modernize the sport of cycling and move it forward. With the teams and riders at the centre of these developments we are convinced that it can create value and stability for all stakeholders in our sport and that it will help change the economical model and thus contribute to the realisation of the much-needed stability for teams.
“This partnership with Infront, a leading company and growth driver in global professional sports, is a huge step forward for the sport of cycling, for teams, for riders, and for the other stakeholders in cycling and I like to thank Infront for their trust.”
Tom Dumoulin said: “This is great news for cycling. This agreement is the next step in the modernisation of our sport. With thrilling new technologies, we will be able to engage and bring the sport even closer to the fans, which is of course really exciting!”
About Velon
Velon is a business venture formed by pro-cycling teams in 2014 to foster long-term stability for its members and the sport. It is wholly owned and controlled equally by the 11 shareholding teams.
