Vail Town Council to discuss Colorado Classic cycling sponsorship

Lessons learned as well as future opportunities for professional cycling in Vail will be discussed by the Town Council during its regular evening meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 20.

The discussion will include an overview of feedback received to date following the town’s sponsorship of two stages of the 2018 Colorado Classic held Aug. 16-17. The agenda item is listed as 4.1 on the meeting agenda which includes opportunities for public comment.

Representatives from the town staff and Vail Valley Foundation have been collecting feedback from local organizations, including the Vail Economic Advisory Council, Vail Commission on Special Events and Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council to help shape preferences for a year-two event with the Denver-based organizer, RPM.

During the 2018 Colorado Classic, Vail hosted the circuit race and time trial stages with the remaining two stages held in Denver. For the Vail stages, the Vail Valley Foundation served as the event’s local organizing committee, while the Town of Vail supplied $110,000 in sponsorship funding as well as in-kind services of $109,000. The Vail Local Marketing District provided an additional $200,000 in sponsorship.

The proposed 2019 Town of Vail and Vail Local Marketing District budgets include placeholders of $110,000 and $200,000, respectively, for sponsorship of the Colorado Classic next August. Suggested adjustments based on feedback, to date, include:

• Smaller race footprint
• Keeping parking structures open
• Better alignment on event marketing
• Improved messaging on ease of access

During an earlier presentation to the Town Council, representatives from the Vail Valley Foundation presented an overview of the estimated $2.5 million in economic impact during the 2018 Colorado Classic stages, which included:

• Worldwide televised media coverage reaching over 200 million households in 250 countries, 3 million of which were in the U.S., including four hours of live coverage
• Net Promoter Score of 86
• 19,400 attendees

For additional details, contact Mia Vlaar, the town’s economic development director, at 970-479-2454, or review the staff memo on this topic.