Mass Participation Events & The Covid-19 Challenge

Sponsors have inevitably been caught up in this crisis, unable to activate valuable rights in the way they had intended. So have host locations, which have lost lucrative visitor revenues. Perhaps most importantly, there has been a devastating impact on charities. Sportcal says that “Charities, which use mass participation events as key piece of fundraising, are seeing their donations plummet with the lack of events. The London Marathon alone provides over 

£60 million annually to charities.” Any shortfall “will directly impact on the activities of charities and not for profit organisations,” it concludes.

Sportcal’s assessment is echoed by consultancy Massive, which works on several high profile events. In its own research into the market (The Massive Top25), it estimates “the impact on the 25 biggest charity-owned fundraisers will be more than £100 million. This could grow to more than £400m if we factor in the cancellation of the third-party sports events which provide significant fundraising opportunities.”

Through it all, however, the one positive strand to have emerged is that would-be participants have not lost their enthusiasm for taking part. Sportcal’s survey found that “96% of competitors have expressed the confidence that they will take part in an event within the first 12 months as events begin to return”. In other words, there is strong potential for the sector to bounce back when the time is right.

Virtual Events

Moreover, a large number of mass participation event enthusiasts have proved willing to engage with the alternative arrangements provided by event organisers. “Over 61% of competitors took part in virtual events,” says Sportcal, “with this evidenced by the growth in usage of fitness app Strava. Virtual events have allowed event organisers to fulfil some of their contractual obligations to sponsors.”

While virtual events are unable to replicate the sense of community and camaraderie delivered by real world events, they have provided an innovative release for participants wanting to maintain their physical performance or keep up their fundraising commitments. Popular examples during the Covid-19 pandemic have included The Unbreakable 24, a digital event created by the organisers of the Spartan Race. In this case, over 700 competitors from 32 countries tried to survive 24 hours of brutal challenges and tests of fitness. The Great North Run also got in on the virtual act, with around 17000 people across 57 countries taking part in the event, according to organisers. This provided a much-needed lifeline to partner charities.

Another example was At Home SuperHero, a digital event for disabled competitors that replaced the Superhero Tri. In this case, competitors were invited to “walk, run, push or wheel the 20km challenge all in one go or over a few days” from their living room, garden or neighbourhood. Interestingly, this event had no shortage of branded support, with Marvel acting as headline partner and Pfizer, Lucozade and Aberdeen Standard Investments among the main sponsors. The event also benefited from a Channel 4 highlights show on August 15.

Social Distancing Solutions

Virtual events have been the most workable response to the onerous conditions imposed on mass participation events. Some organisers have tried to find innovative solutions that allow them to go ahead with real races, but the unpredictable nature of the virus has made this difficult. The Athens Marathon, due to be held on November 7/8 2020, initially unveiled plans to split its 10,000 participants into two groups of 5,000. It also explored whether races could be stretched over an extended period of time. In addition, it sought to place a greater emphasis on the localness of the race – reasoning that less air travel would the spread of infection while providing an environmental dividend into the bargain. In the end, though, organisers were forced to admit defeat and replace the real race with a virtual alternative.

Having said this, there have been some real world solutions – which we explore below (though an event’s ability to use them does depend on whether a particular region or country is experiencing rising or falling infection rates, and what the regulatory response has been).

De-coupling elite runners from charity/amateur runners: The London Marathon took the difficult decision to only allow elite athletes to run, with 45,000 mass event runners invited to go virtual instead. Clearly this was unfortunate for charities, but it did allow the showcase event to maintain pride of place in the sporting calendar. TV exposure for the elite event meant there was a level of interest in the virtual activities that might not have existed otherwise. It also provided some leverage for the organisers, which managed to secure Flora as headline sponsor of the race in August. Flora, which previously sponsored the London Marathon from 1996-2009, clearly has an eye of future editions (its new contract runs until 2023). But it has already managed to generate decent levels of exposure despite the truncated nature of the 2020 event. Significantly, the fact that the real world race was limited to elite athletes didn’t prevent Flora from reaching out at a community level. For example, it teamed up with Paula Radcliffe on a programme called Get Towns Active, designed to help people stay healthy and happy during Covid-19. It also launched an initiative to boost fundraising for charities. A weekly competition, hosted on the brand’s Instagram platform, donated £1,000 to an individual who would have run in the real race to support their cause.

Going Solo: The London Marathon and Great North Run also created mechanisms for runners to make the best of a bad situation by running solo. The GNR turned this into a kind of celebratory event by launching Great North Run Solo. GNR Solo started on 28 June (the birthday of the Great North Run) and ran until 13 September - the day the 40th Great North Run was scheduled to take place. The challenge was to complete 40 runs over the 78 days, a run for each year of the Great North Run. The challenge cost £10 to join, and all profits went to the NHS Charities Together COVID-19 Urgent Appeal. Every runner who completed 40 runs received a medal and digital certificate.

Staggered Starts: Some mass participation events have so many participants and spectators it is logistically impossible to stage them safely. But more compact events, in disciplines such as triathlon and cycling, have been delivered successfully within social distancing guidelines. Key techniques have involved using staggered starts and hosting events over an extended period of time. Sportcal’s report cites the example of the Blood Cancer UK Blenheim Palace Triathlon, which is managed by mass participation specialist Limelight Sports.

According to Sportcal, Limelight is confident that mass participation events will thrive in a post-COVID-19 world. But it also argues that the approach of mass participation event organisers to sponsorship will need to fundamentally change. A new model “rooted in data and insights is key to unlocking future sponsorship investments”.

Final Thoughts:  There is clearly a desire for mass participation events to return – but even when they do it is unlikely that the risk of Covid-19 will have disappeared completely. One risk, then, is that someone contracts the disease while participating and blames the organisers (generating the kind of negative feedback that sponsors dislike). As such, organisers will need to ensure hygiene at event is as stringent as possible. They will also need to get participants to sign waivers acknowledging the risks in getting involved. Clearly, there are going to be some serious conversations needed with insurers and lawyers.

Similarly, organisers are going to have to consider whether their current location is the best choice going forward. Set-piece Marathons thrive on being based in city centres – but cities are clearly an issue in terms of infection spreading. So possibly there is an argument for relocating events out of urban areas where it makes sense.

From a sponsor perspective, now might be the time to consider a slightly different flavour of mass participation event. Instead of a mega-event involving tens of thousands, might there be a more niche solution, perhaps a network of smaller regional events?

For sponsors interested in the future of mass participation events, try reading the Sportcal report or contacting the agencies mentioned above. Other agencies that work in this area include CSM Sport & Entertainment and Threshold Sports. The latter has activated events such as the successful Deloitte Ride Across Britain. Its website also has specific Covid-19 guidelines for the events it works with. Sportcal expects organisers to turn to sponsorship as a way of making up for revenues lost as a result of Covid-19. For some insights into why mass participation makes sense for brands,  read our own summary – which is available at the UK Sponsorship Awards website.