Garmin Secures Naming Rights For Kansas City Marathon

Garmin International Inc. has secured exclusive naming rights and title sponsorship of The Kansas City Marathon.

Beginning in 2020, Kansas City’s largest annual running event will be rebranded as The Garmin Kansas City Marathon with full integration of the Garmin brand and running products, including the Forerunner lineup of running smartwatches and Fēnix 6 series of adventure watches.

The three-year naming rights agreement strengthens the longstanding strategic relationship between Garmin and the Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation, a 100 percent privately funded nonprofit organization that has organized the Kansas City Marathon since 2005. Registration is currently open for the Garmin Kansas City Marathon set for October 17, 2020.

“Garmin has been a great supporter of our race for the past three years, and we are thrilled to take our strategic relationship to the next level with the race rebranding as the Garmin Kansas City Marathon,” said Race Director Dave Borchardt. “Garmin is the coolest brand in the running industry, and we couldn’t ask for a better title sponsor – they truly care about the Kansas City community as well as growing the Kansas City Marathon into one of the biggest and best races in the country.”

“As a homegrown Kansas City-area company and the pioneer of the modern running watch, Garmin is proud to secure naming rights to Kansas City’s premier running event. As Garmin continues to develop best-in-class running watches and smartwatches, it only makes sense to sponsor Kansas City’s largest marathon,” said Susan Lyman, Garmin vice president of global consumer marketing. “The Garmin Kansas City Marathon will encourage runners of all levels to make every day just a little bit better. We call it ‘Beat Yesterday.’ ”

In addition to securing full naming rights and retaining title sponsorship of the Kansas City Marathon, Garmin will continue to be the Presenting Sponsor of the WIN for KC Women’s Triathlon & Duathlon and a Bronze Level sponsor of the Thanksgiving Day 5K Run and Family Stroll.

Photo courtesy Garmin