Business software provider Visma have confirmed their interest in maintaining sponsorship title status should the possible merger of the Jumbo-Visma squad with Belgian team Soudal-QuickStep finally go ahead.
Soudal, a sealant and adhesive manufacturer, have already said they would be keen to stay on board as a backer in the event of a fusion between the two teams.
A potential mega-merger is mooted to result in a new ‘Soudal-Visma’ squad, though specific details about the team, should it finally be created, and future sponsorship deals have yet to appear.
Norwegian company Visma is keen to continue as part of the project regardless, echoing Soudal’s comments about the two teams potentially joining forces.
Speaking to WielerFlits, the company’s director of content and sponsorship said that the deal to sponsor the team has a “long-term perspective” that should be ongoing.
“In terms of the future, we entered into this sponsorship in 2019 with a long-term perspective,” said Anne-Grethe Thomle Karlsen. “As long as both parties see common value in this collaboration, that will not change.”
Thomle Karlsen said that the sponsorship deal has “significantly increased brand awareness” of Visma, thanks to the team’s huge sporting successes over the years. She noted that the company’s reputation and online traffic have both greatly increased as a result of sponsoring the Dutch squad.
“There are many ways to measure the effect of sponsorship, and we see in all measurements that Visma’s reputation has increased,” she said.
“We also see a big increase in traffic to our websites and blog articles during the Tour de France, for example, with almost 20 times our normal web traffic.
“Visma has developed over the past ten years from a mainly Scandinavian to a pan-European company. It is important for us to have a sponsorship that all of our 14,500 employees in 27 countries can agree with. Cycling is a popular sport with an international impact.”
It looks sure, then, that Visma will play a major role in the future of Jumbo-Visma, regardless of what form the team takes regarding the merger. Soudal – who, like QuickStep have a deal with the Belgian squad running through the end of 2027 – hope to remain as title sponsor, too, the company told Het Laatste Nieuws recently.
Jumbo, however, is set to pull out of the team’s sponsorship deal. The Dutch supermarket chain had announced they would be leaving at the end of 2024, leaving behind the future funding gap that the team is…
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