Fest. of Excellence - Nate Brannen Wins Again (as does Merritt)

[quote]NorthofBorder wrote:

We gave up on hockey in CA a long time ago and handed it to the states. Inauggural or not this was weak. The smallest 5K field I have ever seen. We do this embarassing triathlon...Can't we find a small field of decathaletes. Paying for Bolt to run a half hearted race makes what kind of sense?

I have been to 30+ meets in my career that were orchestrated by guys out of there garage but which were as interesting and they charged appropriately for the value you got from the meet.[/quote

I wasn't at the meet but think it's ludicrous that track fans are opposed to paying for tickets.

Do you realize the avearge price for a new york yankee baseball games is $72 per seat and there are 81 home games a year?

I think once a year going to a meet in your hometown to support pro track and paying $50 or $100 isn't totally out of line.

You act like the meet was an embarrassment. You had the world record holder in the steeple, the Olympic champ at 400, Usain Bolt, a good women's mile and 8 guys under 4:00 in a mile.

Huh?

How many full decathlons do any of the top guys do in a single year? Maybe three? (Gotzis, National Champs and Worlds/Olympics?)

Might they have any interest in doing some competitions where they are not going to be totally wiped out by doing the full dec and yet have a chance to work on a few key events?

Maybe your policy should also apply to marathoners who go and do races that aren't full marathons, like 10kms or half-marathons. They should just do their 2 marathons a year and spend the rest of their time training exclusively for those races.

Ok, how many 2008 Olympians or 2007 World Champs competitors were there (or would you expect for a meet not to be a "shell")? Less than 12 months from Beijing and you want to dismiss any of those participants as old news?

Do you seriously go to every major track meet expecting a world record and are disappointed if one isn't set?

We're in June, two months before Worlds. Athletes are not supposed to be peaked now but in August. Or would you rather someone run their fastest time of the season in June and then bow out of the heats in Berlin?

I don't suppose you also need the weather conditions and how they affect performance explained to you?

Don't know. You tell me. How many World Records (or even national records) were set down at Pre?

Well then it is a good thing it was held for the purpose of exposing the city to world class competition and not just for the sake of it.

You mean US (and Canadian) runners getting ready for the National champs in two weeks SHOULD NOT be looking for final tune-up races?

I hope you've pointed out to the west coast series of meets how they should not have bothered holding their meets at this time this year as well since their fields are full of US and Canadian runners prepping for their respective national championships.

I have a hard time believing you really know much about running or track and field with the lack of knowledge and understanding you've displayed here.

NorthofBorder wrote:Paying for Bolt to run a half hearted race makes what kind of sense?

It makes enough sense that they sold 97% of the tickets. You wanted to see Bolt PLUS a bunch of other superstars (except that, for some reason, Merritt, Clay, Shaheen, Felicien/Lopes, and Crawford don't count despite their collection of Olympic and World titles), right?

Well, you should have gone somewhere else, to one of the other opportunities to see Bolt run in North America. Oh wait, there aren't any this year. Maybe that's why the "fantastic" meets in LA and New York that give you such a hard-on couldn't fill the stands even though the tickets were a fraction of the price.

There's no doubt that the tickets were very expensive, due primarily to the small size of the stadium and the cost of landing Bolt. That's the calculation the meet organizers made. I think, overall, it was a pretty solid meet, though it was a bummer about the rain. You would have done it differently? Great, be my guest. I'll be there for your meet, if it has the uniformly great fields you demand.

hold the phone wrote:

It makes enough sense that they sold 97% of the tickets. You wanted to see Bolt PLUS a bunch of other superstars (except that, for some reason, Merritt, Clay, Shaheen, Felicien/Lopes, and Crawford don't count despite their collection of Olympic and World titles), right?

truth.

The spin stops here.

the triathlon was stupid.

the meet events were shallow. the best race was probably the cheapest for the event promoter - and that was the mile.

8 42 McDougal, Josh USA 14:29.09

Pre:

100m: M 9.94, W 10.85

100mH: 12.74 (1st 4 within 0.04)

300m: 31.3

400m: W 49.8 (6 under 52 sec)

400mH: 48.3 (5 under 49 sec)

800m: 1:45.8 (5 under 1:46.5), W 2:00.2 (5 under 2:02)

1500m: w 3:59.8 (2 under 4, 5 under 4:02, 11 under 4:07)

mile: 3:48.5 (2 under 3:50, 9 under 3:55, 11 under 4:00)

2000m: W 5:31 (2 under US All comers record)

3000m: 7:35 (6 under 7:40)

3k st: 8:13

That is just the track events, there were some good field events as well. Ticket prices under $30!

Sorry if I don't seem impressed with paying $100-250, to watch Shaheen time trial a 13:22, the Canaidan dual in the hurdles that I can see in 2 weeks for $20, and a 3:55 mile, and a 10.0 100m.

You are already in the minority with your opinion, so I won't pile it on. However,one comment deserves follow up and comment from others as well. Do you really want our sport(and I am assuming you are a serious fan/athlete) to come down to whether or not the tickets are $20.00 before you decide you've received value for your money!

What we actually need is more meets like Festival of Excellence, with tickets that are equivalent to other major sporting events, and people willing to pay those prices because the event is deemed worth it.Only then will we raise the profile of the sport back to where it once was.

