Funding blow but the race continues

SOUTH AFRICAN road running has been hit by a string of bad news over the last month with corporates seemingly losing their appetite for long-distance events.

Old Mutual dropped a bombshell at the end of August when it said it would not renew its sponsorship of the Comrades Marathon and Om die Dam ultra. The Two Oceans Marathon will also lose out after its 50th anniversary race next April.

The sport received another body blow when embattled auditing firm KPMG announced it would no longer sponsor its running club.

The club has been the home of some of the country’s top ultra runners, including 2015 Comrades Marathon winner Caroline Wostmann and Olympic marathon sisters Rene and Christine Kalmer.

Kelvin Watt, Nielsen Sports MD for Africa, Asia and the Middle East, said while sports sponsorship may not be in a healthy space, the current changes could be part of the cyclical nature of sports business.

Watt, who also represents the Comrades Marathon as a client, said the iconic race should not battle to find a replacement for Old Mutual.

“There is no doubt that the sponsorship space is struggling in South Africa, there is a general reduction in investment in the country in terms of sports sponsorship,” he said.

Watt said the loss of the 2023 Rugby World Cup bid and the 2022 Commonwealth Games sent tremors through the industry.

But he remains bullish about road running’s ability to pull major sponsorships.

“I’ve seen some of the data and right now Comrades Marathon is in the most extraordinary space and is something to sponsor and be celebrated. And to an extent, Two Oceans is the same.”

Watt bases his optimism on data

showing people are increasingly relating to these events as they are no longer mere passive consumers but actively involved in running in one way or another.

“Road running is in the best space it has been in probably 30 or 40 years largely off the back, I think, of Park Run,” he said.

“I think it has fundamentally changed road running in this country and ever since it has come to be, we’ve seen growth in numbers around road running.

“One of the things our research is showing is that people are doing more and watching less. That is the cycle we see in so much of the research we do.”

Comrades race director Rowyn James is not too concerned about the loss of Old Mutual as they have hedged against the loss of sponsorships.

“The sponsorship model of having multiple sponsors with different rights packages is definitely the way to go,” James said.

“That helps cushion the blow for Comrades. People come and people go, company strategies change. We still have Bonitas for two years and we carry on.”