New Balance will become the new footwear and apparel partner of N.Y. Road Runners and the TCS N.Y. Marathon next year, replacing longtime partner Asics. NYRR execs and New Balance will officially announce the contract at a Manhattan store tomorrow. New Balance will join United Airlines and Airbnb in NYRR's “foundation” tier of sponsors, sources said. Asics will remain the sponsor of the '16 marathon in November, but New Balance may activate in other races or events before then. Terms of the deal are not known, but sources indicated New Balance will pay far more than Asics, which paid roughly $3M annually. The footwear and apparel category was included in NYRR’s recent restructuring of its sponsorship portfolio that aimed to create fewer, larger corporate relationships that would activate across all of NYRR’s annual events. Asics only had rights to the flagship marathon. A New Balance rep and NYRR declined to comment, aside from confirming their joint attendance at tomorrow's event. Asics this morning published a press release saying its sponsorship would end after the '16 race. Asics' affiliation with the race dates back 25 years. The company in August dropped its two-year title sponsorship of the L.A. Marathon after Sketchers acquired the rights.
