The reality of the problem is the plain fact the sport of track and field in general is simply dying!!!! Have you all been to a track and field meet recently? How boring can it get? The only place a track and field event is "half interesting" is in Eugene Oregon, only because the fans are into it, come out, and cheer! Even in Eugene, they can "up the amp" and turn this into something interesting, with music, a mascot, etc.... which they don't.
Did you see the fans at the Big 12 meet? Disgusting. And watch the limited number of fans at Regionals this year. My family and I were at Regionals in Austin two years ago where they were lucky they drew 2,000 fans for the entire three day event! Hardly a sport drawing a fan base. I suspect it will be the same this year. We didn't even bother buying advance tickets. What's the problem?
There seems to be nobody working at the top to make this sport successful and turn it into a fan-friendly event. At the college scene, you have Pat Henry and Vin Lananna doing their best, but where are the other coaches? At the professional level we have the USA Track and Field association, which for the most part have no idea what they are doing and how to promote the sport. It's nauseating to say the least.
If someone a long time ago can make the unentertaining sports of baseball and golf entertaining, then certainly someone in this day and age can take and make the sport of track and field become successful and entertaining, particularly with the top range of athletes competing in today's spectrum.
Time will only tell. We'll see you few folks at the next meet!