Transparency
Where your sponsorship goes.
Plainly: it helps pay for two sanctioned bike races, some of it goes straight to racers as prizes, and event proceeds support youth cycling. Here's how each part works, and what we do and don't publish.
- For East Bay NICA teams, 2025
- $21,000
- For East Bay NICA teams, 2026
- $28,610
- Pro/1/2 cash purse, 2026
- $10,000
- Organized by
- Volunteers
The short answer
Where does the money go?
Sponsorship and entry fees first pay for the races. Some sponsorship goes straight to racers as prizes. What's left, the event's proceeds, goes back into the community, mostly to East Bay high school mountain bike teams.
- Running the racesSanctioning, officials, timing, permits and course safety for two races.
- Prizes for racersA $10,000 Pro/1/2 cash purse in 2026, plus product prizes on every podium.
- Youth cycling$28,610 to six East Bay NICA teams in 2026.
01 Running the races
What it takes to put on a bike race.
The Berkeley Omnium is two USA Cycling sanctioned races at two venues: the Berkeley Hills Road Race near Orinda and the Berkeley Streets Criterium on closed streets downtown. Each needs:
- USA Cycling sanctioning and the officials who run each race
- Timing and results: official results are published on OnTheDay
- Permits and closed streets for the criterium in downtown Berkeley
- Course safety: marshals, follow cars and moto support
- Course prep, setup and teardown at two venues
- Water at the road race feed zone, and restrooms for racers and spectators
Some of that is paid for. A lot of it is done by volunteers, which keeps costs down and leaves more for youth cycling.
02 Prizes for racers
Some sponsorship goes straight to the racers.
In 2026, Expert Tree Service and KaiVelo funded a $10,000 cash purse for the Pro/1/2 races, split 50/50 between the women's and men's races. All other prizes are merchandise from event sponsors.
That's 48 podium places at the road race and prizes in every criterium race. Product partners also handed racers feed-zone bottles, race fuel and sunscreen, and offered racer discounts.
Youth cycling
The proceeds go to the next generation.
The club's stated policy is that every dollar the event raises goes back into the community. Event proceeds support East Bay NICA high school mountain bike teams, for equipment, coaching, race opportunities and team programs. In 2026, six teams shared $28,610: Berkeley High School, El Cerrito High School, Albany High School, Skyline High School, Oakland Tech High School, Oakland Composite.
Berkeley Omnium proceeds supported women's cycling through a donation to Women's On Track, hosted by Eclipse Racing.
See what partnership makes possible →- 2025
- $21,000
- for East Bay NICA teams
- 2026
- $28,610
- for East Bay NICA teams
03 In-kind support
Products and services go where they're used.
Product and service support doesn't go into the race budget at all: it goes straight to people on race weekend. In 2026, Trek Berkeley hosted the kids clinic, Mr. Dewie's brought ice cream for the kids race, Stay True Cycles supplied feed-zone bottles and Voler made the official jersey.
The Expert Tree Service podium at the Berkeley Hills Road Race is a sponsor's work too: it was created by the title sponsor and is used only at that race.
What we publish
What we share, and what we don't.
Before you sponsor anything, ask the organizer where the money goes. It's a fair question. How to evaluate a sports sponsorship lists the others.
We publish
- Where the proceeds go, by team and amount
- Every sponsor and what each contributed, on the partners page
- Race numbers from official results, with the source
We don't publish
- A line-item budget. Ask us how a particular sponsorship would be used, and we'll talk it through.
Where the money goes
Questions about where sponsorship goes
Where does Berkeley Omnium sponsorship money go?
Sponsorship helps pay for putting on two sanctioned bike races, some of it goes straight to racers as prizes, and event proceeds support youth cycling: $28,610 to six East Bay NICA high school mountain bike teams in 2026.
Does every sponsorship dollar go to youth cycling?
No, and we won't suggest it does. A bike race costs money to run: sanctioning, officials, timing, permits and course safety. Sponsorship and entry fees pay for the races first, and event proceeds go to East Bay NICA teams.
How much has the Berkeley Omnium given to youth cycling?
$21,000 in 2025 and $28,610 in 2026, for East Bay NICA high school mountain bike teams. The 2026 amount went to six named teams for equipment, coaching, race opportunities and team programs.
The impact story →Do product sponsorships go to the event or to racers?
Mostly straight to racers, families and volunteers: podium prizes, feed-zone bottles, the kids clinic and the kids race, and racer discounts.
Product sponsorship →Can a sponsorship fund something specific?
Yes, that can be discussed: prize money, a prime, the feed zone, podium prizes, or the kids clinic and kids race. It's agreed with the organizing committee before race weekend.
Sponsor a prime →Is a Berkeley Omnium sponsorship tax-deductible?
We don't make claims about the tax treatment of sponsorship. Ask your own tax advisor.
Does the Berkeley Omnium publish a budget?
We publish where the proceeds go, by name and amount, and who sponsored the races and what each contributed. We don't publish a line-item budget. If you want to know how a particular sponsorship would be used, ask us before you commit.
Questions first
Ask us anything before you commit.
Tell us what you'd like to support, whether that's the races, the racers or youth cycling, and we'll explain how it would be used.