Skechers Performance Becomes Title Sponsor of Los Angeles Marathon
Global Leader in Performance Footwear Signs Multi-Year Agreement Commencing with the 2016 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- LA MARATHON LLC and Skechers Performance, which is a division of Skechers USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), today announced a multi-year partnership, with Skechers Performance becoming the official title sponsor of the Los Angeles Marathon. The two Los Angeles-based companies have teamed up for the city’s biggest running event, now the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon, which will be held on Sunday, February 14, 2016. Registration for the race will open on Tuesday, September 1, 2015.
Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon Finish Line (Artist Rendering) (Photo: Business Wire)
As title sponsor of the race, Skechers Performance will have a prominent presence at all marathon week activities including the Los Angeles Marathon Health & Fitness Expo, where Skechers Performance will sell official race merchandise featuring the newly created Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon event logo. Additionally, Skechers Performance will outfit course volunteers and staff, and provide finishers’ shirts for all runners. Comprehensive and integrated Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon marketing and communications initiatives leading up to and during the race will include the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon website (lamarathon.com) and app.
“Partnering with the Los Angeles Marathon is a strategic step forward for our company and the Performance Division,” said Michael Greenberg, president of SKECHERS. “As a Los Angeles-based business, we have always wanted to be a part of this iconic race since we began developing our performance footwear division and we could not be more thrilled to join the Los Angeles Marathon as title sponsor.”
“Much like the City of Los Angeles itself, Skechers is an iconic, global, and stylish brand and we are extremely pleased to announce this new partnership on the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon,” said Tracey Russell, Chief Executive of LA MARATHON LLC. “Skechers has achieved prominence across the global endurance sports market and we look forward to delivering a world-class marathon experience together here in Los Angeles and to collaborating on exciting new initiatives across the U.S. and around the world.”
The Skechers Performance title sponsorship comes on the heels of the historic 30th edition Los Angeles Marathon in 2015. Not only did registration sell out for the third straight year, but the race also played host to the 2015 USA Track & Field Marathon Championships, where top American elite athletes vied for a record prize purse of $150,000. The iconic “Stadium to the Sea” course continues to surge in popularity both nationally and internationally, attracting runners from all 50 states and more than 55 countries all over the world, bringing the race to prominence as one of the five largest marathons in the U.S. and one of the 10 largest worldwide.
The title sponsorship of the Los Angeles Marathon builds upon Skechers Performance’s U.S. marathon portfolio. Currently, the brand serves as the official footwear and apparel sponsor for the Chevron Houston Marathon and sponsors elite marathon runners Meb Keflezighi and Kara Goucher. Meb has raced in several high-profile events wearing Skechers Performance footwear, including his monumental win at the 2014 Boston Marathon racing in his namesake shoe, the Skechers GOmeb Speed 3. Next year, Meb will compete in Los Angeles wearing the new Skechers GOmeb Speed 3 – 2016 at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Men’s and Women’s Marathon on Saturday, February 13, 2016, the day before the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon.
For more information on the 2016 Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon, please visit www.lamarathon.com. For additional information on Skechers Performance, please visit www.GOskechers.com or follow the brand on Facebook (facebook.com/SkechersPerformance), Twitter (twitter.com/skechersGO) and Instagram (instagram.com/skechersperformance).
About LA MARATHON LLC
LA MARATHON LLC, a subsidiary of McCourt Global, creates world-class experiences that ignite passion in athletes and connect communities through the transformative power of sport. The Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon is among the largest marathons in the country with more than 26,000 participants, thousands of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of spectators. The “Stadium to the Sea” course, starting at Dodger Stadium and finishing near the Santa Monica Pier, is one of the most scenic in the world, taking runners on a tour of Los Angeles past every major landmark. LA MARATHON LLC will host the 2016 Olympic Team Trials for Men’s and Women’s Marathon, awarded by USA Track & Field and the United States Olympic Committee, which will take place in Los Angeles February 13, 2016. For more information, please visit www.lamarathon.com.
About SKECHERS USA, Inc.
SKECHERS USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. Skechers footwear is available in the United States and over 120 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, more than 1,050 Skechers retail stores, and Skechers’ e-commerce website. Skechers manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, and 12 wholly-owned subsidiaries in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan and throughout Europe. For more information, please visit skechers.com and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Skechers’ future growth, financial results and operations, its development of new products, future demand for its products and growth opportunities, its planned opening of new stores, advertising and marketing initiatives, and the expansion plans for Skechers’ European Distribution Center. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include international economic, political and market conditions including the uncertainty of sustained recovery in Europe; entry into the highly competitive performance footwear market; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2015. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
For SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Molly Biddiscombe, 212-796-9826
molly.biddiscombe@ketchum.com
or
Jolene
Abbott, 310-318-3100 x 4839
jolenea@skechers.com
Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Released Aug 27, 2015 • 8:45 am EDT