Competitor Group

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American sports marketing and management company

title: "Competitor Group" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["sports-holding-companies-of-the-united-states", "privately-held-companies-based-in-san-diego", "marketing-companies-established-in-2007"] description: "American sports marketing and management company" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitor_Group" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American sports marketing and management company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameCompetitor Group, Inc
typePrivately held company
parentIronman Group
foundation2007
locationMira Mesa, San Diego, California
key_peopleJosh Furlow (CEO)
industrySports marketing and Event management
productsRock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, Competitor magazine
ownerAdvance Publications
homepagewww.competitorgroup.com
::

|name = Competitor Group, Inc |slogan = |type = Privately held company |parent = Ironman Group |foundation = 2007 |founder = |location= Mira Mesa, San Diego, California |key_people = Josh Furlow (CEO) |industry = Sports marketing and Event management |products = Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, Competitor magazine |owner = Advance Publications |homepage = www.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 Running Series.

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. In 2008, Falconhead Capital acquired Inside Communications, Inc., owners of VeloNews, Inside Triathlon, adding them to the CGI business portfolio.

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.

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. 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.

CGI was bought by a private equity firm, Calera Capital in 2012 and then sold to the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group in 2017; which owned the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), operators of the Ironman Triathlon brand. With the acquisition, CGI was placed under the sphere of WTC's Ironman Group. 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. At that same time its Competitor magazine ceased publication due to its failing viability. In early 2020, Wanda Group sold CGI, as part of its ownership of WTC, to the privately held Advance Publications.

Events and products

Running

Cycling

  • Singletrack.com
  • Veloswap – industry consumer show

Triathlon

  • TriRock Series
  • Endurance Live – industry consumer show

Other

  • Race It: Online event registration platform

References

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.
  4. "Competitor Group, Inc.". Bloomberg, LLP.
  5. Cody, Tamika. (15 September 2010). "Falconhead Recaps Media Biz". Mergers & Acquisitions; Source Media, Inc..
  6. Empfield, Dan. (7 January 2008). "Falconhead's Moross confirms purchase of Triathlete, speaks to Slowtwtich". Slowtwitch.com.
  7. (17 September 2010). "The Week In Private Equity: Exits Abound". The Wall Street Journal.
  8. Empfield, Dan. (11 February 2008). "Velo News, Inside Tri sold to Competitor Group". Slowtwitch.com.
  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.
  10. Herzog, Blake. (11 November 2010). "City may see rockin', runnin' New Year's". The Desert Sun.
  11. Krabel, Herbert. (January 30, 2014). "Farewell Inside Triathlon". Slowtwitch.com.
  12. Krable, Herbert. (July 31, 2014). "CGI to sell Velo and TriRock brands". Slowtwitch.com.
  13. Empfield, Dan. (November 29, 2012). "Competitor Sold to Calera Capital". Slowtwitch.com.
  14. Drape, Joe. (2 June 2017). "Chinese Billionaire Adds Rock 'n' Roll Marathons to Growing Ironman Empire". [[The New York Times]].
  15. Empfield, Dan. (June 2, 2017). "Ironman acquires Competitor Group". Slowtwitch.com.
  16. [http://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2017/10/13/wtc-sells-velonews-and-triathlete-previous-owner-felix-magowan-and-partners 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.
  18. Muellner, Alexis. (26 March 2020). "New York-based Advance acquires Tampa's Ironman in $730M deal". bizjournals.com.

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sports-holding-companies-of-the-united-statesprivately-held-companies-based-in-san-diegomarketing-companies-established-in-2007