Plan to make Track Popular

Fat people trying to lose weight can "fill" the stands as spectators at track meets. Since most meets are in "large" urban areas, road races often have "huge" turnouts.

Get them in the stands or watching on TV.

Market the sport to get the money to market some more. Everything "big", starts small and "gains" as they "grow".

Remember this: track was once very popular in the US, athletes were household names, it could be again.

We have the tools and the opportunity, now we have to use them.

Can Dean Karnazes be far behind?

I find it interesting how many people say road runners just are not interested in track meets so don't even bother. Well what strategy was used to market the sport to them? Did someone just show up and hand out a bunch of free tickets to a meet? Well I would not care either. A better approach would be to involve a few pro runners in some of these road racing events to do a quick talk on technique, training that sort of thing. In other words give the amateurs a window into the world of the pros - then you can entice them with actually going to see pros compete.

Another thing that track needs to do is to find a way to make the meet as a whole matter. I think the way to do that is having dual or better yet international team competitions. The team format has been smacked down many times on here as unworkable and it is unworkable if you have a bunch of random people making up a team. But international team competition is a workable format, just look at the world cup, and depending on the mix of events does not necessarily guarantee that only one country would dominate.

runn wrote:

Tennis is popular as an individual sport, so too could track be.

But, it does need some kind of "system" like Tennis's Grand Slam or Golf's Majors.

The Diamond League is a good idea and could be the format.

A meet should be a package to be presented- 2-3 hours, no fillers, non-stop- event to event (that's the official's jobs).

Then, and I hate to say it, create an atmosphere- upbeat music people having a good time- like a soccer game.

Cheap, cheap tickets- just get people there.

Get road racers involved. At your local 5K promote the sport at the highest levels- the RRCA and USATF could work together on this.

Market the sport like crazy.

Would someone please tell me why this matters so much? Track is not in danger. Why does it need to be popular? I don't run to get rich and famous. I run for the love of running. Why the hell do we need to "Market the sport like crazy"? I just don't see it happening.

Have someone pay ESPN to mention something about track a certain amount of times a week. That way sports fans HAVE to watch and listen if they want to see other sports.

Like it or not ESPN rules sports in the US and I believe ultimately decides what is popular and what is not. I think the best bet to get some exposure for the sport would be to get an older personality like Kornheiser or Bob Ryan invested in the sport somehow, that way they mention track once in a while. Also I think a lot of track athletes are not accessible, especially distance runners since they are not competing every day or every week and are frequently injured. I also think that if ESPN or even actual track meets did a few quick 2 minute bios of track athletes that could really get people invested. I know I get way more interested when I know the back story of an athlete. I mean imagine, not everyone in the US knows who Alan Webb is, love him or hate him he has a very intriguing rollercoaster story. If you get people to feel like they know the people competing, then maybe they will tune in. Also, a few freaking commercials advertising the meet would help too. In conclusion, to build a following we need to somehow get ESPN involved. I mean they hardly even discuss track during the Olympics!

naked girls running track and field.

hot ones.

I didn't say this plan would make track better. It was a plan to increase popularity. I still think having a few meets while another sport is going on is a good idea. You could have a Marathon or Half Marathon and have them run through a daytime baseball game people would enjoy that as baseball isn't all action. I also agree more relays and duals are the way to go. Maybe you could have city teams that wear other pro teams colors throughout the year like a Team Minneapolis Viking/Twins etc. These quick fast halftime meets would not work every week on second thought, but could maybe work as a promo event for a bigger meet. The world cup threw money at America in marketing and it has worked. I know we are not in crisis or anything close to that in T&F but increased popularity is never a bad thing, but someone is always gonna be unhappy

tie track with major league baseball.

they already have those stupid contrived hot-dog races where the winner is probably pre-determined. instead of having hot dogs run around the field, why not actual humans? each MLB team would also have a track team. have a rule that a certain percentage of the runners on each team have to be from the local area. that way you're rooting for hometown kids.

to go along with the 7th inning stretch, you could throw in a race in between one of the earlier-middle innings. like the 4th inning 4x4, which could be a relay of people running a lap around the field. or, better yet, have obstacles, and make it into an obstacle race. the obstacles need to be difficult enough such that if someone has a large lead, they could easily be thwarted by the obstacle enough to give the people behind a chance to come back. a tiny hurdle isn't enough of an obstacle. think creative.

by tieing it with baseball, you already have a captive audience. nobody is going to want to go to something that is just a track meet. baseball is perfect because it's a boring sport, and the race(s) will actually seem exciting compared to a middle of the summer baseball game between two bad teams. if the home team wins, the fans get like a free chalupa or something else that is really cheap in dollar value, but enjoyed, giving the fans an extra reason to cheer and get loud.

sprints, relays, and obstacles will be the type of races that will work best. trying to incorporate a regular distance race will be tough. if you really want to have one, the best way to do it would be to have people running laps during pre-game while other baseball-related pre-game stuff is going on in the field.

