Every other live event in America is hugely dependent on alcohol, so why should track be any different? It has nothing to do with how "boring" track is, unless you also think baseball, football, basketball, soccer, concerts, and NASCAR are too boring for most people.
The average guy will be more likely to tune into a track meet when an NFL/MLB/NBA star is also participating.
Adding an NFL player or two to an ivitational mens 60m would certainly draw a higher crowd. I'm sure that Chris Johnson/Reggie Bush/Marquise Goodwin, etc, would be at least somewhat competitive here.
I think we had beer sales at the old Dallas indoor meets. Those were sellouts.
I had a meet planned for April 2013 and had the stadium agree to beer sales. Vegas was not convinced that T&F was not a pro sport.... didn't matter. The day after the 2012 election I got a call and email (from the title sponsor) telling me that the deal was off. I think there was a thread about this.
Hardloper wrote:
txRUNNERgirl wrote:There's beer at some meets, or at least close. Olympic Trials?
What do you mean "at least close" to having beer? Close as in they have coke? Not close enough!
I meant "close" as in proximity. College and high school stadiums prohibit alcohol inside the stadium.
Ho Hum wrote:
Every other live event in America is hugely dependent on alcohol, so why should track be any different? It has nothing to do with how "boring" track is, unless you also think baseball, football, basketball, soccer, concerts, and NASCAR are too boring for most people.
Agreed. Personally, I think most sports are boring to watch, but I still enjoy going to games because of the social atmosphere. That usually involves alcohol and gambling for some people. Having the fun social atmosphere allows you to talk (or argue) about the game, then you pay more attention to it because you are talking about it.
I unfortunately would pull the plug on the thought pattern that gambling is GOOD for the sport. There's really a limited amount of prize purse money to go around at track events. Gambling money would probably easily exceed prize purses and thus lead to corruption.
reed wrote:
Running on Empathy wrote:(1) moving the 10k (and maybe even the 5k) off the track and onto the roads/XC
(2) moving field events (aka the "take turns" events) out of the area during "main event" public viewing
(3) two or more water jumps per lap for the steeplechase (let's face it - the water jump is the most interesting part of the steeplechase)...... maybe even add a mud jump?
(4) for American audiences run events over 400 meters in Imperial distances (the 1500 should never be run on US soil except for Olympic qualifying, so replace the 1500 with the mile, the 3k steeplechase with a two mile steeplechase, and add the flat two mile ..... and just call the 800 the "half mile" even though it isn't)
(5) get rid of or at least make some major changes to the decathlon - it tends to confuse casual fans that a guy can win a decathlon 1500 and most of the time not be the winner of the decathlon
There you go. Now just throw some beer and betting into the mix, and Nick's vision can be had!
everything you say is wrong, and here's why
1. moving the 10k off the track. this gets rid of any standardization, which is crucial for fair qualifying if you have time standards. if you get rid of time standards, you have way too many people eligible to compete at championship meets, meaning that you need to bring back a 10k prelim, which is not gonna happen
2. this is totally unfair to field event folks. just because you don't like to watch those events doesn't mean they need to be moved. besides, theyre interesting to watch during a boring race
3. this would be too expensive to implement. and mud wouldnt work because you'd have a range of consistencies, which would screw up time standards, just like moving the 10k to the roads
4. again...stupid to change distances just because they don't suit your preferences. metric is going to replace imperial in the future anyway.
5. the decathlon is a rare event anyway...and the people who show up to meets that host a dec/hept are prob more educated. and with proper announcing and a big scoreboard, you could easily follow the scoring
1. If it's off track, you use the same standards as you would for marathon qualifying. It ain't all that complicated.
2. We're talking about generating fan interest, not in "fairness". I'm just suggesting we try separating the "field" from track meets to see if it has any effect one way or the other on fan interest. Someone also made a suggestion that some field events could be done head to head, which would certainly make things more interesting.
3. Constructing another steeplechase pit isn't any more expensive than constructing the original steeplechase pit. If we're talking about generating enough fan interest to the point of meets making money from ticket sales, you should make facility investments within reason to optimize ticket revenues. A second steeple pit is both reasonable and workable.
4. If it's so stupid to change distances from metric to imperial, then it was just as stupid to change from imperial to metric distances in the first place. Again, you miss the point of "relatability" of the casual fan - a mile is relatable, a 1500 is just some random number picked out of a hat. A mile is four laps, a 1500 3 and pocket change. 4 laps makes more sense than 3 3/4 laps. And this delusion of metrics one day taking over the US is just Statist fantasy. Our highway signs will always be in miles. Deal with it.
