What Flotrack is doing is bad for the sport

I would disagree on principle.

-- It's better for the FloTrack people, obviously, if they can start realizing some cash flow. More cash leads to better production values, more ability to cover events, etc.

-- It also lends some legitimacy to their work from the meet organizers perspective - they are no longer looked upon as weirdo fanatic volunteers, but instead as legitimate businessfolk.

-- It's also an article of tested faith among the marketing/ticketing crowd in the sports world that you cannot build a sustainable audience by consistently giving things away for free. To get people to take the event/sport seriously, there needs to be value to it - if Betty has a ticket given to her for free, and she doesn't go, then she's lost nothing (but the event and sponsors have lost her patronage, as well as that of someone who didn't get a ticket because Betty did). If she spends, say, five bucks on a ticket, then she's going to feel more obligated to attend and/or be engaged so that it's not a waste of five bucks.

So, we track fans have gotten a good ride out of getting stuff for free from Flotrack. But, if we don't want the sport (and coverage therein) to die, then we need to start putting some skin in the game.

No. F them, get better at selling advertising and start writing more articles and not posting all of those annoying videos.

I used to be a big fan of Flotrack and they have put out some awesome videos but this is starting to piss me off. When they realized that no one was paying for pro they just started making everything pro so now the majority of the new videos all need to be paid for. Not to mention that Pro is so g0dam expensive. Maybe if it were a reasonable price I would pay but $20 a month is too much in my opinion. The videos are not that valuable and they really do not make that many of them.

Flotrack has been on a downward slope in the last 6 months.

I used to go there expecting great material and was very rarely disappointed. Now you're lucky to find a video worth watching. The new site is hard to navigate too.

Once an Expert wrote:

No. F them, get better at selling advertising and start writing more articles and not posting all of those annoying videos.

Do you think everything should be free?

No, but I think internet pay walls are for people who don't generate good enough content to sell advertising.

in the past 3 mos dirt cheap vid server h/w have empowered individual schools & conferences sign onto building their own local tv networks. athletic depts tap into the school's fiber ring which the engineering / medical / science / math depts setup ages ago when our grandparents were in college chasing our grandmothers. athletic communications staffs, alumni, and retired old guys man the cameras, announce, spot, dig out stats, the whole nine yards. basically flotrack and runnerspace aren't needed by them any longer.

ksjxm wrote:

Once an Expert wrote:

No. F them, get better at selling advertising and start writing more articles and not posting all of those annoying videos.

Do you think everything should be free?

Do you think you should pay to watch running?

There's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay to watch a meet, don't. I should add that I don't pay, but I wish I were able to watch their pay for only videos. So, maybe I'll have to subscribe now that meets will be available on essentially a pay per view basis only. Is this the right way for Flotrack to conduct their business, as opposed to basing their revenues on advertising alone? I don't know; however, it's surely their prerogative to use whatever business model they choose to.

Flosuck wrote:

ksjxm wrote:

Do you think everything should be free?

Do you think you should pay to watch running?

Of the sport Hamilton's Peter Kosgei!!!!!p kosgei 4 lyfe

Though it's not ideal, I'm still glad they are out there doing what they do for the sport.

Ideally, it would all be free access to the greatest extent, with ads and subscriptions for better quality (HD vs. 480p video as an example), but if that system isn't enough to pay the bills, this is just the unfortunate situation that hurts the consumers (us) to save the producers (them).

RS/FT did the Youtube thing for 6-8 years so far and their time for the most part has passed. TV streaming by NCAA Conferences are the rage now.

Actually there is an even more simple solution. Someone starts a new site/"company" that doesn't charge but asks to "name your price" (which could be $0.00) for content. Hopefully knocking sense into Flotrack.

Canova>God wrote:

I used to be a big fan of Flotrack and they have put out some awesome videos but this is starting to piss me off. When they realized that no one was paying for pro they just started making everything pro so now the majority of the new videos all need to be paid for. Not to mention that Pro is so g0dam expensive. Maybe if it were a reasonable price I would pay but $20 a month is too much in my opinion. The videos are not that valuable and they really do not make that many of them.

This. They can't have more than a couple hundred subscribers. Just hook the biggest running dorks who have money to burn.

Make the price reasonable and build an audience, Flotrack!

Jesus Christ. Just because something is bad for you personally because you're a friggin' skinflint doesn't mean it's bad for the sport.

It's one thing to clamor for free shit, but another matter entirely to expect and even demand it. You remind me of someone on food stamps or unemployment who complains about having to prove she's looking for work or attend a job fair to keep the entitlements flowing.

Seriously, man, either get yourself to these meets in person, pay whatever FloTrack wants or resign yourself to just looking up the results onlinbe a few hours after the meet ends (which itself wasn't something any of us could do 20 years ago -- we waited on word-of-mouth, the Sunday Boston Globe or the next month's Boston Running News to learn outcomes of races).

Why are Letsrunners so dang cheap? I mean I guess I remember when I was a high schooler with no debit card or anything, paywalls on the Internet were annoying, but geez...

Question: what other "real sports" show videos of all competitions for free?

"Real sports" can be watched on espn for free.

ESPN is not free. It's pay TV. However ESPN represents a tired old model. Athletic Federations are now bypassing Fox and ESPN and creating their own distribution network. It's very exciting to see this sea change.

You ever think that it's the meet organizers that want the meet charged? I can't imagine Flotrack is just buying up different races. The Armory tweeted this:

‏"@ArmoryNYC U do know that producing events for distribution has a cost? U feel that the event host should pick up all expenses?"

I bet the Armory is going broke after streaming stuff for free and now needs a producer to come in with some sponsorship money. If you don't want to watch, don't pay.