Garmin extends sponsorship

Garmin Ltd. announced today that it will continue its title sponsorship of Team Garmin Slipstream through 2013. The GPS maker already was contracted to be the title sponsor of the team until 2010, so this is an additional three years to the contract.

Obviously, this is excellent news for this once upstart Boulder, Co.-based team that just finished its first full year as a Pro Tour team. I've always thought cycling was an excellent investment for Garmin, considering their products' many applications in cycling. It appears the executives at Garmin feel the same way.

“The success of the team spans the globe and surpassed our expectations for the first year and a half of our title sponsorship, bringing Garmin’s reputation for quality, commitment, performance and productivity into countless households in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia,” said Jon Cassat, Garmin’s vice president of communications. “Our objectives were – and continue to be – to integrate our products on sports’ biggest stages and to build global brand awareness. Whether capturing victories around the world, winning national championships or working to develop future generations of talent, Team Garmin has helped us achieve those objectives and has made an impression on billions of potential customers.”

In its two years on the Euro scene, I think Garmin has done extremely well. Especially considering their budget and the fact that the team was cobbled together from an U.S. domestic team without any really big name signings. Hopefully Garmin increases the budget for the next three years and can start attracting top-level talent to their ranks.