A new revolution in cycling: DerbyWheel
Could sports betting offer an economically stable business model for the benefit and growth of track racing? Fusion meets events specialist and co-founder of Revolution and London Nocturne, James Pope, as he unveils his latest venture - the new global Professional Keirin concept known as DerbyWheel, due to hit the boards in 2024.
James Pope’s career spans two of the most exciting decades British bike racing has seen; the gold rush of the Olympics, multiple British Tour de France winners and a surge in mass participation in cycling. Now he is once again creating a new business model to develop track cycling to the benefit of the sport and racers.
“When I first entered cycling in 2003 Fran Millar and I (professional cyclist Dave Millar’s sister and co-founder of Face Partnership) went to the velodrome to meet Dave Brailsford, performance director of British Cycling. The National Champs were taking place on the track but there were only about 50 people watching. Entertainment was one guy playing the flute when his favourites were sprinting.”
Within a few months Pope had the boards vibrating with the roar of a crowd at the first Revolution track meet, “We created Revolution in autumn of the same year – we had 2,5000 in the velodrome – a real turning point for the venue.”
Pope’s career and the growth of UK cycling went hand-in-hand from that point on, “Fran and I were often saying we were in the right place at the right time. There was definitely a wave we were riding and I am privileged to have been part of that.”
Riding the Wave
The wave began with the influx of talented and charismatic riders, of which David Millar was one, “David was the inspiration – he had exploded onto the scene,” Although Millar had the backing of giant representation firm IMG, Pope felt they fell short of understanding the nuances of cycling. As a result, Pope and Fran Millar founded Face Partnership, “soon we were taking care of the likes of Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas.”
With the rider talent in place momentum built as master performance strategist Dave Brailsford spearheaded British Olympic and Tour de France success. As part of Team GB and SKY Brailsford also played a part in the change in the public’s perception of cycling as Pope explains, “Dave Brailsford transformed the performance mind set of Team GB, the mission was to provide inspiration for participation.”
Olympic success was a catalyst for growth in participation cycling in the UK. For the first time the Olympics put track cycling in the public mindset. Success wasn’t just about the Elite, but the growth of cycling as an industry and a participation sport, “Team SKY success in racing was mirrored by the success of the mass participation SKY Rides. One of the real highs of my career was being part of that incredible transformation.”
Golden Years
The wave kept gathering momentum, “as the gold medals started flowing the athletes did the marketing for us – we just needed to mention Hoy and Pendleton to get crowds at our events.”
On the track Revolutions continued to grow, but the next project Pope developed was road based, the London Nocturne in partnership with Rapha and Condor. “Simon Mottram (founder of Rapha) and Grant Young (founder of Condor) had the idea of a night time criterium in Smithfield Market. Next thing we were shutting the roads around Farringdon! The event grew over the next ten years and we were able to shut the road around St Pauls. It is very rare to be able to do that!”
Success on the epic scale of the 2010’s elevated the public’s expectations of cycling success and cemented the commitment of cycling fans to not only watching events but also to taking part in them. Sportives, charity rides and corporate events became another growth area and Pope was there assisting with mass participation events and agency type work for big brands like DHL as well as running his proprietary events like Revolutions and the London Nocturne.
“Our challenge was always growing our business without capital or investors, I am very proud of what we achieved organically, chipping away at it,” Pope says of these years.
Now the challenge, for all of the cycling industry, not just Pope, is retaining and strengthening cycling’s position in the post-Covid, post-Brexit, post-Truss economic world we find ourselves in, “wherever you go through a trajectory of booming there is always going to be a plateau. But that doesn’t last forever. It is tough all round, not just for cycling. There are economic woes and complex global situations. I don’t think we can necessarily put it down to anything within cycling.”
Pope is clearly a creative thinker who can see new ways of introducing the public to the thrill of cycle racing. He is optimistic that there are still more opportunities for the sport and industry, “Cycling has started to become part of the DNA of society. Cycling holds many of the answers to society's current problems; health, climate change, and travel. It is one of the few sports that can support multiple factors. We’ve just got to ride out these macroeconomic issues.”
A new future for cycle sport
DerbyWheel is a Professional Keirin League with equal accessibility for the entire cycling family. It is looking to grow the economic model of track cycling to support riders, venues and federations across the globe, all with the ambition of bringing Pro Keirin racing to the masses.
“DerbyWheel was the genesis of our parent company DerbyWheel Inc in Korea. It was an opportunistic conversation between two businessmen. One who knew and understood pro-Keirin and another who was looking for a new business that would support professional athletes. They travelled around the world meeting the velodromes and the UCI, but they were missing the key component of someone to deliver the events. I got it immediately - anyone who knows track knows about Japanese Keirin.”
This is not a new idea for Pope, “We tried to get Pro Keirin Racing to the velodrome in Manchester in 2012 – we even got as far as getting a betting licence but we couldn’t make the event happen.” Sports betting is a huge part of the Keirin, but a relatively new idea for the UK cycling market. “Sport is under more and more pressure, sponsorship and ticket sales are suffering. Sports betting seems more stable, we want to create a new economy and a living for professional track sprinters. Leaning into an established business model will hopefully give us stability. This project is exciting for me because it can provide long term benefits.”
Pope’s business is cycling, not betting, “we create the content and we will distribute that to betting operators and media companies. We are not betting ourselves – we are simply creating an opportunity to watch live Keirin and sharing our data and footage. We will be selling the rights to the content to any betting company anywhere in the world. It will all be done digitally with people making bets on apps on their phones.”
Keirin racing has the opportunity with DerbyWheel to reach a broader international audience,“it will be primarily an Asian audience to start as they don’t need to be educated on Pro-Keirin but over time we hope the European market will grow.”
The series will be a huge benefit to fans, professional racers and the velodromes. More people watching and understanding track cycling can only help the upper parts of the pyramid to grow, “the focus for me and my team is on the sport – how we can make it a really exciting product. We will be working with cycling federations on talent development, this is an opportunity for riders to benefit their racing careers.”
It’s not just cycling either, “a big thing we are going to lean into for this is Japanese and Korean culture. We want to bring in elements of that in the presentation and in the entertainment to create a cultural connection which will resonate with younger generations. We will have K-Pop artists at some of the big grand prix events.”
Wave makers
At the start of our interview Pope described himself as “riding the wave” but he is no passive surfer on the tide of the cycling industry. To get through these “tough times” cycle sport is going to need innovative thinkers who can spot opportunities and bring the vision to life.
“Sports betting is part and parcel of sports, and as long as it can be done responsibly it can be fun. The global betting market is worth $2trillion dollars. If we can tap into that market and revenue and use that responsibly for the good of cycling I can only see it as positive.”
Is DerbyWheel going to be the next landmark moment in Pope’s career? You can bet on it.
Details of the DerbyWheel 2024 season will be announced later this year. More information can be found at www.derbywheel.com
Riders can register their interest at www.derbywheelplayer.com