the stadium is oslo is packed, why not US meets?

Because Americans are more interested in "sports" like baseball and American "football".

Stop having big meets in remote small towns in small states in a remote location

This topic again? It’s like a new thread every week on it.

What do you do for fun now? Watch paint dry?

It all comes down to marketing and presentation.

First we have to sell the sport and give away tickets- it's better to fill a stadium for free than to not sell tickets for a price.

Then- presentation- I've watched ATL Meets- I put on more exciting dual meets when I coached. Listen and watch- the Diamond League Meets are full of activity and life.

Get people there and entertain them.

The TV presentation has to be better. We all know how bad ESPN announcers are. Listen to the Diamond League guys- they make each throw and jump exciting. They call the races, they talk about runners in the secondary positions.

Presentation.

I would be p1ssed if I bought a ticket and other people got in for free

Tell me what the Rose Bowl and surrounding neighborhood looks like mid July let alone the LA Colliseum. My guess is without BIG security and 6 months of major crackdown, street sweeping, pushing gangland back several blocks, you dont want to host meets in these areas. At least thats what Joe Public/Track Fan Guy is thinking. Its the joy of making your way to the stadium through the jungle that scares a lot of people away. Uberoth welded the sewer caps shut for miles around in 84 and posted guards with guns. Didnt see that in Eugene, Des Moines, Indianapolis etc...but probably would in Chicago & NY. Boston made sure they didnt get an Olympic bid even though they probably would have done a heck of a job hosting.

I've said this probably ten times on this board. No one will EVER pack any stadium to watch USATF championships. It is filled with meaningless prelims and sub-par effort. It's a horrible track meet to watch on TV and in person.

For Diamond League and World Championships, really the only option is to hold them at Drake Stadium. It's not a major metropolitan, but it's within driving distance of many major US cities.

Austin would have been an option, but it's way, way too hot in July to hold a track meet.

As far promoting track, until NCAAs or Diamond League is broadcast on ABC or CBS, don't expect the popularity to change. If these stations really promoted it, for weeks in advance, you could probably draw 1-2 million viewers. NCAAs drew 390k viewers on ESPN 2. That's like a football game between Appalachian state and Georgia tech. It's pitiful.

Track and field is a very participated in sport for school kids in the US, girls track has been number 1 nationally for awhile now. Boys is #2.

THere are plenty of "track " people here but when ESPN would rather show cornhole championships, you arent getting a good following.

The NFL & NBA have their team stadiums in Urban cities and areas. Have the events in urban areas and advertise in the Urban Communities. Eugene will not cut it.

Jakob and Karsten are the equivalent for Norway as having Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis in the same stadium in the US. And other than soccer and hockey, there are not a lot of spectator sports in Norway.

I do have a life outside of running. Maybe you should get one.

Come on. Ski jumping, cross country, biathlon, with tens of thousands of spectators. Out in the woods in winter time.

Because we are a bunch of fat fvcking slobs who idolize Tom Brady and Donald Trump and have no class.

What bot are you using that got you 70 upvotes and zero downvotes? That is nuts.

Hayward is still great even if it is not perfect. It seats 25,000 whereas Bislett is less than half of that. Also, Bislett has one meet a year so everyone goes. Hayward has 10 meets a year and I don't/can't go to ALL of them.

I will go to Nike Outdoor Nationals (HS) but not USATF Nationals. Does that make me a bad fan? Locals can't go to everything.

p.s. Tell the mayor of your town (or president of your local university) to start hosting more world class track meets instead of complaining about Eugene.

No his point was that the events you liked made the meets longer and worse/boring for most fans.

Cutting meets down two two hours would make them better for people who like track but aren't total addicts. I'd pay $20 to watch a two hour meet. I won't way $90 to watch a seven hour meet. Does that make sense? That's because I am normal.

Hyperbole? Portland has some bad areas and is kind of dirty, but it is not a sign of the End Times. Have you run in Forest Park lately or done a workout at Duniway? Portland is 85% great with 15% super nasty. The 15% catches your eye, true enough, but really most of the city is fine.

This is the main track that distance runners use and it is right in the heart of Portland. We love it.

portland.gov

Duniway Park

Link:www.portland.gov/parks/duniway-park

They give them away to school kids and people associated with the sponsors (like work parties, professional trips). I don't think they just hand them out on the street, don't worry.