Brooks Running’s global revenue for 2021 grew 31% year-over-year to more than $1.11 billion — marking the company’s first billion-dollar year.

The brand sold 25% more shoes globally than it did in 2020, with global revenue doubling since 2017. It also made a significant impact in the U.S., where the running shoe market increased 20% year-over-year. 

Brooks took the top market share spot in the country for adult running shoes — beating Nike and Adidas — with 28% dollar share, according to The NPD Group. 

• Brooks ranked second in adult performance running footwear with 19% dollar share.
• The company’s direct e-commerce revenue in North America jumped 149% from 2019.
• Brooks produced the top two franchise styles in adult performance footwear. The Brooks Adrenaline GTS 21 was in the top 10 best-selling sneakers in 2021.

Despite the strong reports, Brooks said its global business operations were still affected by supply chain challenges due to COVID-19.

Moving Forward

Brooks said it plans to continue investing “in mining human and science-based insights, engineering fit, feel and ride, leveraging proprietary technologies, creating franchise products, and delivering designs.” CEO Jim Weber told Footwear News the company has no plans to open more brand-owned stores in the U.S.

In June, Brooks also announced plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Sinclair Broadcast Group avoided a significant revenue dropoff in the fourth quarter of 2021 with increased sports programming, as it looks to challenge streaming networks directly.

The national broadcaster saw revenue drop 2% year-over-year in the quarter to $1.5 billion. 

Broadcast revenue dropped 21.4% year-over-year to $704 million, but local sports largely made up the difference with a 30.1% rise to $691 million.

• In December, Sinclair’s sports network holding company Diamond Sports Group re-upped its deal with the NHL to broadcast and stream games of 12 teams in their local territories on their Bally’s regional sports networks.
• In January, Diamond struck a similar deal with the NBA for local broadcasts and streaming rights for 16 teams. That deal carried a one-year term with three one-year renewal offers.
• The Sinclair-owned Tennis Channel reached a pact with the Women’s Tennis Association to broadcast matches in four European countries that same month.

Jumping into the Stream

Sinclair plans to bundle its regional sports networks into a streaming service, which would be available without a cable subscription. 

In January, the company secured $600 million in funding to support the new service. Sinclair was also recently in talks with the Chicago Cubs on a standalone streaming service.

Diamond holds around $8 billion in debt related to Sinclair’s 2019 purchase of regional sports networks from Disney for $10.6 billion.

The Washington Commanders were fined $10 million in July, but the continued fallout of the latest toxic workplace claims could end up costing owners in major U.S. sports much more. 

Three Democratic members of Congress co-authored a bill that would alter the tax code to prevent the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds used to finance professional sports stadiums that have cost taxpayers billions of dollars over the last two decades. 

A study published in the National Tax Journal in March 2020 detailed the tax implications of sports venue projects since 2000. 

• In total, tax-exempt municipal bonds led to an estimated $4.3 billion in lost federal tax revenue. 
• Of the 57 stadiums studied, 43 built since 2000 were at least partially funded by tax-exempt municipal bonds. 
• About $16.7 billion of tax-exempt bonds were issued to fund new venues. 

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said when the “No Tax Subsidies for Stadiums Act of 2022” was introduced on Tuesday that “there is no reason” for taxpayers to subsidize stadiums. 

Speier also cited the sexual harassment and abuse claims made against the Commanders as a reason the tax code should be changed.

More Federal Scrutiny 

Speier told Front Office Sports that she’s pushing for a reexamination for the limited antitrust exemption that the NFL has had since the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.