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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, Triathlete magazine, VeloNews, Women's Running
OwnerWanda 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] Additionally, the company produces four publications, Competitor magazine; Triathlete magazine; VeloNews; and Women's Running that have a collective circulation of over 700,000.[5] They also own VeloPress, the company's book publishing division.[6][7] The company was bought by a private equity firm, Calera Capital in 2012[8] and then sold to the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group in 2017.[9]

History

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.[7][10][11] In 2008, Falconhead Capital acquired Inside Communications, Inc., owners of VeloNews, Inside Triathlon, adding them to the CGI business portfolio.[12] In November 2012, CGI was sold to the private equity firm Calera Capital.[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.[13][14]

In January 2014, Competitor Group announced that it would cease publication of Inside Triathlon. Originally called Triathlon Today, the magazine was purchased by Inside Communication in 1993 and was 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.[15] Later, in July 2014, CGI announced their desire to focus on the running portion of their product portfolio. As a result, they plan to explore opportunities to sell their Velo, VeloPress and TriRock brands, but plan to retain Triathlete magazine.[16]

In September 2014, Competitor Group was sued in federal court for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, claiming that it should pay a minimum wage to those it classified as volunteers in a for-profit race.[17]

Events and products

Running

Cycling

  • VeloNews magazine
  • Singletrack.com
  • Veloswap - industry consumer show

Triathlon

  • Triathlon magazine
  • TriRock Series
  • Endurance Live - industry consumer show

Other

Race It: Online event registration platform

See also

References

  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. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  5. ^ Carlson, Timothy (December 15, 2013). "Competitor Group Inc. shakes up senior management team". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  6. ^ "CGI Media Kit" (PDF). Competitor Group, Inc. October 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  7. ^ a b Cody, Tamika (15 September 2010). "Falconhead Recaps Media Biz". Mergers & Acquisitions; Source Media, Inc. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  8. ^ a b Empfield, Dan (November 29, 2012). "Competitor Sold to Calera Capital". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  9. ^ Drape, Joe (2 June 2017). "Chinese Billionaire Adds Rock 'n' Roll Marathons to Growing Ironman Empire". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  10. ^ Empfield, Dan (7 January 2008). "Falconhead's Moross confirms purchase of Triathlete, speaks to Slowtwtich". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  11. ^ "The Week In Private Equity: Exits Abound". The Wall Street Journal. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  12. ^ Empfield, Dan (11 February 2008). "Velo News, Inside Tri sold to Competitor Group". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Herzog, Blake (11 November 2010). "City may see rockin', runnin' New Year's". The Desert Sun. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  15. ^ Krabel, Herbert (January 30, 2014). "Farewell Inside Triathlon". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  16. ^ Krable, Herbert (July 31, 2014). "CGI to sell Velo and TriRock brands". Slowtwitch.com. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  17. ^ Huffman, Lisa (October 17, 2014). "Marathon Helper Alleges Labor Violations". www.nationallawjournal.com. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
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