I'm in the minority because 5 people have responded to the thread. I never said ticket prices had to be $20 to get value, merely comparing what you got for $30 in Eugene compared to what you got for $250 in Toronto. And the comparison isn't even close! Ticket prices do not have to be equivalent to other major sporting events in Toronto to make the event worth going to. People didn't pay $250 because they necessarily deemed it was worth it....the certainly hoped it was worth it. The real test will be to see what people are willing to pay NEXT year for the event, now that they have an idea of what to expect from the Festival of Excellence. That's assuming this becomes an annual event. Not sure it will.

another canuck wrote:

You are already in the minority with your opinion, so I won't pile it on. However,one comment deserves follow up and comment from others as well. Do you really want our sport(and I am assuming you are a serious fan/athlete) to come down to whether or not the tickets are $20.00 before you decide you've received value for your money!

What we actually need is more meets like Festival of Excellence, with tickets that are equivalent to other major sporting events, and people willing to pay those prices because the event is deemed worth it.Only then will we raise the profile of the sport back to where it once was.

oh can wrote:

I'm in the minority because 5 people have responded to the thread.

I never said ticket prices had to be $20 to get value, merely comparing what you got for $30 in Eugene compared to what you got for $250 in Toronto. And the comparison isn't even close! Ticket prices do not have to be equivalent to other major sporting events in Toronto to make the event worth going to.

People didn't pay $250 because they necessarily deemed it was worth it....the certainly hoped it was worth it. The real test will be to see what people are willing to pay NEXT year for the event, now that they have an idea of what to expect from the Festival of Excellence. That's assuming this becomes an annual event. Not sure it will.

I think you've still missed the point.

People didn't pay up to $250 to see a 10 flat 100, a 3:55 mile or even a Lopes-Felicien showdown. They paid what they did to see Bolt. They may have been hoping they'd have a chance to see a 9.6x, but primarily they paid to see Bolt. Period, whether it was to run 9.6x or 10 flat in coolish and wet conditions.

There's a reason why the National Enquirer will pay $10,000 for a picture of Britany Spears taking out her garbage but wouldn't pay two cents for one of Brannen or even 'oh can' taking out their garbage. It's because she's Britany f-ing Spears.

It is supply and demand. Come up with a list of all the meets in North America where one can go see Bolt race for $250. Filter that list by where can anyone local to Toronto go see Bolt race for $250 (let alone in a stadium where the farthest seat in the grandstand is 20 rows from the track).

Given they supposedly had a 97% sellout, I think that answers the demand vs the supply question.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Didn't we all trash Webb for running a 3:55 last week?

yeah

I drove three hours to see this meet. They didn't have any big sponsors which explains high ticket prices. It is rare to have world class track and field in Toronto. Great work by Mr. Carson to organize everything. There could have been a few things done better, but to pay $80 to see usain bolt, merrit, lopes, ritz etc. was worth the price and drive.

Stop giving your opinions... you don't know the facts.

The meet organizers made 0$ for this meet. Take a wild guess at how much Pre brings every year. Take a guess at how many more seats they have at Pre and NYC.

There were close to 6,000 people in Toronto and if support continues (obviously I don't expect those on here who hated the meet and didn't think it was worth the time or money) then next year prices will go down and more stands will be brought in...

It's as if you don't want to see some of the world's top athletes race in Toronto. A few years of high ticket prices is worth what could be a new Grand Prix meet.

Ask any of the athletes, besides the rain, they had an amazing time. Competing downtown Toronto is quite a unique experience and I'm going to guess that next year you're going to see many more athletes putting this meet on their calender.

What New York meet are you referring to, that had trouble filling the stands? The one I was at last month announced a sellout of more than 11,000.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.If the meet director did this out of the goodness of his heart and made nothing off of this meet I applaude him. But I doubt that very much...let's see some financial statements. You guys can't even keep your arguements straight. One says high ticket prices were because of the hype of having Bolt. Then it is because this is what ticket prices go for in Toronto. Now it is venue seating. Make up your mind. I certainly appreciate the efforts to put on a high performance track meet in the heart of Toronto, but again, what you got out of it wasn't worth the $250 price tag. I want to see great track meets in Canada. But I also want competitive fields if I am going to shell out $250 to watch a meet. The NCAA meet so far has had better competition than Festival of Excellence. I wonder what there ticket prices are? The meet director there aren't making any money off their meet either. My take is that you couldn't get enough sponsors to buy into the event to cover your costs and decided the next best thing is to fleece the public. I'm sure the athletes had a grand time...but they weren't the one PAYING to be there.And, here's one high profile track figure questioning the building of meets around one athlete instead of comptition. (Although it is a bit hypocritical of him given his match race after the 1996 Olympics) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/5515551/Michael-Johnson-athletic-competition-outshone-by-Usain-Bolts-stardom.html

bear in mind that there were standing tickets for 25$, and others for 100$. 250$ got you the best seating.

Standing tickets OUTSIDE the stadium on the backstretch. $250 got you on the finish, $100 got you in the first 50m.

Some Canuck wrote:

bear in mind that there were standing tickets for 25$, and others for 100$. 250$ got you the best seating.

k. So just one question.

Is it better not to have had the meet at all?

What the hell does that mean?!? I never said it was not good to have the meet. I applaude you for all the work to bring this event about and the attempt to bring big time track to the Toronto area.

But for all the hype, and the price of the ticket, your meet failed to meet expectations. Take your blinders off and understand the criticism and use it to make next years meet a better experience instead of being bitter that some paying customers didn't feel they got what they paid for. Make it a true "Festival of Excellence" all the way around, from high profile names, to full competitive fields, to knowledgeable anouncers both in stadium and on TV, to prices more in line with what you would pay for a TRACK MEET! If you are going to keep those inflated prices give me some value for it!