Mercado do trail running no Paraná: análise dos agentes estruturantes responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento da modalidade

Abstract

Trail running is a sports discipline practiced in natural environments such as trails, forests, dirt roads, mountains, etc. It is a new sport in Brazil, so there are still no scientific publications on the subject in Portuguese. However, it is an area that is attracting many people, not only athletes, but also sponsors, event organizers, sports brands and coaches who seek to increase their capital (economic, cultural, social and symbolic) with the sport. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to the sports market, specifically for trail running. The research had as objective to analyze some social agents considered important and involved with the market of the discipline, in which an organizer, a sponsor, a coach and an athlete (consumer) were interviewed. Through this analysis the profile of the trail running market in the State of Paraná was discussed. This research is qualitative, analitic, descriptive and exploratory. Through open questionnaires, four participants were interviewed. The data were analyzed through the Field Theory (BOURDIEU, 1983), taking into account the following elements: provisions, habitus, capital, field, supply and demand. At the end of this research, it can be concluded that the profile of the trail running market in the State of Paraná is growing, despite the low investments. The main motivation of the athlete and coach is the pleasure for the sport. The motivation of the organizer and the agent of the sport brand is to increase the supply and the demand. The profile of the trail running athlete is an amateur athlete who invests in competitions, training and equipment. The athlete's monthly investment is an average of R $ 500.00. The coach and organizer need financial support from public and private initiatives. The athlete has the greatest difficulty in the lack of financial support (sponsorship)p Already the coach reported lack of safety in the trails and mountains of the region of Curitiba / PRp in the case of the organizer the main difficulty is the granting of an environmental license to carry out the eventsp and finally the main difficulty of the sports brand is to attract customers to your store. At the end of this research, we conclude that the trail running market is in an open development process, trying to increase supply and demand, but the trail running subfield still needs to be consolidated within the Paraná sports field.