The Tour de France 2024, which has been underway for several days, is increasingly contending with the impact of the ongoing UEFA EURO 2024. The Tour is an absolute top event in Europe with high viewership, as shown by the latest figures for the first two stages from OLOQIQI (approx. 110mill. viewership globally).
However, the competition with the simultaneous previews of the EURO's Round of 16 matches is almost overwhelming. While the EURO broadcasts generate very high viewership even during the preliminary coverage, the Tour, during its first stages held in Italy (!), must settle for somewhat smaller viewership in the top European markets.
The impact of the Football EURO 2024 naturally affects the major sponsors of the Tour, such as Skoda, Lidl or Red Bull, which is participating as a team sponsor for the first time. The advertising value decreases initially but could rise again in the coming weeks, as this observation is based solely on the first two stages.
Nevertheless, the Tour de France offers a unique platform for sponsors in various ways along the route, primarily through the jerseys or clothing of the athletes for the team sponsors. Here, the unique aspect of elite cycling comes into play, which the team sponsors must also address: the peloton offers only limited high-visibility exposure. It is the individual images and sequences of the professional cyclists that ensure the sponsors penetrate the audience. And this has a lot to do with the sporting performance of the athletes and the teams in general.
A sponsor like Emirates, top partner of probably the best team UAE with superstar Tadej Pogačar, can already be at ease. However, observing the performance of other teams during the Tour is crucial for sponsors to achieve a positive Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) in the end. Let’s see. OLOQIQI will monitor audience development globally and assess the performance of the top sponsors.