Zug, Switzerland – There is a strong argument that football may no longer be the biggest sport in the world, at least when it comes to active participation. Players, clubs and leagues will always steal the headlines and eyeballs, but when people step away from screens (as they are increasingly looking to do) many turn to mass participation sports.
Millions are taking part, not just watching, and they expect events, digital services and communities built around their own achievements.
That shift has been reflected in what we have seen across our own Active Lifestyle portfolio in 2025, with record participation that increased by 50%, expanded global reach and deeper commercial relevance for brands. It is why it now sits at the centre of how sport evolves.
What we have seen first-hand, as a leader in participation sports across over 170 events that welcome more than 1.5 million participants, was a powerful global platform for emotional engagement, community building and valuable brand integration.
This was not a year defined by one success story. It was a year shaped by powerful momentum across the entire ecosystem. HYROX accelerated its rise as a global fitness phenomenon. Our marathons related to the Abbott World Marathon Majors reached new historical milestones. Digital photo and video solutions scaled at unprecedented speed. And importantly, every unit in the portfolio contributed to consistent and widespread growth.
HYROX showed how participation can scale like a global sport, not a niche fitness trend, and the fitness racing phenomenon entered a new phase in 2025. Participation rose dramatically and the calendar expanded to 80 events across 31 markets. The community around the sport continued to grow at an impressive pace, creating an energy that resonated far beyond event days.
What made HYROX special this year was not only the over 750,000 athletes (a growth of far beyond 100% vs. 2024) taking part but the ecosystem that continues to expand around them. Gyms, training communities and coaches became part of a global network that now spans across more than 10,000 gym affiliations globally, doubling since December 2024. It’s a clear sign that participation communities now behave like proper sporting ecosystems.
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Media output grew significantly through social storytelling, highlights, and live content that is enriched with more and more integrated performance data. Host cities and tourism partners increasingly viewed HYROX as a substantial economic and cultural catalyst.
For brands, HYROX has become a rare combination of authenticity, scale and year-round engagement. It connects fitness identity with measurable achievement in a way few global properties can match, creating a highly committed HYROX community and thus creating a highly valuable platform for key brands. The recent renewal of partnerships with key partners (such as PUMA, Redbull, etc.) or the launch of new partnerships (e.g. BYD) is a strong testament of the attractivity of the global HYROX platform.
Running proved again why participation sits at the heart of global sport, acting as a way to shape cities, communities and culture. Running becomes much more than a boom, it’s becoming a global lifestyle across all demographics. As the most natural and accessible sport, it benefits from the global megatrends of health consciousness, being active and experience economies.
The TCS Sydney Marathon made history by joining the Abbott World Marathon Majors last August with an incredible launch event as the 7th Abbott World Marathon Major. The event welcomed close to 40,000 runners from more than one hundred countries and transformed the city into a global stage for both world-class elite and recreational athletes. Sydney also set a new benchmark in Australia for social impact with millions of dollars raised for local charitable initiatives and generated strong tourism value through visitor spend and hotel nights. Demand for future editions surged with more than 120,000 applications already received for 2026.
In Africa, despite the fact that the SANLAM Cape Town marathon had to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions and making no compromise putting the participant’s health as the number one priority, Cape Town will continue its journey and is thriving forward even with a higher motivation in order to make the vision come true and putting Cape Town onto the global map of Abbott World Marathon Major events in the future, representing proudly the entire continent of Africa. Cape Town will also be the host of the MTT Abbott World Marathon Major Age Group World Championships in May 2026.
In Asia, the Shanghai Marathon continued its impressive momentum. The event sold out immediately with 23,000 runners and attracted more than 350,000 applicants, underlining the enormous appetite for high quality running experiences in the region, and in China in particular. Strong support from city stakeholders reinforces Shanghai’s huge ambition as a candidate city of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, to become one of the most internationally recognised marathons in the future.
These are examples of how events are becoming more than their namesake, truly tapping into the communities and localities they take place in. This is both on a micro and macro level and offers a unique opportunity for brands to access participants in an emotional and authentic manner along the journey. This also reflects a wider movement in the active-lifestyle space, where participant demographics are becoming noticeably younger and increasingly female.
While participation grew on the ground, digital storytelling acted as an amplifier.
Photo and videos remain a key element of the participation experience/ journey, capturing priceless memories and emotions and sharing it with family, friends and the communities. It also helps raising awareness for brands post-event via sharing in social media or dedicated platforms. Our digital solutions, delivered through Sportograf and MarathonFoto, produced close to 200 million images, delivered to more than 1.1 million clients and served more than 1,600 events worldwide.
This represented another year of significant growth supported both by organic expansion and strong partnerships with some of the world’s most iconic races including the best global running/ marathon events, fitness racing, obstacle course running, all kind of cycling events as well as the most prestigious triathlon events.
The scale and quality of these services confirmed Infront’s position as the global number one in endurance event imagery. More importantly, they strengthened the emotional core of participation sports. Participants want to relive their moments of achievement and share them with their communities. Brands and organizers benefit from highly personal and widely distributed content that turns every participant into a storyteller. In short, mass participation now produces more personal, shareable content than many traditional sports.
Beyond the headline makers, the entire Active Lifestyle portfolio continued to grow. From endurance cycling to urban hiking and corporate running, each property contributed to a diverse ecosystem built around unforgettable experiences and meaningful communities. The consistent growth across all segments reflected a universal global trend: People everywhere are seeking ways to stay active, connect with others, and participate in events that feel purposeful.
Threshold had a record-breaking year with 60,000 participants raising over £25m for good causes on their events this season. This included the launch of RideCymru, a new 3-day sell out ride through the wild heart of Wales, as well as delivery of the UK's largest hiking series, the UK's largest mass participation cycle event and the UK's largest schools triathlon series. Megamarsch introduced a 25 km option, providing long-distance walkers with a lower entry-barrier challenge, making the event accessible for everybody. B2Run marked significant milestones, reaching new record levels in participation with more than 300,000 participants, celebrating its 2 millionth participant in 2025, and will continue to innovate with Run5, a new team-format launching in 2026 and targeting also smaller cities.
For brands, this creates an environment rich in authentic touchpoints. Each event becomes an opportunity to inspire healthier lifestyles, drive engagement, and create lasting emotional connections.
The achievements of 2025 were anchored in a clear vision: Creating unforgettable and emotional experiences, allowing to build a unique and scalable portfolio of IP, thriving to achieve global leadership, while serving a noble business purpose in truly contributing to a healthier and more active world.
This vision guided our teams across continents and created alignment with partners, cities and event organizers who share the same mission.
“Participation sports continue to grow in scale and cultural relevance,” said Hans-Peter Zurbruegg, Senior Vice President Infront Active Lifestyle. “At the core, we have the ambition to create unforgettable experiences and emotions through our portfolio of high-class events, creating value for participants and all other stakeholders and communities while also creating powerful engagement opportunities for brands. With the momentum behind HYROX, our expanding portfolio of world class marathon and running events and our digital innovations, we are uniquely positioned to actively shape the future of the Active Lifestyle space globally. The opportunities ahead are significant and we look forward to capturing them together.”
Participation is reshaping the sports economy; from the way cities position themselves to how brands find real engagement. 2025 showed that participation is becoming the world’s biggest sport, and we have the ambition to build a unique platform behind it.
With expanding IP, unmatched digital reach and world class event experiences, 2025 reaffirmed Active Lifestyle as a global commercial engine and cultural movement. As the world continues to embrace movement, wellbeing and shared experiences, Infront Active Lifestyle stands ready to lead the next chapter.