No one knows how to fix track and field

Does track need to be fixed ? No! Does pro track need to be changed to be more spectator friendly ? Yep .
if I was commissioner I’d ditch all field events but the long jump , shot and javelin , go heavy on the sprints . Let’s face it , distance events have become boring . Super shoes and drugs make times meaningless . Rabbits are set up so the favorite always wins . I’d focus on the Mile and shake it up . Team mile . 3 teams of 4. The times of 3 finishers count , one team goes after another and knows the time they have to beat . Pursuit mile . Women get a 32 second head start . Pursuit mile /3000. Run the mile first , then run the 3000 with each runner getting the head start they earned in the mile . First finisher wins .
Run the steeple and throw in relays like the Swedish really and sprint medley and you entertain the marginal fans

Only thing I wish…,.

A state of the art track and field stadium with a retractable roof and large Jumbotrons. Wish Oregon had gone that far.

Actually, you are right. The most obvious example is that we sort of been "pushed" into caring about the WNBA. I mean, I don't watch, but millions of people have watched women's basketball this year because of how it was marketed. You are correct about that.

I guess F1 did that with the success of their Netflix show. Running tried to do it with the series Speed. Maybe it will work.

I just don't that really builds authentic fandom in the long run. Will people still be watching the Indiana Fever after Caitlin Clark leaves the team? Maybe. Is F1 still going to be something your family members care about after they stop watching the show on Netflix?

I do think there are four things that would make the sport better for people who are "on the cusp" of being fans:

1) Televise the product if you want us to watch! Make every meet watchable on a normal platform (like Peacock or Youtube). You can't bury the sport on Milesplit and expect people to shell out $69 a year to watch the Drake Relays. If you want people to follow the sport, it needs to be on NBC TV, Peacock, and/or Youtube for no charge. And it wouldn't hurt to have the meets "every Saturday at noon" so fans could get a sense that these things are somehow connected and not just randomly sprinkled around the calendar.

2) Keep the pro meets to about 2 hours long. More than that is way too long.

3) Each runner needs to have an easy to remember "identity" or trait that the casual fan can keep track of from race to race (and season to season). Kerr, for example, can be the "Villian in the Oakleys," Cole Hocker is "Manbun," Jakob can be the "Pacemaker," and so on. Nguse is the "future dentist with turtle." I don't really care how you label these guys, but if you can't remember who is who, the sport is less fun. My wife knows Travis Kelse is "the one who is dating Taylor Swift." That is enough...

4) Make sure every runner has their own unique kit/uniform with their name on the bib so it doesn't look like ten randos in matching singlets "jogging" around in a pack for 12.5 laps. That is unwatchable for anyone who is not a total insider (and who can tell the difference between Kiprotich and Kipkuri from 200m away). At a horse race, each horse and jockey is dressed in a special kit so you can see who is who. The same system would be good a pro track meet.

Besides Webb, it is hard to tell who is who:

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Yeah, nobody likes pole vaulting, for sure. I dont care about appeasing marginal fans. They are always going to be marginal.

This is the biggest issue with T&F if you want to get down to actual issues. How do you build a sport around personalities in the modern sports media landscape that have such short careers? People who are fans of the sport obviously follow prep runners but tracking kids in the 14-18 age range isn’t something done by casual fans in any other sport. And let’s be clear…casual fans is what is needed to “grow” the media footprint of T&F in non Olympic years.

So once you take out the four years of prep performance what are you left with? Collegiate performance and pro career. How much of that time is spent actually competing for championships? Very little if any at all except for the most elite athletes. There aren’t a lot of 10 and 15 year pro careers out there.

If I’m a person just getting into the sport maybe I’m a Gary Martin fan. But what would that reasonably look like going forward? Is he going to win an Olympic gold medal one day? How many? Can he repeat this for multiple cycles? And what’s the fun in being a fan of just one guy if they only race a few times a year as pros?

The very nature of the sport makes it difficult for casual sports fans to latch on to. Team sports is just cheering for laundry. It’s something familiar. The personalities move through their careers too fast in T&F for a casual to latch on. GST doesn’t nothing to address this.

The display boards and field event boards at WC Eugene were the best Ive seen in America. There was no way a person couldnt keep up with every event progress unless you just werent interested or paying attention.

Agree, therefore, nothing to fix. Like I said, it's fine art and not easy to understand or appreciate by most. Even someone who competed at a high level in say the 5k (Fisher) would still need to study another event like the shot put for awhile to appreciate what guys like Crouser and Kovac have been doing.

