Endurance Sports Meet Private Equity

Wow. Those private equity schmucks will not stop until they have taken over the world. Falconhead Capital LLC issued a press release today announcing the completion of its acquisition of Inside Communications Inc., the publisher of the venerable cycling magazine VeloNews "The Journal of Competitive Cycling." Falconhead Capital also recently purchased Elite Racing - the firm that puts on the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon series. Falconhead is also rumored to be interested in purchasing the Los Angeles Marathon. Why are these parasites so interested in endurance sports? Here's a hint from a The Deal.com article that is available on Falconhead's website.

Triathlons are a $1.3 billion industry and growing; membership has risen by 23% since 2002 and is now growing by 35% a year, according to USA Triathlon, the sport's official governing body."

Moreover, the demographics "are highly attractive to marketers," says Moross, noting that the average household income for triathletes is $160,000.

"Where we see big value is where we can harness all customers who read these magazines. It's all about being able to spend more money and get folks to buy things," he adds. Revenue comes from entry fees, sponsorship, TV, merchandise and fitness expos.

I haven't quite processed all of this yet. But I'm pretty sure that this is not a good thing, and that it signals the top of the running/cycling/triathlon boom.