Is a d3 sub 4 miler more likely to get a sponsor ship compared to a d1 sub 4 miler?

Discus.

Nick Symmonds?

On the topic of discus, did you know discus live in the Amazon river.

0%=0%

no change, but the D1 guy doesnt even qualify for NCAA's

Agreed. Neither are likely to get anything at 3:59. Their story and their looks are more likely to attract a sponsor if they are of the same ability. So it is possible that the D3 guy may be a more rags to riches story than the D1 guy but maybe not.

I disagree. I think the D3 guy would get sponsored while a D1 guy would probably not.

Really? You know where all of the US pro milers went to college? The sponsors don’t know or care either.

The Ivy League kid gets a sponsor. Sponsors like athletes who speak English.

Sponsors care mostly about how well you did at DI NCAA's because that's what most of their target audience for advertising via sponsorships pays attention to, high school and college kids who drool over guys who win the races that get the most coverage (via Flotrack, letsrun, etc). It's also tastefully right before USA's, enough time for companies to make the rounds and get contracts signed. Fast times help but wins at championship races are most important . Inherently, DIII guys cannot compete at DI nationals so that makes it tougher for them but if you have a good story/aesthetic, like Noah Droddy for instance, you can swing it. I think Symmonds and Leer were both very fortunate products of being given a chance (and rightfully so, given their college performances) at the then-newly-formed Oregon Track Club.

So I guess to answer your question, the DIII guy is probably marginally more likely to get a sponsorship because theres probably a chance that there's more of a marketable story behind it, given the small amount of DIII sub 4 milers, but they are both pretty close to 0-1% in the grand scheme of things.

Predictor wrote:

Really? You know where all of the US pro milers went to college? The sponsors don’t know or care either.

Everyone knows where they went to college

Whatf wrote:

Let's assume they both ran 3:59.x. Is the guy who ran d3 more likely to attract sponsorships than the d1 guy? Are they equally as likely to get sponsored?

Discus.

In general yes, because the d3 runner will be performing better at nationals. Its the difference between top 3 and maybe not making the final. It can depend on other things too, like 800 times, xc results, and just general name/star power/hype. Like a sub 4 miler at Miami would be more well known than a sub 4 miler at Oregon just because of rarity. A sub 4 miler who was a hs standout or maybe placed low/won d1 nats from oregon would be more likely to get a sponsorship than some guy d3 or not who just ran a sub 4 once in his last outdoor meet before nats.

Assuming you were being facetious. I hadn't even heard of a few of these so called pros, let alone know where they went to college. The casual track fan would have no idea about most of them.

Murphy Nike

Yorks Brooks

Centro Nike

Engels Nike

Blankenship OTC

Gregorek Asics

Wynne Brooks

Kipchirchir Army

Kidder Brooks

Alexander Hoka

Soratos Adidas

Lomong Bowerman

Hunter Adidas

Piazza VT Elite

Avila

Manzano Hoka

Fink VT Elite

Timlin District TC

Casey UA

Merber Hoka

True Saucony

Erassa AMD

Mahoney Hoka

Masters Nike

Jager Bowerman

Hurt Rogue

Chelimo Army

Napolitano Hoka

Bor Army

Palmer Hoka

Nowak Asics

Mann NB