Competitor Magazine has ended its print magazine following the sale of the publication. The Competitor Running website will continue.
The November issue will be the last one, according to reports. The periodical was recently rebranded to Competitor Running.
On October 12, The World Triathlon Corporation sold Competitor Group’s media properties, including VeloNews, Triathlete, Women’s Running, VeloPress and Competitor, to Pocket Outdoor Media (POM), a company founded by Felix Magowan, a previous owner of VeloNews.
San Diego-based Competitor Group’s most valuable assets are a series of running events under the Rock n Roll brand that have in total 600,000 annual participants. The World Triathlon Corporation is owned by Chinese owned and based Wanda Group and operates the Ironman series.
Competitor Magazine was founded 30 years ago by Bob Babbitt and Lois Schwartz with a focus on both elite athletes and amateur runners.
Magowan said told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Competitor has been losing money for “quite some time” and he blamed Competitor Group’s move to outsource advertising. Hiring an in-house sales team in Boulder is part of a plan to revitalize the acquired publications. Competitor was also the only Competitor Group publication that relied solely on ad sales rather than circulation for revenues.
The Times of San Diego first reported on Competitor Magazine’s closing of the print edition.
Photo courtesy Competitor Magazine
