The Big Interview: Matt Prior

Ex-England cricketer and ONE Pro Cycling co-founder Matt Prior talks to sportindustry.biz about the prospect of Grand Tours for his new team and the overlap between professional sport and business.

You’ve applied for a UCI Pro-Continental licence, what would it mean to be competing at the top level?

For us, it’s a big jump up in a number of ways. We need a bigger budget, more quality riders and we have to change the way the company operates in the face of UCI rules and regulations. But it’s a very exciting jump that puts us another step in the right direction in our ambition of riding in Grand Tours.

I think it’s hugely exciting because this venture has grown organically. It’s come from nothing. It’s not like a title sponsor has come and thrown us a huge heap of cash and said ‘here you go, off you go’. We’ve grown this business and this brand from scratch and to now be in a position to make this jump up is incredible.

You had a very successful cricket career. What was it that made you want to start up a cycling team?

It’s a bit of a strange one, isn’t it? I got into it through injury. I started cycling as part of my rehab as I dealt with my Achilles problems that ultimately ended my cricket career. That very quickly turned into a passion. I looked into the cycling world and got more involved in it, at first just as a fan.

When I finished my career I saw that there was an opportunity to do something within cycling with a professional team. The idea of giving back to fans and allowing fans to be part of the team by being far more open and accessible really appealed to me.

I wanted to marry my experience as a professional sportsman and my experience as a cycling fan to create a model that protects the sporting side of things and also gives fans what they want and enough access to feel part of the team. I think we’re showing that that can be done.

Your mentioned your experience as a sportsperson. You’ve been an ambassador for sponsors and brands throughout during your career. Have those experiences taught you anything for your new role in the business side of sport?

Being a professional cricketer has taught me a huge amount about the business of sport. As an England cricketer, you’re expected to do a lot with fans, activations and ambassador roles.

Getting a greater insight into the business of sport has been one of the most fascinating things about the past year. You use different languages in business and sport but being in the England dressing room has taught me that good teams, whether you’re in sport or business, need certain fundamentals that you can’t get away from.

As I say, the language is different but they’re the same thing. While we had a team charter for England, a business will have brand values. It’s the same thing.

It very quickly dawned on me that there was a huge amount of transferable experiences between being a sportsman and a businessman.

You were known as a vocal player, always looking to gee up the team on the field and were the vice-captain for England. What similarities have you found between leading on the pitch and leading as a CEO?

Leadership is an important part of anything.

I’m a big believer that in any company, your people at the top have to set the tone and the standards you want to achieve. That trickles down to your players, riders or staff.

I was always keen to have a leadership role whenever I’ve played sport. I like to be involved in making decisions, leading from the front and creating a positive environment.

I’ve enjoyed having that leadership role in this business, as we create our own team. It’s been a great challenge but one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.

You only launched ONE Pro Cycling in February. Are Grand Tours a realistic probability in the next couple of years?

I think they’re very realistic. We’ve shown that we aren’t only talking a good game but here to realise our ambitions. We’ve set the bar very high; we’ve got big dreams and I think that’s important. You have to try to be the best you can be.

That’s why this jump from Continental Level to Pro Continental Level is so important. It’s a huge stride in the right direction. I don’t want to put a definite timescale on it but we launched in February and have progressed very quickly.

We’re going to continue to work very hard and make what we see as the right decisions. We’re still learning of course. We’re a new brand, a new team and the step-up to Pro Continental Level is big.

We’ve made mistakes along the way but as long as we learn from that, I feel we’re in a good place to do something pretty special.