Telefónica Looks to Cut €25M Movistar Cycling Sponsorship

Pro cycling budgets have jumped in recent years. A string of big global brands – Red Bull GmbH, Lidl & Schwarz, Decathlon SA – entered the sport. Sovereign-state projects such as UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Bahrain Victorious have also pushed up costs. Roughly 80% of the Movistar team's revenue comes from brand sponsorship, one person said.

The Movistar team is owned and managed by Abarca Sports. Its majority owners are team founders Eusebio Unzué and Francisco Fernández Maestre. Last year investment fund Quantum Pacific Management bought a 43% stake in Abarca. Eastern Pacific Shipping, a Quantum affiliate, became a sponsor.

The team was among cycling's best squads in the 2010s. It won the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España while spending four consecutive years at the top of the sport's official team rankings. It has since slipped.

The review pits a domestic marketing budget against an elite-sport sponsorship that costs more every year. Telefónica's exit from Latin America makes the spending harder to justify. A sale or co-sponsor would test how much a second-tier team is worth in a market where sovereign wealth and energy-drink money now set prices.