Industry News
Veteran running industry reporter Dave Kayser provides a monthly overview about trends, changes and news from both the consumer and trade side of the sport.
December, 2024
BUSINESS NEWS-DECEMBER
By Dave Kayser
TRAIL RACES IN DANGER, TURKEY TROTS GOBBLE UP THE PAVEMENT
Runners for Public Lands, an advocacy nonprofit organization, asked race directors to send letters to the Congressional Appropriations Committee to provide funding for the U.S. Forest Service that would allow them to lift a hiring freeze that stretches to September 2025. The move would ease the thinning ranks of the agency which directly impacts many trail races held on Forest Service lands. Much like the National Park Service, the Forest Service has been affected by increased visitation and decreasing budgets that affect a myriad of objectives the agencies are expected to meet. Seasonal employees, who are most affected by a freeze, assist with keeping trails and campsites open and are oftentimes the point person for issuing special use permits that allow races to be held. Shortly before letters were due, 106 race directors had signed on to the effort.
RunSignup reports Thanksgiving Day race participation jumped 21% from 2023 to 1,109,909 participants in 936 races using the RunSignup platform. $3.6 million was raised for various charities and at least 70 inaugural turkey trots entered the market.
=PR=Run & Walk, with multiple locations in Virginia, was named the Best Running Store of 2024 at this year’s The Running Event in Austin, Texas. TRE is expanding their schedule to include the first Switchback Spring event in Nashville that showcases outdoor brands. The Running Event will move from Austin to San Antonio next year, where more commodious event space is available. This year’s event saw a 20% increase in attendance to 4,872 running geeks.
Racoon Media Group, organizers of the Boston Run Show, are planning their first International Running Expo, set to take place in Amsterdam on November 4 and 5, 2025. The event is expected to attract some 300 exhibitors and 6000 attendees. In a press release, Racoon Media CEO Mike Seaman says the event will bring together innovators, brands and leaders to drive the running industry forward along with being a place to shape the future of running.
Non-fungible tokens(NFTs) were a thing during the pandemic, with digital art and other virtual creations seeing astronomical prices. To cash in on the craze, Nike acquired digital product creator RTFKT(pronounced “artifact”) for an estimated $1 billion even though the company had a market valuation of only $33.3 million. Nike subsequently began selling blockchain compatible virtual shoe designs known as “CryptoKicks” and found some success in the venture. Not surprisingly, the NFT market shrunk as the pandemic waned, which led Nike to divest itself from RTFKT after releasing one final collection of virtual shoes this month.
Massachusetts-based Ashworth Awards is partnering with Scimitar Custom Sportswear to provide event directors a one-stop shopping experience for custom designed medals and awards, performance apparel, branded merchandise and promotional items. Both companies stress sustainability in producing their products. Ashworth, who has made the Boston Marathon medals for over 40 years, produce their products with 100% recycled materials and Scimitar offers 100% recycled recycled options. The latter makes over three million products annually.
An independent economic impact report conducted by the Economic and Public Policy Research Group at the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute found the impact of the 2024 Boston Marathon to be $509 million. The total represents the Boston Athletic Association’s operational costs, spending by marathon participants and spectators and other secondary economic impacts. In comparison, the 2023 Chicago Marathon generated $547 million and the 2019 New York City Marathon saw a $427 million impact.
After closing down Saucony’s Boston-area headquarters in August 2023 and moving those operations to their headquarters campus in Michigan, Wolverine announced the opening of their new Innovation Hub in downtown Boston. The 11,000 square foot facility will house Wolverine’s design, product and merchandising teams. Wolverine is also renovating their Michigan offices for Saucony and Merrell to help attract talented employees.
Footwear News handed out their 2024 Achievement Awards and running-related companies figured prominently in the mix. New Balance was named Company of the Year for their impressive sales gains, its astute sports marketing, their strength in the running category and their increased retail investment that saw 72 new stores open this year. On was named Brand of the Year for their continuing string of record sales and adidas captured the Person of the Year in chief executive Bjorn Gulden who took over a company in disarray in 2023 and quickly led it back into profitability.
According to market research company Circana, running footwear sales were up 4% during the third quarter of 2024.
Boston-based Tracksmith, currently looking for a Chief Marketing Officer, is also searching for individuals “who want to redefine the world of running.” The company is asking individuals with grand ideas to describe what kind of job they want and what they would do the first three months on the job. (An opportunity like that almost puts RRM in second place in the “Best Places to Work” standings.)
