Skechers Performance, the division of Skechers USA Inc. that oversees its running business, has inked a title-sponsorship deal with the Los Angeles Marathon. Previous athletic sponsors for the marathon have included Asics and K-Swiss.
As part of the deal, the race has been renamed the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon and has received a new logo, seen above in an artist’s rendering of the new on-site banners. The Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based Skechers will also sell official race merchandise during the week leading up to the event, outfit all volunteers and staff and provide finishers’ shirts for the runners.
The marathon is scheduled to take place on Feb. 14, 2016. Registration opens next week, on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
Since Skechers launched its Go performance line in 2013, the brand has quickly built a reputation in the running business. In addition to this latest deal, it’s also the footwear-and-apparel sponsor of the Chevron Houston Marathon and has partnerships with top-ranked athletes, including Kara Goucher and Meb Keflezighi.
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Keflezighi, who stars in many of the brand’s advertisements, has been a highly valuable partner, particularly when he won the 2014 Boston Marathon wearing his namesake shoe, the Skechers Go Meb Speed 3.
Ronnie Jefferson, VP and DMM of Finish Line at Macy’s, told Footwear News last year, when Skechers won the FN Achievement Award for Company of the Year: “As [the company] continues to sign athletes such as Meb Keflezighi, Skechers has begun to attract a consumer who may not have given them a shot in the past [with] performance product.”
Keflezighi’s next big event is the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the men’s and women’s marathon, which will be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 13, 2016, the day before the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon. He’s expected to wear the 2016 version of his signature running sneakers.
