Why not sponsor 50 year olds?

There's brands that get this and use this to their advantage. Look at the Jeremy Renner ad with Brooks. Their Youtube account has only 25k followers but it currently has 1.3M views. Obviously they're not going to partner with randoms looking for their first BQ. But there's a number of well known people, who also happen to be runners, that will do far more for their brands than some 13:15 5k guy that no one has heard of. But it's "tradition" that they sponsor those people for the "good of the sport". That doesn't mean it's a good business decision.

I'm 58.

I'm a hobby jogger and do it more for my health and IRL socialization than anything else.

I race a lot. Anything from the 400 meters up to half marathons.

There is a pretty good niche market for over the hill master's runners. The WMA holds championships every other year. The WMA indoor championships are being held in Gainesville this March. USATF holds a master's series of races. XC and road races along with master's indoor and outdoor track championships. There's the IMGA and the National Senior Games which hold Olympic style events for master's athletes. So there are plenty of ways master's athletes can get their fill of competition. The Senior Games actually requires people to qualify depending on events. Top 4 in track events, anyone can qualify for the road race events as long as they finish a 5K or 10K.

I think companies make a big mistake in not giving away gear to older runners who would gladly rep a brand just for the gear. I got to do it for Under Armour for the Baltimore Running Festival in 2023. It was great getting some free gear and signing the contract. Once in a lifetime experience.

Nike featured 51 year old Kathryn Martin in a national running commercial many years ago: “My goal is to run under 5 minutes for the mile!”

Shoe companies don't sponsor 50 year olds because it would not make them as much money.

I suppose the same goes for not sponsoring Pop Warner football players.

That has to be one of the most honest and emotionally honest posts I've read on this website.

Nice work. You do you! Keep it up.

This only counts the Ad Revenue, which is just a portion of his business. It doesn't count the sponsored content (the Asics tour, the Runna app, the Puma trip), the appearance fees, and the merch sales. He's bringing in much more than $60k.

You are the antihero of all these influencers. When people are tired of the same types of jibber jabbering influencers they will eventually become boring and you be in that "cool" niche ...

I did a search using two different search engines and both said that 48 million people in the US ran at least once in 2023. Of those, about 82% ran regularly!

Where are those people? If we exclude little kids who don't get surveyed, that's 1 in 6 adults and teens.

I would have guessed the number to be closer to 1 in 50 or 1 in 100.

I wear tights and my vaporflys to the rave.

The vapes give me traction to make my moves, and the carbon helps me recover quicker from a long night on a hard surface.

The colors also great for trippin'.

Can't wait for new Nike Tiesto 6%.

Pretty sure Ken Rideout is sponsored by Reebok (among others)..

10 miles a day. Sub 2:30 over 50.

Did you read the thread or just the title?

Pop Warner football players are not the largest spenders in the demographic. 50 year old runners are.

Unfortunately, top masters runners have been busted for doping at an alarming rate over the past couple decades. And many of the ones who haven't been caught are either on TRT that they don't need or taking the highest dose they can get away with. As a result, masters running isn't marketable right now. Additionally, many clean masters runners don't care about chasing records or winning big races since they assume that they will lose to dopers.

The solution could be to put top masters runners in the WADA pool and test them as frequently as young elites, but funding this testing probably isn't financially feasible.

why don't shoe companies sponsor 60 year olds?

And I'm sure this is something they've looked into.

To take this to another level, I think local specialty stores can benefit from giving a discount, some clothing, etc for local advertising.

A local specialty store gave me a singlet and shorts that they sell with their name and logo.

I talk them up, hash tag, whatever.

I'm not sponsored in that sense but I get enough discounts to make it worth my while and they obviously think I'm "known" enough locally to benefit them.

But no major companies are looking at me.

C'mon man you are smarter than this, 18-25 year old are physically at their peak in attractiveness so they get the attention of the 50 year olds.

Nobody wants to see an actual older person in ads, even if it's someone that has "aged well".

Looking at one race with 3400 finishers, 6 percent were 50 to 54 and 24 percent were 25 to 29. Almost an exponential decreasing curve of finishers v. age after age 29. Might be a reason why 50+ runners aren’t sponsored.