Coopah, the official AI powered coaching app of the TCS London Marathon, has raised $1.9 million in a seed funding round backed by the race and two venture capital firms. Coopah was founded in 2022 by running enthusiasts Dan Strang and Peter Coopah to help runners stick to their running goals and has an annual membership fee of $80.. The new funding will be used to scale up their marketing efforts and improve the functionality of the app.
Taking Care of Business Fact: This month’s Valencia Marathon saw 5,200 of the 28,000 finishers dip under the 3:00 hour mark. In comparison, the 2024 Boston Marathon had 2,660 runners under 3 hours and New York had 2.187 under the three hour mark.
November, 2024
BUSINESS NEWS IS BACK!
By Dave Kayser
VALBY TRIES SOMETHING NEW, NIKE LOSES, HOKA GAINS
Runner’s World delved deeply into the New Balance signing of U.S. Olympian and University of Florida runner Parker Valby, likening the signing to a No. 1 draft pick in football or basketball. Valby, who is represented by her father, Kyle, made certain the deal, which he termed “historic,” was “unique and tailored to her goals” and is estimated by other agents to be worth close to $1 million annually. New Balance head coach Mark Coogan visited with Valby twice in Florida while negotiations were taking place, and the Valby family appreciated the small, boutique approach, similar to the methodology the then-small upstart Nike took when signing Michael Jordan. Valby previously had a NIL agreement with Nike, and many expected her to continue her association with the company after graduating. New Balance has planned a kickoff campaign with Valby that includes video and media spots and her image is expected to appear on billboards in several U.S. cities.
In an effort to close the racial and wealth gap in Boston, Boston Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday awarded Sidney Baptista and his PYNRS (pronounced pioneers) running apparel company $100,000 through their Boston XChange accelerator program. The grant will help grow Baptista’s fledgling business, which has been hindered by unsuccessful attempts at obtaining venture capital. Baptista, who hopes the grant will “take us to the next level.” is also partnering with Brooks to create footwear.
Saucony is continuing their relationship with Black Men Running with the launch of a limited edition TR2 road-to-trail shoe in BMR’s official deep cranberry and black colors. The $140 shoe will feature the BMR logo on the tongue, heel counter and sockliner. BMR’s mission is to encourage African American males to get out and run and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Brooks has signed a new multi-year agreement with runDisney that will see the company create Disney-themed running shoes featuring popular Disney characters.
Smartwool has teamed up with shoe manufacturer Altra to produce a head-to-toe running kit that includes a mix of apparel, socks and accessories and will also include footwear. Altra tweaked its popular Escalante model to include a Smartwool Merino wool blend knit upper that promises to improve thermal comfort by 3.5% over the standard Escalante model.
Nike’s attitude in dealing with their smaller competitors deluded them into thinking they could co-opt Lontex Corporation’s “Cool Compression” trademarked phrase without repercussions, but a United States District Court in Pennsylvania, where Lontex is headquartered, had different ideas. Lontex, which specializes in compression garments, took Nike to court for trademark infringement, won the case and was awarded compensatory and punitive damages, with the former being tripled to $426,000. The court also found Nike’s behavior during the years-long ordeal to be egregious, as their lawyers had threatened to “kill” Lontex’s business with costly and lengthy legal battles. The court responded to those tactics by awarding Lontex an additional $5 million to cover incurred legal fees.
In the eyes of BTIG financial analysts, Hoka sales levels were thought to be moderating. According to SGB Media, BTIG also noted that Hoka’s online search interest had flattened, their double digit growth had decelerated and there were signs of market share loss. The supposed bad news led BTIG to downgrade Hoka’s parent Deckers stock from ‘Buy’ to ‘Neutral.’ Shortly after BTIG’s move, Deckers released their second quarter earnings showing Hoka earned a record $571 million due to “exceptional demand” and had $2 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, their largest 12 month sales figure ever. Deckers stock went up 10% after the report was released and the company estimates their current fiscal year earnings will increase by 24%.
The International Olympic Committee has lost their three Japanese TOP Olympic sponsors-Toyota, Panasonic and Bridgestone-leaving the IOC without a Japanese sponsor. Toyota and Bridgestone have been sponsors since 2015 and 2014, respectively and Panasonic since 1987. The IOC is expected to shift their gaze to the Middle East and India for replacement sponsors. Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda was brutally direct in explaining why the company ended their relationship, saying “I’m not sure they (IOC) are truly focused on putting people first. For me, the Olympics should simply be about watching athletes from all walks of life with all types of challenges achieve their impossible.”