The best way to make T&F more popular in your area is to have more Youth, High School, Cross Country, etc. meets. Bring in the young to our sport and they will grow up with it and talk smack to their friends which will get them interested. That's how I got involved at 9 years old in South Gate, California, some 50 years ago. The kids on my block were telling me how they would kick my ass, so I begged my dad, and he showed me how to run like he did when he was coming up. 50 years later and I'm still at it. You can try TV if you insist, but T&F is not a spectator sport in Los Angeles, it's a DIY sport. You do T&F. That's what it's all about. Compete for the sport, compete for life.

I like my sport for what it is.. This would make track a side show joke! Lets just get midgets out there to run the 100m as well.

Interest in Track and Field has to start with people already interested in the sport. High School Track and Field is where most people start competing. After my four years of high school, I have been to many track meets with enthusiastic competitors and parents. How many of these (for the most part) average athletes go home and watch Track and Field on TV? Very few I would have to say. If we take our average track invite and throw in a professional race or two if would garner these fans and fellow athletes attention. The pros would then be more accessible and could talk to the young runners.Then when these young runners go home they might turn on the television to a big track meet because they can say "I saw him Race" or "I met Him" Granted this would take a while, it would get the runners watching the pros and interested in the sport. Once you have this expanded core, you will only gain more and more fans as time passes.

I agree. T&F should not be a side show. It's a sport you do, you coach, you help out at by being in a crew. T&F is not a sitdown sport for fatties in the stands and never will be. You compete or you help others compete. If you want to drink beer and each nachos, go watch an NFL game or Tv or at the stadium. That will never happen if T&F. People who can sit for 2 hours and watch others steeple over barriers, vault, jump, hurdle, aren't our kind of people, we don't want them. We want doers, runners, sprinters, vaulters, throwers, restless souls who dream of competing every night while asleep. We don't want fat bods inhaling pizzas and snorting ketchup in our ranks. That's not our sport.

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHY THE HECK THIS IS SUCH A BIG ISSUE!?

Tiger_runner wrote:

i've had similar ideas to you tiger. if i could, i would try to put together 10-15 teams with 20-25 person rosters competing in 5 events. expanding to other events would be the goal if the league could make it out of infancy. but here is what i would start with, based on what i think the general public likes to watch, and what they would connect with. the number in parentheses is the number of competitors. i also like this order of events, and think this could be done in about 75 minutes.

4x100

javelin (3)

mile(3)

long jump (3)

4x400

for javelin and long jump, you must enter 3 performers. each would get 3 attempts, and there would be time penalties. score is based on the top three performances from the group, rather than each athlete's best performance. points are 0 through 5.

in the mile, each team enters 4 athletes, the top 3 count toward scoring. this way, each team can enter a runner with the purpose of some strategy, like rabbiting. points are 0 through 5.

4x100 and 4x400 done as usual: each track team enters one relay team. each is worth 10 points to the winner.

scoring could be different, but what i'm going for is that a team has to do very well to take the drama out of the 4x400,

in case of a tie score, a DMR-like event is contested as an overtime for one point. also, each team chooses one thrower and one jumper to make one attempt for one point. the athletes chosen for the best tie-breaker playoff have to have competed that day, in any event. i think a meet coming down to a single attempt in the long jump would be pretty dramatic.

for a 10 team league, make two divisions, each team meets once. that's 10 meets in each league. my idea is to pack the whole regular season into 4-6 weeks to reinforce what people are seeing. this is why the mile is the longest race; it's so athletes can come back quickly. then a championship meet, and then an all-star meet based on qualifying performances or your record in your event. i think fall would be a good time for track season.

with the 20-25 person roster, teams could keep a few alternates in any event ready to go, like having a bullpen or a DL. but i think teams need to be kept small to ensure that people are seeing at least some of the same athletes again and again nevery meet.

i don't know if there are 10 local markets to find a spot for each team. i'd start with the 3 summer olympic sites. i guess there are probably 7 other decent markets. boston, new york, eugene, etc.

One reason many pro meets are boring is the athletes train through almost every race in order to peak for a few important races. Who wants to watch the meets where the athletes aren't at their best? Especially when the meet is an exhibition, and the results don't much matter.

yeah. wrot

e:

naked girls running track and field.

hot ones.

Impossible, of course - but you're on the right track. It would be interesting to get athletes from other sports racing against each other in relays.

For example, Maria Sharapova on one side and Michelle Wie on the other team. Now, I would pay to see Sharapova do just about anything. Get a hot Russian tennis team vs. a not so hot American golf team.

So in order to make Track more popular you'd mix it with another sport thus ruining the original and the previous sport?

This also doesn't mention that you'd just have to start hiring failed collegiates to run for your team.

USATF is way ahead of you. The USATF Club Champs is exactly what you have described and is at SF State U tomorrow Friday and Saturday.