Brands Supporting Outdoor Sport
Outdoor training does not grow on equipment alone. It grows when large companies put money behind getting people outside - through events, athlete sponsorship, community programmes, and, in some cases, the public spaces themselves. This page collects what five well-known brands demonstrably do for outdoor sport, with each claim linked to the company’s own published material.
It is an editorial list, not a partnership page. We have no commercial relationship with any company below.
Red Bull
Austrian energy-drink company that owns and produces its own outdoor sport series rather than only sponsoring other people’s.
- Red Bull Rampage, a freeride mountain bike competition held on natural desert terrain in Virgin, Utah, first run in 2001. (source)
- Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, running since 2009, with competitors diving from heights of up to 27 m at open-air locations worldwide; a women’s competition was added in 2014. (source)
- Co-launched the Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championship with track builder Velosolutions in 2018, with over 20 qualifiers held worldwide in the 2019 season. The tracks are built by Velosolutions, not by Red Bull; Red Bull’s documented role is the championship itself. (source, track builder)
Nike
American sportswear company, headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon. Of the five, its published projects put the most money directly into physical public space.
- 2022: launched a Community Climate Resilience Program with a USD 2 million, two-year grant to the Trust for Public Land for green space, parks, trails, and the conversion of asphalt schoolyards in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. (source)
- 2023: reported more than 117,000 square feet (about 10,900 m²) of revitalised park space across those three cities after the programme’s first year. (source)
- 2023: opened The Courtyard in Bonifacio Global City, Manila - a 2,182 m² site with two full basketball courts surfaced with Nike Grind and a half-court training area, with free year-round programming run with Girls Got Game Philippines. (source)
- 2024: refurbished two neglected basketball courts in Gaepo-dong, Seoul, under its Playground for All programme. (source)
Garmin
Maker of GPS navigation devices and sports watches. Its support for outdoor sport runs through event and athlete sponsorship rather than facilities.
- 2022: signed a three-year title sponsorship of Gravel Worlds, a gravel race in Lincoln, Nebraska. (source)
- 2023: became an official sponsor of the Professional Triathletes Organisation and its global series, as Official Transition Sponsor at the European Open in Ibiza, the US Open in Milwaukee, and the Asian Open in Singapore. (source)
- 2022: Garmin and Tacx announced sponsorship of more than 15 professional cycling teams, alongside hundreds of professional runners, cyclists, and triathletes. (source)
Gymshark
British fitness apparel brand, founded in 2012 and based in Solihull, England. Gymshark does not publish a budget for its outdoor programme, but what is documented is unusually direct: it is free and open to anyone who turns up.
- Gymshark Run Club, running since 2018, holds free weekly 5 km runs with no fee and no sign-up, in London (Regent Street and Stratford), Manchester, and New York. (source)
Gatorade
American sports drink brand owned by PepsiCo. Its programme is aimed at access to sport rather than at outdoor training specifically.
- 2022: launched Fuel Tomorrow with an initial USD 10 million investment, working with partners including Good Sports, Laureus USA, and the Women’s Sports Foundation. At launch it was described as funding programmes, coach training, and access to facilities, equipment, and transport rather than building new venues. (source)
- The platform’s stated goal is to reach 2.5 million teenagers by 2030, and it now lists two projects that address playing space directly: Estadios del Barrio, revitalising neighbourhood sports facilities in Colombia, and Turf Finder in India, which uses traffic data with Google Maps to find urban streets that fall empty and lay temporary turf on them. (source)
How we chose these, and what this page is not
We started from five of the most widely recognised consumer sport and fitness brands and checked what each one publishes about outdoor sport. It is not a ranking, and it is not exhaustive. Every item above links to the company’s own newsroom or programme page, or to a named partner organisation; where a source does not date something, we do not add a date. Where a company’s role is sponsorship rather than construction, we say so, because marketing language routinely blurs the two and the difference decides what is left behind once an event ends.
Two limits are worth stating plainly. None of these companies makes outdoor fitness equipment, and we found no published evidence that any of them funds outdoor gyms or public strength-training infrastructure. If you are looking for the companies that actually build the equipment, that is our manufacturers directory. And none of them is connected to this site: no company listed here has paid for, approved, or reviewed its inclusion, and none sponsors OutdoorGym.com. Brand names and links identify the companies and point you to their own sources.
If a company on this list has an outdoor programme we have missed, or if anything here is out of date, tell us through the contact page and we will correct it. How we research and revise pages is set out in our editorial policy.
Frequently asked questions
Which major brands support outdoor sport?
Among the largest are Red Bull, which owns and produces its own outdoor event series such as Red Bull Rampage and the Cliff Diving World Series; Nike, which has funded parks and public green space through the Trust for Public Land, opened a court complex in Manila and refurbished neglected courts in Seoul; Garmin, which sponsors outdoor endurance events and professional teams; Gymshark, which runs free weekly public run clubs; and Gatorade, whose Fuel Tomorrow platform funds access to sport. Each supports outdoor sport in a different way, and the differences matter.
Do any of these brands make outdoor gym equipment?
No. None of the companies on this page manufactures outdoor fitness equipment, and we found no published evidence that any of them funds outdoor gyms or public strength-training infrastructure. They support outdoor sport through events, sponsorship, and public-space projects. For companies that actually build the equipment, see our manufacturers directory.
Is OutdoorGym.com affiliated with the brands on this page?
No. We have no commercial relationship with any company listed here. None of them has paid for, approved, or reviewed its inclusion, and none of them sponsors this site. Brand names and links are used to identify the companies and to point readers to the companies' own published sources.
What is the difference between sponsoring athletes and funding public sport facilities?
Sponsoring athletes and events puts money behind competition and visibility; funding facilities puts money into something the public can use after the event ends. Both help the outdoor sector, but only the second leaves physical infrastructure behind. On this page we say which of the two each company does, because the distinction is routinely blurred in marketing language.