Mass Participation Sports – Bringing Niche Events to the Masses

Triathlon used to be considered a niche sport for elite athletes. That has been changed by the rapid growth of mass participation events that allow people of all ages and fitness levels to participate and the concept is going global quickly.

Star Events (www.star-events.cc) , generic a Monaco based Sports Company is led by Georg Hochegger, price a pioneer in Triathlon and founder of the largest licence holder of Ironman brand throughout Europe prior to founding Star Events which has rapidly built a global series of mass participation events in the fields of Triathlon, denture cycling, running and swimming. Star Event’s objective is to become the first eco friendly and charity driven sports series brand and it is fast on the way to achieving this. Working closely with the 4Vita organisation (www.4vita.org) it is aimed at creating corporate and social responsibility to establishing sustainable events. Further links to the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Charity ensure that every event organised has a charity linked to it.

TriStar 111 is the flagship product – with 12 events already in place for 2011 and over 20 planned for 2012, this is the “Formula 1” of Triathlon. Current destinations include Monaco, Mallorca, Sardinia and Estonia. A 1 Km Swim, 100km Cycle and 10km run sets the format for these events with varying levels of participation for other athletes including 55.5 (.5 km swim, 50km cycle and 5km run).

Star Events has high profile ambassadors such as Chris McCormack, currently probably the best long distance triathlete, and certainly one of the best in history, who will participate on April 17th in TriStar111 Mallorca.

Star Events are in the process of implementing a commercial programme around the “TriStar World Series” which sees the introduction of a global sponsor programme, not too dissimilar to the structure enjoyed by the Champions League football programme. In achieving this Sports Media Gaming Ltd (www.sportsmediagaming.com) has been brought in to develop and implement the commercial structure around the TriStar World Series which will see a small number of blue chip brands aligning to this unique venture.

Adding further to the rapid expansion of the company events, Star has just entered into a significant agreement with French media giant Lagadere who have briefed Star to organise a national series of mass participation events targeted at women across France. The Challenge Version Femina starts in Paris on May 8^th (www.challengeversionfemina.fr) and sees 6 events in 2011 and 12 in 2012. Lagardere have put up over 1million Euros of media space in its magazine portfolio to promote the series which will be offered to headline sponsors of the series, also being marketed by Sports Media Gaming Ltd.

As nations become more health conscious, the mass participation events offer a unique way for people to join the pros and participate in high profile sports events. This is what makes these events so popular with sponsors allowing them to engage with an upscale health conscious demograph.