Sponsorship
Wizz Air shares title sponsorship of Valencia Half Marathon
Wizz Air joins Fundación Trinidad Alfonso as co-title sponsor of the Valencia Half Marathon. The fee and duration were not disclosed.
The business of running
Follow the money
that keeps the world running.
Brands, marathons, sponsorship, startups: every day, Hopone breaks down the economics of running for curious runners, industry insiders and investors.
Latest analysis
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Brands
Adidas names outdoor and street dance as China growth drivers
Adidas CEO Gulden pitched outdoor and street dance in Shanghai. We check it against 16% H1 China sales growth, outdoor market data and rivals. See the numbers.
Races
Race bib resale market adds fraud risk as lotteries oversubscribe
Race bib resale is growing as Paris and Copenhagen lotteries turn applicants away. See the fraud cases, what organizers lose and which figures are missing.
Sponsorship
Taiwan Tourism Administration Sponsors Portland Marathon for the First Time
Taiwan's tourism board sponsored the Portland Marathon for the first time to pitch wellness travel to runners. See what is known and what remains undisclosed.
Races
Brands Rethink the Marathon Expo as Costs Rise and Sponsors Crowd Floors
Marathon expo costs are climbing and title sponsors crowd the floor, so Brooks and Saucony are pulling back. See what it means for budgets and race revenue.
Retail
Decathlon opens 10th Bogotá store, eyes 5 Colombian openings
Decathlon Colombia expansion hits 22 stores with a tenth Bogotá opening at Santafé mall, and two more planned for a record five in 2026. See the numbers.
Races
Chicago Marathon added $756 million in 2025. What it means for 2026
The Chicago Marathon economic impact hit $756 million in 2025. See what the study covers, where its numbers don't add up and what to expect in 2026.
Sponsorship
Nairobi Marathon sponsorship tops Ksh273m for 2026 race
Nairobi Marathon sponsorship reaches Ksh273m: Standard Chartered pays Ksh130m, 56 partners add Ksh143m, and the Ksh90m charity goal is met. See the full split.
Retail
Decathlon makes 14 times more per store than Sport 2000. Now it wants half of its rival’s buying arm
Decathlon is negotiating a 50% stake in Sport 2000’s central buying company. In France it has fewer than half as many stores as Sport 2000 but six times the revenue.
Startups
A free Brooklyn run club made $640,000 last year. Almost none of it came from running
Peak and Pace grew from 12 runners to more than 30,000 event attendees in a year. The business is ticketed parties, run at a 15% margin.
Explainers
All explainers →
Startups
How Strava makes money: an estimated $490 million, mostly subscriptions
Strava earns most of its revenue from subscriptions, plus brand challenges and Metro data. Revenue estimates, valuation and IPO status, with sources.
Races
NYC Marathon prize money and entry fees: a $969,000 purse against $315 bibs
NYC Marathon prize money totals $969,000, with $100,000 for each open winner, while entry costs $255 to $358 and lottery odds fell to about 1% in 2026.
Races
Boston Marathon prize money and entry fees: a $1.28 million purse against $260 bibs
The Boston Marathon's 2026 prize pool was $1,284,500 with bonuses. Entry fees of $260 across a 30,000-runner field point to a ceiling near $7.8 million.
Our sections
- 01
Markets
Earnings, share prices and valuations of the big running brands and sporting-goods groups.
- 02
Brands
Brand strategy, leadership changes, product launches and the battle for market share.
- 03
Races
The economics of marathons, trail races and mass-participation events: fees, ballots, revenue.
- 04
Sponsorship
Title sponsors, athlete contracts and media rights: who pays how much to be in running.
- 05
Startups
Funding rounds, acquisitions and business models of running apps, wearables and new entrants.
- 06
Retail
Running retail: run specialty shops, sporting-goods chains, direct-to-consumer, e-commerce and resale.