USA Triathlon hired a new CEO, Rocky Harris, to transform the partnership experience and generate new revenues for the national governing body (NGB). Innovative Partnerships Group was retained as agency of record to find groundbreaking partners for USA Triathlon and re-design their commercial sales program to align with their new strategic plan.

USA Triathlon was told that a large Olympic sponsor, Toyota, was looking to partner with a select group of the largest NGBs. At the time, USA Triathlon by size and prestige was not considered one of the elite NGBs. The challenge was to convince Toyota to select USA Triathlon over other larger NGBs.

Innovative Partnerships Group leveraged its Partnership Intelligence™ system to build new assets, programs and platforms that clearly differentiated USA Triathlon from other NGBs. This included a “mobility platform” to leverage their para-athlete program. Our team also created a sizzle reel “commercial spot” of what the partnership program could look like for Toyota. Innovative Partnerships Group joined USA Triathlon’s leadership at Toyota’s US headquarters to present the opportunity.

USA Triathlon secured Toyota as their long-term sponsor and as the “Official Automobile of USA Triathlon”. In 2021 the two organizations renewed their partnership.