It's quite apparent at the moment that the professional cycling racing scene in Britain is at a crossroads. Never has the sport been in such rude health in terms of popularity, with Team Sky at the forefront, and our top cyclists more succesful than ever. So if this is the case, then why are there only 6 Premier Calendar races in the pipeline for 2013, and our only UCI one day race, the Melton CiCLE Classic, under serious threat due to lack of funds?
Funding is always going to be main reason. And here's the problem that cycling has - no gate revenue. As cycling events are free to attend and spectate, then the sources of revenue are limited. One assumes that the host council stump up some cash, but sponsors and broradcast revenue are key.
All three of these sources of revenue rely on spectators and viewers - and without these then it's going to be hard to convince broadcasters and sponsors to invest in an event if noone's going to watch it.
Here are a few thoughts on how we can get more people waching our races - both live and on TV
1 - The teams themselves need to build more of a following and support. Team Sky do this well.
2 - Event promoters need to work with the councils more to promote the event and to offer familes a good day out.
3 - Run a sportive on the same route (or part of it) on the morning of the event - this guarantees you an audience at the finish (plus rider's families who will come to support).
4 - Broadcasters need to make the coverage more 'newbie' friendly.
5 - Package the races to make the competition more interesting (team and individual competitions running throughout the series).
6 - Give some kind of ownership of the race to the teams - if the teams and the riders benefit (financially) from the success of the race, then they will work hard to attract spectators.
