Antti Sizko @BurekFinn - Twitter Profile

about 1 month ago

The Tour de France makes €100M+ annually. The riders get €2.3M total. And that's just the beginning of cycling's broken power structure. Here's how cycling accidentally created a feudal system: ASO (the race organizer) sits at the top of the food chain. If ASO excludes your team from the Tour de France, your sponsorship deals are worthless. The UCI is supposed to be the governing body. But they're actually below the race organizers in power. ASO literally pulled the Tour de France out of the UCI WorldTour system in 2017 when the UCI tried to assert authority. The message was clear: "We run this sport, not you." Compare this to football: FIFA controls the sport, not individual tournament organizers Teams qualify for the World Cup based on sporting merit Tournament organizers can't just exclude teams they don't like Revenue sharing is structured and transparent In cycling, it's the opposite: Race organizers control everything. ASO can exclude any team for "customs fraud or indecent appearance" (actual rule). No collective bargaining for riders. Teams beg for wildcard invitations. The power structure literally goes: Race Organizers (ASO, RCS Sport) UCI (supposed "governing body") Teams/Riders (completely dependent) National Federations (almost powerless) This creates the strangest business dynamic: The people who create the content (riders) have zero negotiating power. The people who organize the platform (ASO) capture 98% of the value. That's pro cycling! The numbers are shocking: Tour de France revenue: €100M+ Total prize money: €2.3M That's a 40:1 ratio in favor of organizers. Compare to football's World Cup: FIFA revenue (2019-2022): $7.6B Prize money: $440M That's a 17:1 ratio - still heavily favoring organizers, but far more balanced. The result? Cycling teams operate at a loss. 99% of pro cycling teams lose money annually. Riders have no job security. Sponsors get inconsistent ROI because teams can be randomly excluded. Meanwhile, ASO just announced record revenues of €550M. We do see this inequality in other areas and it always leads to conflict: App stores vs. developers (30% platform fee) Spotify vs. musicians (tiny royalty rates) Amazon vs. sellers (increasing fees, arbitrary rule changes) In cycling, riders are starting to realize: You can't negotiate individually with a monopoly. The UCI is captured by the organizers. The only path forward is collective action. Every industry with powerful platforms faces this same dynamic. The question is: Will content creators organize before platform owners capture all the value? In cycling, that organizing is about 20 years overdue.