Nia Akins and Brooks part ways

Brooks is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Money is not an issue.

I do think this spending has a huge trickle down effect on High school runners. I ran in nike in high school because that's what Rupp, Centro, Farah wore. As a coach, alot of the top kids wore Nike super shoes/spikes because Kipchoge breaking 2 etc. Then alot of the the not as good kids started buying nike after freshman year because that's what they saw all the good kids wearing.

I still run/workout in Nikes today because that's the habit I settled into. I suspect alot of people are creatures of habit and if they start wearing a brand in HS, they will just continue wearing that brand so long as they don't mess up the shoe they normally train in.

Also keep in mind, a serious runner who is going through 4-6 trainers a year, a $250 racing flat, etc. Is worth like 8 hobby joggers.

I honestly think it's more like human billboards. I agree that very few people will buy a shoe because of Nia Akins specifically. It's more like when the TV camera pans along the start line of a running event the companies want a certain percentage of the athletes wearing their logo. If 100% of the pro runners are wearing Nike, that's not good for everyone else.

Again, most people don't care. But the people they ask for advice about shoes might. It trickles down.

finance.yahoo.com

How Warren Buffett saved Brooks Running Co.

@AlexisTVNews

Brooks Running Co. was on the brink of bankruptcy in 2001. Here's how a sale to Berkshire Hathaway and a new CEO helped save the company.

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Between 2011-2016, Brooks Running Co. has established a foothold in Europe and recently expanded into Japan, Korea, and Australia.

Once again this year (2016), Brooks sold a special edition Warren Buffett running shoe at the shareholder meeting. At $170, it features a caricature of Buffett on the heel and has “Berkshire Hathaway” printed on the guide rail and on the upper. It may be the closest that Buffett enthusiasts get to walking in his shoes.

finance.yahoo.com

Brooks Running Delivers Record Revenue in 2023, Accelerates Innovation in the New Year

SEATTLE, February 13, 2024--Brooks sets new high marks with continued strong execution across the business.

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SEATTLE, February 13, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brooks Running finished 2023 with record revenue growth of $1.2 billion, up 5% year over year, and a record 20 million+ units sold. Since 2018, Brooks’ compound annual growth rate exceeded 14%. In North America, revenue increased 7% year over year as the brand reached $1 billion in revenue in the region for the first time. Brooks executed its multichannel business strategy as it right-sized inventory, invested in key markets, and delivered premium performance products across regions to drive the brand’s success in 2023.

"more money than brooks can afford" brooks is owned by birkshire-hathaway. warren buffett did nor become one of the richest people in the world by being generous. you must mean that more than brooks wants to spend. brooks is just a plaything for warren's portfolio.

Nia Akins REALLY can't stand Josh Kerr

Her body language says it all

No Brooks kit today

She's not alone. Just ask his teammates that he screwed over at New Mexico. Josh only does what benefits Josh. Total dbag.

Well, after this awful performance I guess she'll remain unsponsored

Paul Merca, who is based out of Seattle just tweeted this statement from Brooks:

https://x.com/paulmerca70601/status/1826709454802616777

and

https://x.com/paulmerca70601/status/1826709616904077578

Damn, basically hugging the couch to get as far away from Kerr as possible.

Another poor performance today. Wherever she goes, she'll likely be taking a pay cut. Not like other companies are going to be tripping over themselves to sign her.

Mackey should only coach guys.

good luck to Nia where ever she lands!

This is sad. Nia and Danny have had a terrific year and it is a shame that they can’t celebrate this together.
I hate Brooks’s response as it lacks humanity.

There’s always two sides to a story. Nia definitely improved over her tenure at the Beasts. She had a bad Olympics. Hopefully, she didn’t make a rash decision because of this. It should be noted that she has somewhat of an aloof personality from a marketing perspective. Her recent strong performances on the track made up for this deficit. The question is, do strong personalities or strong performances sell shoes?

I'm not convinced it's either. I don't think any individual sells much product. I don't think many people ever watched Jakob or Femke Bol and thought to themselves, "I really need to get a pair of Nike's or New Balance." Shoe companies sponsor athletes because it gives their brand credibility in the market. While Jakob doesn't sell shoes on his own, if Nike didn't sponsor any track athletes, no one would take them seriously as a shoe company. But as recent brand performances have shown, there are other ways to influence shoe choice for the masses and Nike are losing ground among hobbyjoggers to brands that are more involved with the club scene and parkrun. Brooks and On have been very good at that in the UK. Parkrun will have sold a lot more pairs of Brooks in the UK than Josh Kerr ever will.

This is the correct take. Many of my wider social group (partners of work colleagues, friends of friends, etc.) run 5k to Marathon, trail runs, Man vs., etc. and none of them have a clue about the Jakob vs. Josh rivalry, the Mu vs. Hodgkinson rivalry, or what any of these pros wear.

They take tips from fellow park runners on kit and footwear, not the Brooks Beasts pros. Being physically present at running events with a big flag and a booth selling product is the way to success.

tbf I dont think this is that surprising - who did she have to train with at BB?

Allie B is a 5000 runner
Marta PF is just frankly not good enough (2:00 PR from 2018, not broke 2:02 since)
Kaley is a steepler
Valery has run under 2:01.6 only once
Mehra (2:00 in 2021, not run under 2:02 since either)

Meanwhile Nia is running 1:57.3, competing for National titles and trying to mix in with Mu, Keely, Moraa, Reekie etc. If anything I'm amazed she got this far with this squad around her?!

Brooks lacks humanity? What exactly were you expecting Brooks to say? Nia Akins quit her team in the middle of the season. Who does that?

Akins could have finished out the season with Brooks. She decided not to. That's on her.

Why should Mackey only coach guys?