Cycling News

Jumbo to pull out of cycling team sponsorship in 2024

Jumbo to pull out of cycling team sponsorship in 2024

Ton van Veen, the CEO of Jumbo, the co-sponsor of the Jumbo-Visma teams, has announced that the Dutch supermarket chain will end its support by the the end of 2024. Van Veen informed the Dutch newspaper AD that Jumbo will also withdraw its support for the Jumbo-Visma skating team and its sponsorship of Formula 1 racer Max Verstappen.

Van Veen clarified that the contract for the cycling teams will be honoured until the end of 2024. However, he mentioned that if another sponsor expresses interest in taking over earlier, Jumbo would be willing to step aside and allow the transition to occur.

“This sponsorship has brought us a lot of brand awareness, but we have now won every race there is to win,” Van Veen said to AD.

“Each year we invest more than 20 million euro in sports sponsorship, but I can only spend every euro once. We cannot return that money to the customer, or invest it in sustainability or health.”

In 2015, Jumbo joined as the second sponsor of the men’s cycling team. The team has roots all the way back to 1984, one of the longest-running pro teams. Subsequently, in 2019, Jumbo assumed the role of the team’s primary sponsor, and a women’s team was established in late 2020.

Prior to this, Jumbo had already reduced its involvement in motorsport sponsorship after an investigation by the Public Prosecution Service into money laundering. Former CEO Frits van Eerd was questioned as part of this ongoing investigation and subsequently resigned from his position at the company. In response, Jumbo initiated a inquiry and stated in its annual report that no criminal offenses had been uncovered within the company.

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…