"Endurance sports are now big business. Events such as Ironman, Tough Mudder, marathons, triathlons and road cycle races are booming.
Competitors invest hours of training time and huge entry entry fees to drag themselves across the finish line.
Big investors are beginning to sit up and take notice. The World Triathlon Corporation, owner of Ironman, was last month snapped up by China’s biggest commercial property company, the Dalian Wanda Group, for $650m (£421m). The group is controlled by Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes to be about $26bn.
Jianlin knows a thing or two about making money, and a sport with no stadium costs and whose events are largely staffed by volunteers is an appealing business model. Ironman is expected to rake in more than $180m this year and has been growing at more than 20% a year."
Also...
"Rowlands believes endurance sports, like cycling, triathlon and Ironman, have become the new golf for middle-aged men and figures from Sports Marketing Surveys support his hunch. Golf has suffered a precipitous slump in participation in Britain in the last decade. There were more than 4m golfers in 2006, but by last year the numbers striding the fairways and greens was down to just 3.3m.
The growing army of middle class, middle aged devotees to triathlon has also bolstered sales of lighter carbon frames. Bike brands like Giant, Cannondale, Look, Colnago and Bianchi are in big demand."
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