Tough Mudder has reached an agreement with IMG to expand its obstacle course events into Asia and the Middle East. It also announced a partnership with Jakarta-based media and technology investment firm Seroja Parters to bring the series to Bali, Indonesia. The seven-figure, multiyear deal with IMG, which was officially announced on Tuesday, will bring Tough Mudder-licensed events to China and the UAE in ’16. Tough Mudder Founder & CEO Will Dean said licensing the event globally was always on his radar but something he did not want to rush. Monterrey, Mexico hosted the first licensed Tough Mudder event at the beginning of March, a market that Dean said was chosen for its close proximity to the U.S. “We learned a great deal from that process and now we feel comfortable expanding,” he said. IMG’s experience with operating events in China and the UAE was a huge factor in bringing the series to the countries, Dean added. “IMG is a worldwide organization with unprecedented resources both in terms of event delivery, but also from a sales and marketing perspective, and crucially from a sponsorship and partnership perspective. This is something that we’ve been discussing for over 12 months now,” he said. Dean said that the company was fortunate to follow in the “footsteps of giants,” referring to Ironman’s recent push into China, following its acquisition by Chinese property company Dalian Wanda last year. When asked about the challenge of maintaining event standards under a licensing model, coupled with dealing with the Chinese government, Dean was confident in the strength of IMG’s “team on the ground.” He said, “If I’m going to be candid, I’m not concerned about that. I knew it was absolutely something we had to manage and it was something that we were very mindful of as we were going through our planning. I wouldn’t be here right now speaking to you today if I didn’t think we could put on a high-quality event.” Dean sees dealing with the Chinese government as an opportunity rather than a challenge. “There are huge opportunities in China,” he said, noting the country’s recent announcement of a 30-year strategy to become a global football leader. “The Chinese government is very focused on promoting sport and a healthy lifestyle in China,” he added. “The huge emerging middle class is putting more interest in health and wellness, participation in gyms and other kinds of mass participation events are growing.”
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| Will Dean |
ON THE HORIZON: As part the IMG partnership, Tough Mudder races are also set to appear in South Korea, Japan and Singapore in '17. “The IMG partnership and starting in China and the UAE -- for us this is about moving aggressively in to several markets in 2017,” Dean said. “We wouldn’t be doing this with IMG if we thought this was just going to be a two-market event.” The series is also looking to expand into Western and Eastern Europe as well as Latin America. Dean said the Seroja partnership in Indonesia has a potential to expand the series into additional Asian markets given the Bali event will be successful.
LIVESTREAM: Ahead of the series’ L.A. event this weekend, Tough Mudder plans to fully launch its Livestream partnership. A soft launch at the Pensacola Tough Mudder on Saturday saw 7 million unique viewers watch the event on the Livestream platform.
