Inside word is a company was willing to sign Droddy until it was Cox they had to deal with.
On the topic of return on investment..
If I was a brand then i'd much rather use 40k / year on activating product with 2-3 influential running stores.
Partner them with Trials Of Miles / Sound Running type grass roots events and make local Mile - 5k series.
Example; Boston. Heartbreak running company. Give them the 40k/year and have that Mile - 5k race series.
Have your brand as the title sponsor. Have your brands coach write a 6 week training plan (Tim Broe at Saucony, Coogan/Boss at NB, Tinman at adidas, Schumacher at Nike etc).
Have your already signed athletes do small videos / zoom calls with the local community of runners training for the big night race series.
Use that stores local club (Heartbreakers) and create a couple of track races, inviting a small ish pro field alongside the local runners.
Document the journey on social media to tell 'authentic' stories culminating in a big finale where all the locals run Mile - 5k PRs.
With digital these days its so much easier to foster those connections and amp up your brand.
That's 40k way better spent by a brand rather than sponsoring Noah Droddy who races mid-pack twice a year and sells zero shoes for you.
Tracksmith is a good example of using Digital / Social to hype your brand WAY bigger than it actually is compared to adidas/nike etc.
I can see ON moving into this space in the future too.
Sorry Droddy and Co but you all need to find another angle to provide value to a brand other than quirky Twitter posts and mid-pack times.