By David Chauner – May 2025

We agree that track cycling needs to be redefined. From my perspective, it is the one cycling discipline that shares the most attributes of the world’s most successful modern sports and, interestingly, also has a deep American spectator tradition.

To develop a workable solution, we assembled a team of sports, media and entertainment experts and formulated this mission statement: Bring the best elements of successful modern sports, media, entertainment and technology to track cycling.

Then we added three core values:

Quality…of racing | Legitimacy…of sport | Engagement…with a global audience

And we asked questions: What’s good about track cycling? What’s wrong with it? Why hasn’t it developed like tennis, NASCAR, soccer, Ultimate Fighting or even Professional Bull Riding and Street League Skateboarding?

The numbers are certainly there. Some 2 billion people cycle throughout the world. The UCI has 174 member countries. In 2024, roughly 35% of the U.S. population, aged 3 and older, rode a bicycle at least once per year. That’s a substantial participant base, especially when compared to other enthusiast sports like golf, tennis, skiing, surfing and many others that have established American leagues.

But ask 10 American cycling enthusiasts why bicycle racing hasn’t evolved like these other sports and you’ll get 10 different answers.

We tackled the question by identifying the key elements that are common to most successful modern spectator sports, applied them to track cycling and came up with TeamTrak®, an innovative new cycling league based upon ten Guiding Principles. They are what we believe are needed if cycling is to build an enthusiastic, sustainable fan base. Here they are:

1. Exciting content: Speed, elbow-to-elbow races, dramatic moves, ever-present danger, close finishes and suspenseful outcomes are all part of fan entertainment and must be built in. Bike racing on steeply banked velodromes has it all. It must be presented in a new fan-friendly format.

2. Relatable, skilled athletes: Fans love athletes with personality: winners and losers, heroes and villains, the crafty ones and those who hang it all out. Reputation is part of it, including racing clean. And so is the skill it takes to do the seemingly impossible in close quarters at breathtaking speed. Track cyclists define athleticism and show no fear—very promotable!

3. Simple, suspenseful format: Every race must be easy to follow with clear winners and team points that change from race to race and accumulate in real time toward a final outcome in less than 3 hours. No time trials, no boring officials’ instructions, and, at the end of night, the team with the most points wins.

4. Gender equality: The best way to promote equality in sports is to have men and women on the same team, competing in separate races for total team points and equally divided team prize money. In fact, the Most Valuable Rider is the one who scores the most team points, regardless of gender, another factor that adds spice to TeamTrak.

5. Team allegiance: Fans want a home team to cheer for, not a corporate brand that puts customers above fans. Plus home teams will promote regional cycling, attract local sponsors and help justify new velodrome development.

6. Compelling for modern viewers: Technology is changing the face of sports. Real-time results, stats and highlights must be live-streamed and available on demand to multiple devices. Indoor cycling fans will want to see how their power output, pedal cadence and heart rate compares with the pros and helmets that light up to tag top performers will make the fan experience more exciting. Plus, as sports betting grows, TeamTrak’s series of 10 well-defined races separated by natural pauses will, in an online world, be just long enough to allow for an in-meet wager to be made without disrupting the flow.

7. Dynamic facilities: TeamTrak is spectator entertainment that caters to the fan with state-of-the-art video and scoreboards, great seating, VIP boxes and a themed bar and restaurant overlooking the awe-inspiring velodrome and infield beer garden. Great sound, lighting and top announcing must heighten the fan experience. When not being used for cycling events, the velodrome must be adaptable for training and the infield designed to showcase a variety of other ticketed events including concerts, public events and other sports. The National Sports and Events Center near Philadelphia is in development and being designed as the first TeamTrak headquarters and archetype for expansion to other markets.

8. Feeder system: Young boys and girls are inspired by top level sports competition. TeamTrak is committed to mentoring youth programs and talent development camps

that provide a “Little League” opportunity for local youth and student TeamTrak teams. But teams and young riders need mentors, a safe place to learn, train and race which makes proper velodrome development and usage an important goal in the mix.

9. Impresario factor: No successful new sport or start-up business ever got off the ground without four key attributes of its founders: Vision, passion, persistence and courage to break the mold.

10. Sound business structure: All of the foregoing features won’t matter if they aren’t packaged into a realistic sports business model. In fact, it’s doubtful that without those nine points, the ability to attract sustaining revenue is severely compromised, one of the major flaws of cycling as it exists today. But now, more than at any other time in recent history, the ability to build and monetize a substantial fan base for a non-mainstream “emerging” sport is possible through non-traditional methods offered by the internet and new media distribution channels. Add to that the critical revenue drivers for successful spectator sports: controlled venues, paying fans, state-of-the-art technology, corporate sponsorship, bundled events, brand licensing, betting platform, season-long build-up and an experienced team to pull it all together.

TeamTrak Cycling League: A new sport coming soon!

Who We Are – World Cycling Limited Management and Advisors

More Information Contact:

Dave Chauner dchauner@worldcyclinglimited.com
Rick Mayer rmayer@worldcyclinglimited.com

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