Not a fan of Wanda?

Wanda press release made it clear Ironman would be point on this. So no, not a fan. Ask any grass roots RD. Heck ask the athletes whats happened to triathlon the last 5 years!

- indy races die slow death then shut down
- 2 race series bought up by WTC in Canada then contracted to the asset they wanted
- fees increase steadily YoY
- race calendars created to kill competitors
- no room for 15 more Kona slots on pier for pro women but somehow a bunch of spots for Japanese racers at Whistler?
- $925USD race entry to Kona. Pretty sure from memory $725/750 in 2011. 27% increase.

So as a triathlete of 18 years who put my Trek SC up for sale stepping away from SBR the bloody night before this announcement landed I can't help but think "so here we go with running...."

- smaller marathons die
- mid size survive but many come into ironman fold over time as means of survival
- entry fees to majors sky rocket with ability to get into one becoming even more elusive
- major marathon branded blenders & oven gloves in kitchens across the globe!-:)

Im not optimistic

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@rhyspencer

Free market, and obviously the US is pretty bad playing the game.

I'm not particularly bothered by this. They've been clear that they would be looking to buy more swim, bike or run events or series. There's only so many marathon majors, and they're all pretty established and massive events in any case, so they're not going to kill the local events.

That said, my closest 'big city' marathon was recently taken over by Wanda, and I won't be doing it precisely because they took it over. I was never sold on doing it, more of a nice to do race, but I'm not putting more money in their pocket. As a point of note, it's not so much about Wanda, it's what WTC have done to ironman during Messick's tenure: increased cost of ticket; increased numbers; lowered quality; killing local competition through brand recognition.

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Swim. Overbike. Walk.

Where in the article does it state that Wanda purchased WMM? It's a 10 year partnership to add events to and grow the series, very different than an outright purchase.

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Boots
Fleet Feet Rochester, NY
Fleet Feet Buffalo, NY
YellowJacket Racing, Rochester, NY

Exactly. Frankly, the article doesn't tell you jack shit. It only says that Wanda is partnering with WMM and will seek new events to add to the WMM provided they meet Abott's strict criteria. But exactly what each is doing in this partnership, who owns what, and what they are getting out of it is left completely silent.

The subject is definitely a mis-representation. From the link:

The partnership plans to expand the AbbottWMM Series with events added in new regions such as Asia (outside Japan) and Africa, and will begin the process of identifying candidate races that will be required to meet AbbottWMM’s stringent criteria before selection for the Series.

I can't see the BAA "selling" the Boston Marathon.