Once someone takes the time to understand what a person has to be capable of to jump 7-10 hj, 29ft lj, throw 235ft discus, run 12:40 5k etc....it's frickin incredible and worth it to see it live with others who get it. It's more than a circus act and a loud crowd. Yes its entertaining but you have to understand what goes into it to appreciate it.

A lot of people play basketball and in their own minds think they are good at it. Most of those people never go see a nba game live or even care how those players got there or understand what separates them from the rest. The difference is relateability and fantasizing their own participation. Far fewer do this in track and field these days because there are a lot more options. The people that do, however are just as good at what they do or better in some cases as other sports. Running, jumping and throwing heavy things in its pure form is just old news and boring. They need Mt Dew X-Games. Fat kids can play soccer, basketball and football but they cant hide behind anyone in track.

Lots of great ideas here.

People want to see rivalries and know who is competing. Generic Kenyan guy doesn’t put butts in seats. But USA vs Jamaica does. Or Jakob vs Kerr vs Nguse / Hocker.

also - relays, relays, relays. Again it’s about rivalries and cheering on your favorite.

Grand Slam Track is trying to work on these (minus the relays) so that we actually get to see the best vs the best and can better get to know the competitors. I think where they might be off the mark is that these will be early season races and we may not see the best performances or “best” athletes winning since they are saving themselves for Worlds.

I don't understand the smack talk thing. It's not WWE, thank god (actually: less thanking god would be nice ;)

They can't break the Euro athletics family dynasties of free volunteer meet directors and workers. The finish line cameraman at Monaco was a rich free rookie and walked up as Wharholm finished and almost slammed into him. GST doesn't have the money. Only $20M. They need $20 Billion.

There's nothing to fix. It's popular in Europe and other parts of the world. It was popular, at one time, in the US but that time is past and it's all because of marketing.

Other sports market much better than USATF does this sport.

The opposition to drama and smack talk in track and field is asinine. People packed stands for US vs USSR. That was some of the most tribalistic, us vs them that's ever made it to our sport. And you know what, my grandad talked about those meets and he never cared one bit about running.

I went to an LSU game a decade ago game and one of the crowd's favorite chants was "kick their ass!" No, we don't need scripted drama like pro wrestling. We just need less puritans on their weird high horses.

Everyone who disagrees with me has been assigned "The Society of the Spectacle" by Debord. I want 500 words, due next week.

That is the route Athlos is trying to take. Add a concert to a "meet" that consisted of six races conducted over two hours (about 7:30 total racing time) and try to sell out a small stadium. Even with the concert, it didn't sell out and the great majority of "track fans" there were actually music fans. I remember seeing people comment on youtube, "Why are they not showing the concert?!" A lot of people did not attend for the races; they attended for the cheap concert. If they would have had a full complement of events, including field events, conducted over the same two hours with the Olympic champion in every event competing, they would not have sold nearly as many tickets.

Track is a unique sport; you either love it or you don't. Adding concerts, fireworks, cheerleaders, celebrities, or anything else does not help the sport.

I fundamentally disagree with adding "concerts, fireworks, cheerleaders, celebrities, or anything else does not help the sport."

Fanfare and spectacle helps every sport once you get it right. Just because we've witnessed a few super corny attempts doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile idea. Track is not as unique as people here pretend.

Add rifles and shooting ranges!

Biathlon has overtaken regular Nordic Skiing as a television sport in Europe. For good reasons. It happens more often than not that podium positions shift during the shooting moment. Excellent spectator sport for the television age.

Here's an example (from during windy conditions), notice how the leader tense up and leaves the stadium as number two, and how number four into the stadium leaves in bronze position. No imagine that drama four times every race (except for sprint, when there's only two, relays on the other hand has 4 x 2 = 8 shooting dramas every race.

It appears I am an anomaly! I grew up playing baseball, football, and basketball. The big three American team sports of the 1960s. But then came Mexico City and 1968. After competing in H.S. and college track, I coached the sport for over 30 years. Has my love for track faded? No! Has the American consumer driven fan base faded? Yes! Now it is all about betting on football, basketball, and baseball. Hours of sport network's programing is now betting odds and advice. So, could that be the solution? Tap into the betting pool. Noah Lyles raced YouTube influencer "Speed" for $100K. Thirty three million followers watched that race as Lyles toyed with "Speed" across the line. How much $ will be on the line if Tyrek Hill and Noah race. This might be what Track and Field needs challenges with cash on the line.

Maybe stop relying on a handful of footwear and apparel brands to sponsor individuals for 50 years.

Imagine if world soccer used that business model.