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Competitor Group

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Competitor Group, Inc
Company typePrivately held company
IndustrySports marketing and Event management
Founded2007
HeadquartersMira Mesa, San Diego, California
Key people
Josh Furlow (CEO)[1][2]
ProductsRock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, Competitor magazine
OwnerAdvance Publications
ParentIronman Group
Websitewww.competitorgroup.com

Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI) is a privately held, for-profit, sports marketing and management company based in Mira Mesa, San Diego, California. The company owns and operates over 40 large scale running, cycling, and triathlon events; of which includes the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series.[3][4]

History

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Competitor Group was formed by Falconhead Capital at the end of 2007 when the firm acquired Elite Racing, an operator of running events in the United States, as well as La Jolla Holding Group, LLC (Triathlete magazine) and Competitor Publishing.[5][6][7] In 2008, Falconhead Capital acquired Inside Communications, Inc., owners of VeloNews, Inside Triathlon, adding them to the CGI business portfolio.[8]

With the acquisition of Elite Racing, CGI rapidly expanded its event production with the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series. In addition to the races already produced under Elite Racing, CGI has purchased under-performing marathon and half-marathon races as well as starting new races around the United States, sometimes receiving large tax breaks in the process.[9][10]

In January 2014, Competitor Group announced that it would cease publication of Inside Triathlon. Originally called Triathlon Today, the magazine was first owned by Inside Communication in 1993, a competitor to La Jolla Holding Group's Triathlete magazine. With both magazine now under one ownership the emphasis of CGI was placed on Triathlete.[11] Later, in July 2014, CGI announced their desire to focus on the running portion of their product portfolio. As a result, they were exploring opportunities to sell their Velo, VeloPress and TriRock brands, but planned to retain Triathlete magazine.[12]

CGI was bought by a private equity firm, Calera Capital in 2012[13] and then sold to the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group in 2017; which owned the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), operators of the Ironman Triathlon brand.[14] With the acquisition, CGI was placed under the sphere of WTC's Ironman Group.[15] In October 2017, WTC subsequently sold CGI publications Triathlete, VeloNews and Women's Running to the Pocket Outdoor Media division of Pocket Ventures (a company later renamed to Outside), which owned SpaceNews.[16] At that same time its Competitor magazine ceased publication due to its failing viability.[17] In early 2020, Wanda Group sold CGI, as part of its ownership of WTC, to the privately held Advance Publications.[18]

Events and products

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Running

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Cycling

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  • Singletrack.com
  • Veloswap – industry consumer show

Triathlon

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  • TriRock Series
  • Endurance Live – industry consumer show

Other

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  • Race It: Online event registration platform

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Plugged In: Josh Furlow, Competitor Group".
  2. ^ "CGI names Josh Furlow president, hires Wendy Godoy as CAO and CFO".
  3. ^ Siedsma, Andrea (5 April 2010). "Racing Along: Competitor Group Events Help Charities Score". San Diego Business Journal. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  4. ^ "Competitor Group, Inc". Bloomberg, LLP. Archived from the original on December 7, 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  5. ^ Cody, Tamika (15 September 2010). "Falconhead Recaps Media Biz". Mergers & Acquisitions; Source Media, Inc. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  6. ^ Empfield, Dan (7 January 2008). "Falconhead's Moross confirms purchase of Triathlete, speaks to Slowtwtich". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  7. ^ "The Week In Private Equity: Exits Abound". The Wall Street Journal. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  8. ^ Empfield, Dan (11 February 2008). "Velo News, Inside Tri sold to Competitor Group". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  9. ^ Perry, Nick (27 June 2009). "Private firm Competitor Group gets tax dollars to stage big-money Rock 'n' Roll Seattle marathon". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  10. ^ Herzog, Blake (11 November 2010). "City may see rockin', runnin' New Year's". The Desert Sun. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  11. ^ Krabel, Herbert (January 30, 2014). "Farewell Inside Triathlon". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  12. ^ Krable, Herbert (July 31, 2014). "CGI to sell Velo and TriRock brands". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  13. ^ Empfield, Dan (November 29, 2012). "Competitor Sold to Calera Capital". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  14. ^ Drape, Joe (2 June 2017). "Chinese Billionaire Adds Rock 'n' Roll Marathons to Growing Ironman Empire". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  15. ^ Empfield, Dan (June 2, 2017). "Ironman acquires Competitor Group". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  16. ^ WTC sells VeloNews and Triathlete to previous owner Felix Magowan and partners - Marc Sani, Bicycle Retailer, 13 October 2017
  17. ^ Stone, Ken (October 14, 2020). "San Diego's Competitor Magazine Closes After 30-Year Run, Lays Off Staff Ahead of 'Biggest Weekend'". Times of San Diego. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  18. ^ Muellner, Alexis (26 March 2020). "New York-based Advance acquires Tampa's Ironman in $730M deal". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
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