I'm guessing you didn't read the article. It was not about the poor economics of women's cycling, it was in fact about how the outgoing organizer is basically tanking the whole thing because they now have no stake in it's future.Lelandjt wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 4:12 pmFixed that for you. Even during my years trying to make money racing bikes I had no problem understanding that the money comes from entertaining & advertising. The amount of money would be reflective of how many people were being entertained and advertised to. It had nothing to do with how much risk I took or how cool of a thing I did. Best to just enjoy what perks may come from participating in your favorite activity at a high level and not get frustrated comparing to other professional sports and "sports".Lelandjt also wrote wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 3:37 pmA lot of rich people watch golf, and a significant portion watch women's golf. Less people watch cycling and of those only a few watch women's cycling.
But you got me curious with this:
So a quick search and this is what I found:
Women's TdF from SportsProMedia.com:
The inaugural Tour de France Femmes cycling race generated average audiences of 2.25 million domestic viewers per stage on France Télévisions’ public service broadcast channels, for an average audience of share of 26.4 per cent across the race’s eight days.
Organisers confirmed viewership in France peaked with 5.1 million tuning into FTV during the final day to watch Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten wrap up her second stage win and the yellow jersey on 31st July – scoring a 45.6 per cent audience share. In total, the marquee women’s cycling event drew 20 million domestic viewers.
Outside of France, 75 million hours of coverage were broadcast across seven European countries, while 14 million viewers tuned across Eurosport’s multi-territory coverage.
Womens US Open Golf from SportsMediaWatch.com:
Last Sunday’s final round of the US Women’s Open earned a 0.5 rating and 728,000 viewers on FOX, down a tick in ratings and 17% in viewership from last year (0.6, 878K) and down a tick and 8% respectively from 2017 (0.6, 790K).
Do note that above is 4 years old but the numbers are pretty stagnant over time.
So 728,000 watched the women play the final round of US Open golf and 5.1 million watched the last stage of the women's TdF. FFS.
And compare totals for the events: 20 million in France and another 14 million around the planet. 34 million for women's cycling vs about 2 million for women's golf (a very generous calculation of 728,000, plus the first three rounds). Hmmm...it's not even close.
You would think advertisers would be competing for spots with that kind of viewership. Maybe they are, but the money sure isn't going to the riders.
Here is a good comparison:
Lorena Wiebes salary is rumoured to be not far off a half million Euro. Korean golfer Inbee Park has lifetime earnings over $18 million US. Clear to see Park is a huge talent, but it doesn't sit well with me.