Running Like Strava: Drawing Inspiration from the Participatory Sports Boom 🏃♂️
Strava has taken the idea of a physical sports club and translated it to the online realm to become the world's largest sports community - an idea yet to be run with by team sports...
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Sports Pundit MBA is a series of content in partnership with the MBA Sport Business Alliance.
MBA SBA is comprised of current MBA students and alumni from 10 premier business schools across the United States.
Through this content partnership, I’m working directly with them to provide you with high-quality sports business content from a variety of sharp, next-gen perspectives.
This week’s member is Darren Douglas, a recent UCLA Anderson grad focused on the convergence of sports and technology. Previously an investor in residence at Plexo Capital, Douglas is now turning his interest to the sports industry with his own venture, BACKCOURT.
BIG IDEA
On Sunday morning, an estimated 50,000 avid runners took off from Staten Island and navigated the TCS New York City Marathon course through all five of the city's boroughs.
This iconic event, officially recognised as the world's largest marathon not only draws a massive number of participants, but also generates $110 million in annual revenue while generously supporting numerous New York City charities.
The running craze witnessed a remarkable resurgence during the pandemic and hasn't looked back since. A survey conducted by RunRepeat, featuring insights from 4,000 runners, revealed that a striking 28.76% of them embarked on their running journeys during the pandemic.
The New York Road Runners, a non-profit organisation that orchestrates the New York City Marathon and numerous other races, have stated that an astonishing 95% of their races were sold out this year. Even races that once had vacancies on the day of the event are now completely booked.
This trend isn’t unique to New York.
Across the globe, as the world welcomed back racing events in 2022, the share of marathon runners on the fitness app Strava nearly doubled compared to the preceding year, with some countries experiencing even more substantial growth.
The trend isn’t unique to just marathons, either; it encompasses the broader category of outdoor recreation and mass-participation events.
This surge is largely fuelled by individuals seeking community and new challenges.
Take, for instance, Tough Mudder UK, which attracted nearly 100,000 participants across its 10-event season in 2022, marking a 14% participant growth compared to 2021.
While discussions regarding the multi-billion-dollar global sports industry often revolve around professional sports leagues, large sponsorship deals, and broadcast rights, the majority of consumer spending actually emanates from this vibrant participatory sports market.
The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) in its 2023 Outdoor Participation Trends Report highlighted that the American outdoor recreation economy generates a staggering $887 billion in consumer spending annually and employs 7.6 million people. To put this in perspective, this annual spending almost surpasses the combined expenditure on pharmaceuticals and motor vehicles.
The report found hiking to be the most popular outdoor activity, with running and cycling rounding out the top three.
The study further unveiled that 55% of Americans actively participate in outdoor recreation, encompassing a wide range of physically challenging activities, from rafting and rock climbing to surfing and more. In comparison, only 34% of Americans attended sporting events.
These outdoor adventures are characterised by active participation, where individuals become the focal point of their experiences, all while fostering a sense of community.
Few platforms have harnessed this power as effectively as Strava, which has grown to become the world's largest sports community.
Founded in 2009, Strava now boasts over 100 million members. Initially centred around cycling, it has expanded to support more than 40 different activities, catering to athletes of all types, from road runners to track and trail runners, swimmers, hikers, kayakers, surfers, and skiers. Strava's user base spans from casual sports enthusiasts to over two-thirds of Tour de France cyclists. And members represent every corner of the globe, with 70% of its members residing outside the United States.
As Mark Gainey, Chairman at Strava, puts it, “We're not necessarily in the business of building community as much as we're in the business of supporting the community that already exists… there's this global community that is Strava, but what we really see on Strava are all of these micro-communities.”
Strava has had to be patient, though. It took 8 years for them to record the first billion activities on the platform. The last billion was achieved in just 6 months.
This growth is the result of a clever blend of innovative technology, circumstance (COVID), and the human connections that the platform fosters, forming a thriving community that keeps people engaged and moving.
Essentially, Strava took the idea of a physical sports club and translated it to the online realm. The platform empowers in-person clubs, businesses, and brands to connect with athletes, offering statistical features, scheduled club runs, competitions, and challenges. Strava has facilitated a convenient way for these groups to establish an online presence, attracting new users eager to join local clubs and partake in scheduled group meet-ups or challenges.
It’s success also highlights an opportunity though. While you could use Strava next time you play five-a-side to track your distance covered (see example below), it's not its primary focus, and no equivalent community has emerged within a team sport environment such as football or basketball, yet…
As rightsholders face the challenges of diminishing broadcast rights and the need to explore diversified revenue streams, they are prompted to consider different perspectives.
With the resounding success and popularity of events like the TCS New York City Marathon and the extraordinary growth of platforms like Strava, there arises a compelling question: Could there be an opportunity for rightsholders develop their own participatory community hub? One that transcends beyond simply being a kids club or talent pathway. An itch only partially scratched by the likes of Last Man Stands, Leisure Leagues, or Power League.
In doing so, rightsholders could tap into the participation trends that we are already seeing within outdoor recreation, enrich fan engagement, and unlock currently untapped potential. Like Strava’s Gainey said, this is not necessarily about being in the business of building community, as much as it is about being in the business of supporting the communities that already exist.
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JOB BOARD
Relationship Manager, Race Promotion - Formula 1 (London, UK)
Brand Marketing Lead - Fnatic (London, UK)
Growth Activator - England Rugby (London, UK)
Partnership Executive - Red Bull Racing (Milton Keynes, UK)
Participation Growth Manager - Australian Football League (Melbourne, Australia)
Do you have a job you’d like to promote to the amazing readers of this newsletter? Drop me a note at andy@sportspundit.co
More on the MBA Sports Business Alliance…
MBA SBA is a mission-driven non-profit that is building an extensive pipeline of MBA talent within the sports industry from premier business schools, including;
Michigan Ross
Duke Fuqua
Texas McCombs
USC Marshall
UCLA Anderson
MIT Sloan
Vanderbilt Owen
NYU Stern
Notre Dame Mendoza
Oregon Lundquist
MBA SBA is guided by the core values of “Connect. Educate. Lead.” and prepares its members to become future sports business leaders by providing them access to best in class recruiting resources, educational events, and professional development opportunities.
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