gotta sell used socks and running shorts - I am sure that type of merch will fly off the shelves. Could be a good way to finally attract some non-runners to the sport
it's all marketing and fluff. Only thing is you don't have to have a shoe brand. Juli Benson coaching
Ok so 5 of the 6 are coached by Benson.
Hiltz and now *suddenly* MacLean also with Benson.
Hiltz and MacLean are the highest caliber of Benson's athletes and also currently don't have a team to train with -- why aren't these two joining Meridia?
I can't imagine online workouts and training alone is going to get these two to where they need to be come September.
Meanwhile, there is a serious, non-shoe-branded team in Boulder with a full-time and proven coach and a decently legitimate roster, assembling quickly in Boulder. However, there are a few men on the team, so this disqualifies them as being newsworthy.
Well, Pete is handing out free coaching (for now) so no surprises he's getting a lot of bites. Not critiquing, it's a great move to get started but not sustainable. Let's see what happens when he starts charging folks like everyone else.
Yes, it's a good move, but I agree, will it be sustainable? "Pro" runners are some of the cheapest folks on the planet. They'll pay $150-$250 a pop for massage or physio work 1-2 x per week and pay their agent a stupid percentage for literally doing nothing at all, but when it comes to paying their coaches, all of a sudden they are broke.
Let's look at money in pro sports: Football, basketball, futbol, baseball, hockey, boxing, mma... even in golf and tennis the men earn more than the women. And in most of those sports, any 'groups' or teams already are divided into all men or all women. So what if some track women want to have a group for themselves. And any men would be training at different paces anyway. And racing in different races.
Men make more money because men are the consumers of the sport as spectators and they choose to watch other men, who are the higher level performers in absolute terms.
(Huge simplification and generalisation)
That sucks if you are a women who excels in sport.
It won't change until (many many many) more women take an interest in sport as consumers and spectators.
That needs to be driven by women going to sports events and buying tickets / merch etc.
Will this group help that? Yeah, maybe. If they can get more teenage girls to care and ultimately become lifelong fans of women's running generally.
There's a small flaw in your logic. Even women tend to prefer spectating the "higher level performers in absolute terms".
More women watching sports and buying merch would obviously still help women's professional sports, but the majority of these new supporters would still be consuming "men's" sports (open division).