by Larry Eder
AW Cover, courtesy of AW
LONDON (GBR):
Athletics Weekly has been bought by The Great Run Company, formerly known as Nova International. The magazine will continue to be run by the same publisher and editorial team. A new independent editorial board will be established, to be chaired by Dave Gordon, the former head of major sporting events at the BBC. The Great Run Company will also be involved in all Diamond League broadcasts in Britain, with FilmNova holding the rights for the UK meetings and Athletics Weekly sponsoring the EuroSport broadcasts.(Editor’s note: Athletics Weekly was started in 1945, just after the Second World War. Track & Field News started in 1948. Both magazines were huge influences on my career. In 1989, when I founded American Athletics, the three influences were 1970s issues of AW and TFN, and Nike’s seminal magazine, Running.
AW has been on the market for some time. Reinvented with strong digital and social media sites, the magazine needed financial support and a stronger business support system. They will find that with their new owner.
AW has found a home. The Great Run company was founded, as Nova by Brendan Foster, a man who took his athletics acumen and built the largest event company in GB. Look at Mr. Foster as an media angel, who, we hope will provide innovation and evolution of a magazine that should be the global leader in athletics.
Congrats to the AW team.)
