Brooks Sports

Brooks Sports, Inc.

Type	Private (Subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway[1])
Industry	Sports equipment
Founded	1914
Founder	Morris Goldenberg
Headquarters	Seattle, Washington, US
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jim Weber CEO [2]
Products	Athletic shoes, clothing
Number of employees	500-1000[3]
Parent	Berkshire Hathaway
Website	www.brooksrunning.com/

Brooks Sports, Inc. is an American running company that designs and markets high-performance men's and women's running shoes, apparel and accessories in more than 60 countries worldwide. Brooks is a market-driven company with a specialty dealer channel strategy focused entirely on meeting runners’ specific needs.^[4]

Brooks Sports, Inc. headquarters are located in Seattle, Washington, USA. Brooks was acquired by Russell Corporation in late 2004. On August 2, 2006 Russell officially announced its sale to Berkshire Hathaway. Jim Weber is the current CEO of Brooks Sports, Inc. In June 2013 Ernst & Young recognized Jim Weber as a Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award Recipient.^[5]

Brooks is the main sponsor of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project and was also the exclusive uniforms provider of the Chile national football team. This relationship ended in 2010 when Puma signed a deal with the Chilean Football Federation until 2015.^[6]

History

Brooks Sports, Inc. was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1914 by Morris Goldenberg. The name Brooks was selected by Morris Goldenberg as an Anglicized substitute for his wife's maiden name of Bruchs.

Brooks originally produced bathing shoes in 1917 before moving into sports in the 1930s by producing baseball cleats in 1920 and football cleats in the 1930s. In 1979 the world champion Pittsburgh Pirates endorsed Brooks shoes. In 1984 quarterback Dan Marino endorsed Brooks athletic footwear.

Sponsorships

Scott Jurek wearing Brooks Sports branded clothing

The following teams and individuals wear uniforms supplied by Brooks:

Current

• Hansons-Brooks Distance Project^[7]
• Brooks Beasts Track Club^[8]
• Amy Hastings^[9]
• Matthew Elliott^[9]
• Gabriele Anderson^[9]
• Scott Jurek^[9]
• Ryan Vail^[9]
• Chrissie Wellington^[9]

Athletics

• Mok Ying Ren (Singapore) - Double South-East Asian Games Gold Medalist for Triathlon (2007) and the Marathon (2013). Currently a medical doctor in Singapore's network of public hospitals.

• Chile athletics team
• Gareth Warburton
• Mark Kenneally
• Singapore Athletics Team

Football

National teams

• Chile national team (2003-2010)
• Sri Lanka (2009-2010)

Clubs

• Wycombe Wanderers (1990-1992)
• Deportivo Magallanes (2009-2011)
• Queens Park Rangers (1991-1992)
• Everton de Viña del Mar (2007-2009)
• Coquimbo Unido (2007-2009)
• Reading (1992-1993)

Field Hockey

National Teams

• Chile

Rugby

National Teams

• Chile

References

External links

• Brooks
• Brooks UK