Asics has one athlete Deena.
Fila might still have Josh Cox, Goucher?
Saucony might have McMullen,
but in general these shoe companies sponsor nobody. Do you think they are losing money in the running market, or am I the only one who has noticed?
Asics has one athlete Deena.
Fila might still have Josh Cox, Goucher?
Saucony might have McMullen,
but in general these shoe companies sponsor nobody. Do you think they are losing money in the running market, or am I the only one who has noticed?
Perhaps the runners out there right now just aren't worth sponsoring.
If Asics are going to give a runner a chunk of change they want to see that runner in the sports pages occasionally wearing their shoes. We just don't have that many runners right now who are sports page material.
Schoplifter wrote:
Asics has one athlete Deena.
Fila might still have Josh Cox, Goucher?
Saucony might have McMullen,
but in general these shoe companies sponsor nobody. Do you think they are losing money in the running market, or am I the only one who has noticed?
I think you just haven't been paying attention. Without doing much research, I can tell you that Saucony sponsors Lornah Kiplaget and some other Germany-based Kenyans, although they seem to give most of their sponsorship money to triathletes. Fila sponsors a boat-load of Kenyans through their Discovery program, although they tend to be up-and-comers. They also sponsor the Discovery USA project, which is also made up mostly of up-and-comers, although Jill Gaitenby has been the top American at Boston 2 years in a row and also won the US marathon championship at Twin Cities this past October. Mizuno sponsors a boat-load of Japanese runners, including former women's marathon WR holder Takahashi.
Reebok sponsored a ton of athletes in the 80's, but then they decided that sponsoring runners didn't contribute to their bottom line, e.g., nobody was buying Reeboks because Ed Eyestone wore them. Nike took the same position for several years. Small companies like Brooks can't afford to sponsor many runners, but occasionally you see one.
Asics sponsor lots of British athletes such as Jonathan Edwards, Iwan Thomas, Steve Backley and Ashia Hansen. Some of the other companies like Reebok and Mizuno have small kit deals with British athletes but nothing really major I think.
As for Fila - don't they sponsor Paul Tergat?
Asics and Mizuno have Japan. Fila and Puma have Kenya; Saucony was already mentioned.
Takahashi, Reiko Tosa and Yoko Shibui are all Asics Girls.
Ronaldo DaCosta is now with Mizuno, as is Gert Thys.
Kevin Sullivan is sponsored by Reebok, and I would say that he is a "decent" athlete.
Yes, Tergat, Kiprono, Moses Tanui....all Fila.
Asics has Dieter Baumann also.
I know Chris Pluchos was getting a little something from Mizuno. There have to be others.
Chris Pluchos sends out the funniest mass e-amils. If you meet him ask to be on his list.
who is dieter's toothpaste sponsor? ;p
I should have been more specific, I meant that none of these companies sponsor AMERICAN runners.
Simple answers:
1. Americans aren't setting the distance world on fire.
2. Very low visibility for track in the U.S.
3. Sponsoring a charity training group or charity race series will net more sales and goodwill than an athlete who's known only to hardcore fans. Presently, this is where the money is going.
4. The economy is tight. You can sponsor lots of local races and store teams for the cost of one aforementioned athlete. This results in better sales in those markets and broader reach with your marketing dollars.
The demographics of running have changed over the last decade. The traditional sponsors are just matching their resources to the realities of the new running marketplace.
The shoe companies realize that runners are too intelligent to buy into the marketing concepts....either that or they think runners are just really cheap! :)
These companies are not dedicated to the runner! Saucony will sell to Famous Footwear but not to my Running Store. Same for Asics, Brooks and Mizuno. They all tell me they don't care what runners want.
cause those other brands dont need bunch-loads of average toss-offs (take Nike with guys like f$#kmunch Jennings) to prove they are good shoes. Real runners know they are - they dont need homos overpromoting them in an attempt to corner the market.
[quote]fatoldguy wrote:
These companies are not dedicated to the runner! Saucony will sell to Famous Footwear but not to my Running Store. Same for Asics, Brooks and Mizuno. They all tell me they don't care what runners want.[/quote
nah, its just you are a fat old guy, and we dont want fat old guys selling our stuff - makes us look bad.
depends on your definition of "sponsor"... i know people getting product from nearly ALL of those companies-- some get a stipend, too, but the amount is embarrassingly low...