Weird, just saw they sponsored a US Paratriathlete a few months ago. https://www.instagram.com/p/DPL_Ip9DQa6/?img_index=1
$250k for a branded shower station at the WC? Sounds cheap. Hoka was the global run course sponsor with multiple activations and tons of social inventory. Anything less than $10M/year would be a surprise to me.
Generally speaking global sponsorships are in the 1-3 Million range.. Anyone paying more then that is getting RIPPED..Triathlon isn’t that big for a CASH layout that big Per year
haha They are like the Creeper at the bar… At some point if they ask enough people someone is going to say yes and wake up with regrets the next morning 
… its just insane to me that brands have been willing to pay that: Roka, hoka, ventum…. I just don’t see the ROI.
ROKA, HYPERICE and some others have worked based on the exclusives at the expo’s etc.. The biggest question is that yes It may have worked for the partner but at what costs?.. Expo’s are dead at most of the races and the athletes experience has been shit because of that..
with the advent of super shoes, and nike being the best, the whole market moved away from using Hokas in triathlon, which prior was the tri miracle shoe. Hoka struggled to catch up to the carbon spring craze, much later to have a working model than all the other shoe brands.
If they’re only paying 1M for that activation that is an INCREDIBLE bargain. Even 3M.
If that’s the market in triathlon, then how does T100 even exist? There’s no potential for revenue except broadcast (not happening) and amateur race registrants. Off Topic, I know.
From what I heard, they got in for well less than that million, but not privy to what happened in the years after. No one to fill the space back then, who will fill it. now? Maybe ON running? They are crushing their global sales, up there with HOKA now I believe, just not sure how much comes from triathlon.
For me it sucks if this is indeed true, that HOKA is leaving the sport. IT was our sport and early marketing that launched that brand, short memories of history and attention to the bottom line over there now..
CASH payment is much different then total Activation costs. Just FYI.
Yes, a question about a deal when you report sponsorship numbers is who pays for activation? Is it who is sponsoring or who is gaining a sponsor? The top tier properties don’t pay for activation. I’m certain that the signage for Global activation for Hoka runs into the mid-6 figures at least. So only getting a million and needing to pay for signage would be a BAD deal for Ironman. Some these other sponsorships like Precision and Maurten are probably in the millions with VIK alone before you get to cash.
Do you have personal experience within this space for sponsorships?
Within triathlon? No. Within Sports? I’m entering my tenth year working in a field sport. We’ve had some bad deals where after activation we netted only $10k as an example.
Global sponsors ( outside of the countries that have OIL). simply dont pay what you think they do.. And they leave as soon as they are asked to pay more.. It’s been like this for decades..
It’s weird to see that, especially with how big Ironman is. Makes me wonder about the hill my little Rugby league has to climb if Ironman barely charges 1m/year for an upper echelon sponsor.
Roka has been the swim sponsor for ages and every race is a sea of Roka suits. Meanwhile, Hoka is a huge sponsor, sponsors many athletes and it’s one is the lesser used race shoes. At a minimum it seems their investment isn’t getting any traction.
I regret saying “HOKA” (still listed in Ben’s website) and not “Asics” or “Nike”, because whichever particular shoe company we’re talking about is beside the point.
Sure they aren’t a super popular race shoe but I imagine many athletes are still buying their shoes for training. Since super shoes came out, more and more people are buying multiple pairs of shoes for training and racing. I would be interested to see what data they have for the triathlon market (if any) and overall revenue.
I think any partner benefits from more interesting racing. And the website needs updating. Currently a free agent in the run world.
I think the slotting in rule is largely misunderstood. I’ve been in countless pro briefings where we go into it as it is confusing. Technically, if there is 20.1m spacing (in a 20m draft zone race) that person you are passing is required to start dropping back after you break the plane of the front wheel. As long as you don’t get into the 20m draft you can move in. Slotting in is when you break that. So rarely do I find a group being perfectly spaced out. That’s mainly a thought experiment or if a race was done in a vacuum under perfect conditions
Absolutely: from a mathematical PoV (and I have argued this before).
But you know waaay better than ‘us’ that this is not how athletes or motorefs interpret it.
Requires athletes to reframe their perspective on this, with Race Ranger (RR) providing visual measurement evidence to both the overtaken and the overtaker.
And the head ref to provide education and clear direction as well, with ‘orange’ as their clue. In practice I’d advocate that ‘slotting in’ is fine if the RR ahead is orange but not OK if blue.
Of course this is an ‘issue’ whatever length the draft zone is.
(thank you for steering away from the partnering wormhole)