5. The decathlon is a relic. It can do for some serious upgrade.
gambling/drinking already happens- it's just 'underground' which is a scary word for: pre-gamed in the apt, bet a couple races against some club teammates, and carried 3 flasks into the show.
like majihauna (or however you criminals spell it), it is going to happen regardless of 'supervision' and thus you might as well bring it above board.
side note: i think field events have the most to gain from gambling. it depends on how the gamble is structured but a jump-by-jump, throw-by-throw event might be the ultimate winner within this discussion.
rampant liberalism -> gutting middle america
There must be an NBA star who can long jump, high jump or hurdle.
Running is the hipster of the sports world. Get over it.
And Nick also said regarding the American audience: "Put on the key events that everybody wants to see: like the men’s 100m, women’s 100m and the Mile."
Spot on, Nick. And we'll put a fin on Leo Manzano as we enjoy a cold brewski. Go Mile!
Running on Empathy wrote:
(2) moving field events (aka the "take turns" events) out of the area during "main event" public viewing
Already done at lots of European meets. Shot put in a town square or train station is how some DL meets do it. People love watching it (for free), and it hypes the main meet (usually the next day).
NO heats at meets. you are either in the final or you are not.
music between races(not during!!)
100, 400, 1/2 mile, mile, 2 mile. 4 x 100. Those are the events.
No field events at all. OUTDOOR TRACKS 200 meters!. seats and bar in a lowered infield.
Top level of stands bar/ food with tv monitors of race.
Halftime with contests! like celebrity/fan 50 meter dash... or race a pro!
Although I believe gambling is a great idea in theory, there is a serious problem which is linked to the sport's association with PED's. What happens when someone wins a ton of money on a race, and a year (or weeks) later it comes out that the winner was doping the whole time? Do you put some type of clause that has a time limit for a person to get tested/proved clean? When you're talking about serious sums of money, this constant issue of PED's is worrisome. I'd love to see it somehow enacted but this is a big issue which would be non-trivial to work out.
On the issue of serving beer at events, that's a no-brainer. Of course people should get to get to enjoy a couple of beers, get a little rowdy, and spice up T&F a bit. There's far too many examples from other sports to really combat this idea.
Hey wake up , the Aggies have drank and gambled at track meets for years.
Just sit with them sometime. Its always the funnest section at any track meet they attend in mass. The athletes always stop and pay homage to them on their victory lap.
lol, seriously, I don't understand why people are betting so large sums of money. In the end, they still lose, and if they win, then they enter a gambling state and begin to spend money recklessly. It was the same with my brother when he bet a large amount ($1000 on a football game) on this site https://vbet77.net/ and you know what? As a result, he was just lucky and he won there $ 5,000 because of high rates and a bonus at that site, however, it's not so important. He was delighted, but fortunately, he was able to withdraw this amount of money and I took the money from him, because he wanted to spend the money on unnecessary things...
Zurich does have onsite gambling. Little booths set up all around the stadium, and you can redeem winnings at any kiosk, of which there are countless around the city. Even placing a small bet makes a race much more exciting, I would love to see this at more events.
this_is_my_username__ wrote:
Although I believe gambling is a great idea in theory, there is a serious problem which is linked to the sport's association with PED's. What happens when someone wins a ton of money on a race, and a year (or weeks) later it comes out that the winner was doping the whole time? Do you put some type of clause that has a time limit for a person to get tested/proved clean? When you're talking about serious sums of money, this constant issue of PED's is worrisome. I'd love to see it somehow enacted but this is a big issue which would be non-trivial to work out.
I don't know...what do they do with horses that test positive for PEDs? There's zillions of dollars in gambling at the Kentucky Derby. ?
dartmoth graduate wrote:
Running is the hipster of the sports world. Get over it.
No, fixie bike racing is.
kadoo wrote:
Some good points from both he and David Torrence. In my opinion:
Beer helps all sports.
Gambling could help, ties in with a Nascar model.
Bring in idiots shooting T-shirts and other gimmicky stuff like baseball or basketball. Unlike Nascar, there is down time between events. Use that time like big time sports do.
Let the runners be themselves and promote them as superstars. This will help the gambling also.
From 'both he and David Torrance.'