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Bring
On the Mud, Bring On the Fun: Eventbrite Survey
Reveals
Obstacle Challenges and Themed Runs Have
Become
More Popular Than Marathons and Half Marathons
|
With Over
100% Growth in Alternative Endurance Events, Athletes Are Proving
Eager for
Creative, Challenging Ways to Raise Money for a Cause, Stay in Shape, and
Have Fun
Bring
On the Mud, Bring On the Fun: Eventbrite Survey Reveals Obstacle Challenges
and Themed Runs Have Become More Popular Than Marathons and Half Marathons
San
Francisco, CA – June 2013 / Hospitality 1ST / Eventbrite,
the self-service registration and ticketing platform popular among endurance
event organizers, today shared the findings of a new online survey conducted
among 2,233 U.S. adults illustrates the strong demand for athletic events
that incorporate themes and obstacles to challenge and delight participants
in new ways. The findings, collected by Harris Interactive Service Bureau
and commissioned by Eventbrite, reveal that in a relatively short amount
of time these unique events have become equal in popularity to more traditional
running events, namely marathons and half marathons. In addition, of the
people who have participated in themed runs and obstacle challenges, nearly
half plan on participating in more in the year ahead.
With
ever increasing popularity of these events in recent years, Eventbrite
commissioned the survey to examine people’s interest in getting involved
in themed runs (e.g., Santa runs, turkey trots, colored dye runs, zombie
runs) and obstacle challenges (e.g., mud runs, obstacle races). Below are
some of the key findings from the survey:
-
Obstacle
challenges and themed runs have spiked in the past few years and are already
as popular as traditional marathons and half-marathons
-
While
6% of people in the general population have participated in marathons and
half-marathons, 5% of people have participated in obstacle challenges,
7% have participated in themed runs.
-
Nearly
1 in 5 people who have not already participated in these new athletic events
said they have considered participating in an obstacle challenge (18%)
and themed run (17%).
-
Alternative
endurance events are catchy, and likely to see continued growth: Among
those who have participated in alternative endurance events and expressed
their future plans, nearly half the respondents indicated that they would
participate in more themed runs or obstacle challenges. (46% and 45%, respectively).
-
People
are influenced by online social sharing: 1 in 5 people indicated that
they are more likely to participate in obstacle challenges (19%) and themed
runs (20%) when they see friends and family sharing photos and info from
these events on social media channels.
-
Family,
friends and community are a driver: Over half (54%) of current and
potential themed run participants reported that they would do a themed
run to get out and be with their friends, family and community. Similarly,
obstacle races also draw in groups, with 41% of all current and participants
seeking to take part in these events for social reasons.
-
Fun
and charity are the name of the game: Nearly two-thirds (63%) of current
and potential themed run participants want to support a cause, and almost
as many respondents (61%) report that they simply like the fun of it. Over
7 in 10 (71%) current or potential obstacle run participants say they do
it for the fun, too. Losing weight was reported as a driver to a lesser
degree with only 36% responding that it was a motivation.
“These
types of alternative endurance events are the perfect mix of fun and fitness,
and they are created with groups of friends and family in mind. Participants
sign up, join in, and want to celebrate together, which explains why social
media is such an important driver for registration,” said Christine Bohle,
senior endurance marketing manager at Eventbrite. “This focus on community
is also why we’re seeing so much growth in obstacle challenges and themed
runs on our own platform – Eventbrite’s integrated social sharing tools
on race registration pages make it incredibly easy for people to spread
the word about these events, and reach the growing community of active
individuals who want to bring creativity and community to their workouts.”
Fast
Growth of Endurance Events on Eventbrite
Eventbrite
has managed registration for over 975,000 participants who have attended
over 7,000 endurance events of all kinds – from traditional marathons,
triathlons and century rides, to mud runs. In the past year alone, the
company has seen the number of obstacle challenges on Eventbrite’s platform
increase by 136%, and the number of themed runs on the platform increase
by 100%. More generally, the number registrations for endurance events
on the platform has increased 129% in the past year. This data demonstrates
the growth the entire endurance industry is seeing, with obstacle challenges
and themed runs serving as a primary contributor to the overall expansion
of the market.
One
of the most influential themed runs is Bay To Breakers, which has been
counted among the top ten festival races in the country by Running USA.
This year, Bay To Breakers partnered with Eventbrite, to register the thousands
of costume-clad athletes who took to the streets of San Francisco in May.
This partnership showcases a shift in race directors seeking innovative
registration platforms to help reach new communities of active event-goers,
and social media promotion is a big part of that.
For
more information about Eventbrite’s offering to organizers of any event
– from obstacle challenges and themed runs to marathons, triathlons and
gran fondos – check out: Eventbrite.com/endurance.
About
Eventbrite
Eventbrite
enables people all over the world to plan, promote, and sell out any event,
and has sold over 100 million tickets and registrations worldwide. The
online event registration service makes it easy for everyone to discover
events, and to share the events they are attending with the people they
know. In this way, Eventbrite brings communities together by encouraging
people to connect through live experiences. Eventbrite’s investors include
Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, and Tenaya Capital. Learn
more at Eventbrite.com.
About
the Survey
Data
for this survey were collected online by Harris Interactive Service Bureau
(“HISB”) on behalf of Eventbrite between March 11, 2013 and March 15, 2013
among 2233 U.S. respondents, age 18 or older. The data include oversamples
of those who have ever participated in either obstacle challenge or an
event themed run. HISB was responsible only for the data collected and
data weighting.
Media:
Terra
Carmichael
415-963-4465
Eventbrite
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