Team TIAA-CREF's silent partner unveiled

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TIAA-CREF's secret financial backer Doug Ellis(Image credit: Mark Zalewski)

News feature, December 30, 2006

To some inside the cycling world of North America, it has been known for some time that the TIAA-CREF team was supported by an outside and anonymous source. Throughout that time, team Vaughters refused to name names, or disclose how much this "benefactor" was donating. Eventually he disclosed that this person was the "team owner" and speculation began to circulate as to who this person with the deep pockets could be... a former pro, an industry magnate, Daddy Warbucks?

None of the above, actually. In fact, when hearing the name Doug Ellis, the average North American cycling fan might shrug. A European fan might think it be the former chairman of the Aston Villa football club. A select few might recognize the name from the USA Cycling Development Foundation donor list. Regardless, Ellis is a successful business investor from New York that is simply a fan of cycling, and wanted to get involved.

"I made the decision then to try to get involved in the sport, particularly to focus on a way to build an American presence in the European peloton. If we were able to create a program that gave US riders a little more context in Europe then we would be able to successfully bring riders over who otherwise might have stayed in the domestic scene. I did a little poking around to see who else was in this space, and immediately found Jonathan's name. He and I had a few conversations and quickly realized that he was the ideal partner in this mission."

"So I just called Jonathan up, cold-called him, and said 'I am a New York investor interested in finding out more'. He said something like, 'Well, I've sold all the seats already, but if you don't mind sitting in the kitchen eating with me, come on out!' I went and was really impressed with his professionalism and handling of that crowd. At the time, sure, it was a small, developmental program - but it still had this feel of real professionalism. After I met him and talked a few times, I just said to him that the way I see this sport growing in the US I want to, down the line, own a ProTour team - ridden predominantly by US riders. He said he felt like he wrote the same email to me."

"I think for me I was really new to the sport. I still don't understand what all the political bodies are and their vested interests. So my first couple of years I wanted to be certain that the idea Jonathan and I hatched was one we could follow through on. So now I feel, with the way the program went last year, and now that we are a pro continental team along with our plans for 2007 and 2008, that we are on the right track. Suddenly it feels OK to be known as the person who is part of this organization - it feels appealing. I wasn't trying to be mysterious before, I just didn't think anyone would care."

Referring to one of the biggest political bodies in US cycling, Ellis fully admits that he is following a tack similar to what Thomas Weisel did to help elevate Lance Armstrong and other American cyclists to the European level. "This is similar to what Thom Weisel did last decade. In some ways that is the model that we are following. For full disclosure, I am a member of the USA Cycling Development Foundation, of which Thom is the chairman. I don't know him well, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he has done for the sport. I know there is a history of politics there and I don't fully understand what they all are.

"My view is to really try to stay out of that and take the positive lessons that they taught us to go forward. I know that under Thom's control, the finances of the foundation and USA Cycling have become better. And I know they are putting a lot of money into the European residence program in Belgium. Those goals are really in line with ours in a lot of ways - to generate US athletes to populate ProTour teams. I know Discovery is a sponsor of that, but we hope that our team will also become a destination for those riders."

This coming season the team will be known as Slipstream Sports, powered by Chipotle, as TIAA-CREF finished its title sponsor run in 2006. In addition, the team jumps up to the UCI Professional Continental category and plans on increasing its presence in Europe, building on last year's beginning. While the team did actively cultivate potential sponsor replacements, the right fit did not present itself.

"We had opportunities for title sponsors, but instead of going with offers that undervalued the brand we elected to promote our own name and accrue whatever value that has. It is going to be expensive for us. Because we are in Europe and North America, traveling almost like a ProTour team travels with 23 riders, we spend a lot of money. The real way we are different from a ProTour team is that our salaries aren't the same category. Otherwise, much of our infrastructure is one-to-one with them," Ellis said.

"The decision we made this year is to go with Slipstream Sports, promote the brand of Jonathan and the whole organization, to give someone the confidence that we can be a good representative for their brand. We are, as an organization, losing money (this year) but investing in the future. That was always the business plan - he described it as a no-man's land that would be difficult. I'm appreciative that he made that clear to me in the beginning so that it would not be a surprise to me that we aren't breaking even yet," Ellis said.

A difference between Ellis' goals and that of the aforementioned Weisel model is that the end goal is to make an American ProTour team - beyond the sponsor being American. "We are a program that is committed to US riders. We have a few select foreign riders, but our goal is to keep the team at least 80% US. Which is challenging when you can just go out there with your chequebook and hire a bunch of foreign stars.

"For me, the highlights are more personal. It's a beautiful sport, and I am grateful that I get to be around it and see the inside of it. The athletes are really special people, and so are the people behind the scenes. I see my role as helping expose this great 'European' sport to US athletes, giving the next generation a chance to participate and succeed, the way that Lance Armstrong's generation did without that help. I think with help, the story can be even better. Our goals are modest - to run a successful program that down the road at least breaks even, or doesn't lose money. I don't think any of us expects there to be a big pay day at the end of this."