We already know that Lance Armstrong's return to the 2009 Tour de France helped boost the viewership on the Versus cable network — as 41% more people watched the race last year than in 2008.
Now Bloomberg reports that he also helped fatten the wallet of the Amaury Sport Organization, owner of Le Tour and other cycling events around the world.
[Update: Dec. 23, 2010 — That assertion has been questioned by John Wilcockson of VeloNews, who reports that Amaury revenues climbed in 2009 due to the return of the Dakar Rally, a motor sports race. In summary, Wilcockson found that Amaury's revenues dropped in 2008 when the Africa-based Dakar Rally was cancelled due to terrorist threats. When it returned the following year, revenues returned to more or less normal.]
Armstrong retired from professional cycling after winning the 2005 Tour de France, his 7th straight championship. His return in the 2009 Tour raised huge interest, especially with the race billed as a mano a mano contest between the Texan and his Astana teammate, Alberto Contador. (Contador finished 1st, Armstrong 3rd.)
It's still unknown how the doping allegations and investigation launched in mid-2010 will affect this year's results.
Sales increase
In company financial filings, Amaury reported a $32 million increase in sales during 2009; that's a 20% increase over the previous year.
“The Armstrong-Contador duel was certainly not irrelevant to the success” of the race, which renewed sponsorships with Volkswagen AG’s Skoda and France Telecom SA’s Orange, according to filings quoted by Bloomberg.
Although best known as owners of the Tour de France, ASO also owns more than a dozen bicycle races staged throughout the world, as well as golf and equestrian tournaments, marathons and two motor sports races. The $32 million increase reflected results from all those pursuits.
Top 50
Earlier this year, Darren Rovell at CNBC reported that he ranks in the Top 50 of more than 2,500 celebrities in the Davie-Brown Index that measures popularity. That was before the allegations leveled by teammate Floyd Landis in May 2010.
A Bloomberg/BusinessWeek chart created this summer shows that Armstrong's “positive online buzz” took a steady ride downward as more blogs, message boards and social media comments associated Armstrong with the words drugs, probe, scandal, etc.
The WeFollow.com website still ranks Armstrong at No. 20 among “most influential” Twitter users and No. 14 in followers.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation, which Armstrong created in 1997 to help people live with cancer, raises millions every year through bike rides and corporate sponsors. The affiliation with Nike alone has sold more than 70 million LiveStrong bands since 2004.
In addition to offering endorsements for Nike brands, Armstrong also touts FRS Energy drinks, Honey Stinger natural energy food products, and Michelob Ultra beer, Nissan Leaf, Radio Shack among others.
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