World Marathon Majors Making Flechman remove a promo tattoo

I thought it was pretty tasty until I looked at the ingredients list to find "Balls, just balls".

ps--I believe the title sponsor back in the day was Manufacturer's Hanover.

#WeAreUSATrack wrote:

Any why, Mr. Knob, do you think Nike allows people to wear Adidas in events that Nike sponsors?

Because, by IAAF rules, they must.

International athletics is a sport that was strictly amateur as far as the athlete was concerned until relatively recently in its 120+ year history, and that mentality was and has been slow to unwind.

But as athletes were gaining the ability to use their status to earn income, event sponsors were already there. They were in a position to use an event for advertising and the limited ability for the athletes to display a diverse array of sponsors added to the value they could get from sponsoring an event or series. While athletes can now be sponsored by any company from any industry, if you were to get your wish and the rules regarding athlete logo displays were done away with, there wouldn't be as much value for the sponsors. Samsung certainly wouldn't see the Diamond League in the same way if Bolt had SONY plastered across his body as he competed in their event. They didn't pay all that money to give an arch rival one square millimeter of coverage. You might say, "this one isn't in conflict with the event sponsors" but it's simply easier to have a blanket rule than to allow some person(s) to make judgement calls, for each individual athlete, if a secondary sponsor conflicts or not.

Which brings me to the question your post raised. First, everyone needs to wear a uniform of some kind. Second, {fill in the blank} shoe company is paying a six figure sum to sponsor your big time, televised track meet. A bank or financial institution, or electronics conglomerate, the likes of which sponsor the WMM and Diamond League, pay much more than that. The size of the logos are limited to limit how much coverage Nike can get when one of their guys is competing at an adidas meet, and non-manufacturer logos (save for one additional national sponsor) are forbidden to protect the investment of the event underwriters. It limits the earning potential of those at the very top so that the show can go on for all those that those additional sponsors aren't courting. Finally, a shoe company is free to be the title sponsor of an event and bar anyone they don't have under contract from competing. It's an invitational.

So the company's name was all over the finish tape and runner's bibs for free? What a deal!

ING is pleased to announce it will become the first ever title sponsor of one of the world's most prestigious running events – the New York City Marathon.

2003: NYRR signed a multi-year deal with ING, one of the world’s largest financial service companies, to be the first title sponsor of the New York City Marathon.

Need anything else?