I agree with WeHomez/RoHomez that UO will only further isolate our already NICHE sport of Track and Field

I know you are being facetious. You are funny nonetheless. However, the 164 slots on the USA Berlin squad for example are pretty spread out:

1 Utah

1 Massechusetts

1 South Dakota

1 South Carolina

1 Mississippi

1 Missouri

1 Wisconsin

2 Alabama

2 Arkansas

2 Washington

2 Indiana

2 Kansas

2 Kentucky

2 Tennessee

2 New York

2 Oklahoma

3 Louisiana

3 Michigan

3 Minnesota

3 North Carolina

4 Illinois

4 Ohio

6 Arizona

7 Virgina

7 Colorado

8 Florida

9 Oregon

11 Georgia

24 Texas

47 California

So our national winners are surely spread around the states pretty good I must say. I sure hope there isn't anyone who wants to discourage folks from choosing a place they enjoy, as a place to train and to live.

The thing to realize about a championship event such as the Trials, USATFs, or NCAAs is: it's all about the atmosphere. Someone on here mentioned the festival atmosphere that Eugene is so adept at providing. It's this atmosphere, the buzz, the electricity in the air that makes a meet in Eugene so appealing.

Many detractors on here tend to simply say that all that matters is the TV money. The obvious response to this is that NBC/CBS/whoever is going to buy the rights to these meets whether they're in Eugene, Sacramento, or Billings, Montana. What really matters when selecting a site is the buzz it creates. Hayward Field has that buzz. It simply inspires every athlete who walks to the starting line, steps into the ring, or starts down the runway. Hayward inspires an intangible, magical, greatness. Need evidence? See Eugene 08: Mens 800m or Eugene 09: Mens and Womens 10k and Mens 5k.

But the thing that I like more than anything about Eugene becoming a semi-permanent host to NCAAs is that it provides a concrete point to shoot for. Just as college baseball teams put a sign up in the locker room saying "OMAHA", so too will thousands of kids put a sign saying "EUGENE" above their bed so they can look at it every night as they go to sleep.

Now, obviously there are those on here who will simply not be convinced that this is the way to go. My simple request to you is that you not be irrational and make comments such as "Nike is trying to destroy track and field." Let's try and make rational arguments that are based off more than a distaste for Corporate America and jealousy of the success Eugene has enjoyed.

Cartwheel wrote:

But the thing that I like more than anything about Eugene becoming a semi-permanent host to NCAAs is that it provides a concrete point to shoot for. Just as college baseball teams put a sign up in the locker room saying "OMAHA", so too will thousands of kids put a sign saying "EUGENE" above their bed so they can look at it every night as they go to sleep.

Why, because they couldn't do that with "NATIONALS" or "SACRAMENTO" or "AUSTIN"? When the season starts, the site for nationals has been set, it's not like it's so hard to find out where it will be if it isn't at the same place every year. Talk about irrational, you self-felating idiot.

That chart says it all. Rotating the NCAA Outdoor Championships around to different stadiums each year keeps interest in out sport alive. Great athletes come from every corner of our great country. Let's keep it that way.

I don't think that chart says anything actually. 47 from California, but did you see the Adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center? I was there and it was pathetic. And of course the USA Championships didn't do as good this year-we are in a recession and it isn't an Olympic year. I would MAYBE do a 4 coast rotation system. 1 year East Coast, then West, then South and then North. That way it mixes it up a little. I do think the Oregon fans will get bored of all the huge track meets there,but at the same time-Low attendance there is equal to a huge turn out somewhere else. I wish I had solid solutions. I just have some ideals.

I beg to differ. LA meets have the highest attendance in the world. Two very successful Olympics, Mt Sac the largest T&F meet in the world, etc. Unfortunately each year, Adidas/AEG blows off ticket sales at the unfinished Home Depot T&F Stadium because it's too expensive to finish construction of the T&F venue. They only care about TV Ads. Consequently the venue is unpaved with wood chips strewn around. There are only outhouses, bench seats with no shade, no food concession, etc. They sell tickets too if people want them, but naturally few fans show up. However, the meet makes tons of money given it has the most Oly and WC Gold Medalists of any one day GL/GP type TV meet in the world. Some of the sprints and hurdle races are packed with medalists in all 9 lanes. Adidas is totally the most awesome meet on the planet.

Since you are the expert here, pray tell how much do they charge fans for admission to this Mt Sac meet? From what I have seen, So Cal fans will only pay about $10-$20 for a track meet. You cannot make money when charging those kinds of admissions, unless you sell out every time. Eugene charges $30 - $ 50 a day for their meets (see Oly trials at $450 for 8 days, Pre Meet at $28 and USATF championships at something like $35). People in Eugene will pay to see stars. Everyone in LA thinks they are a star, and they won't pay to see themselves. Just an observation and my two cents worth.

Your statement does not make a bit of sense. You are comparing apples to oranges.

Obviously you have never been involved with meet management, nor do you have a business nor marketing background.

Mt Sac/Penn/Texas/Drake/Kansas/Florida/etc. are spring Relays meets, mostly college/high/middle school, with many elites/pros. Relays rely on volume, the entrance fees and tickets are lower to attact more participants and fans, TV accounts for little or no revenue.

Home Depot, Pre, NCAA Outdoors, Tyson Invite, USA Outdoors/etc. are elite/pro and college/elite type championships meets. They rely on TV advertisement revenue, tickets account for a minor percentage, entrance fees are for administrative use.

I don't doubt that Omaha is boring, but the point is a the beginning of the baseball season every team wants to go to omaha.

The city in synonymous w/ NCAA Baseball Championship. Eugene could be the same.

On years that Eugene hosts, it will be. From the beginning of the track season. Same for any other city that has been or would be hosting the meet.

Eugene could be the same.

NCAA DI-A T&F schools will not agree to one location. T&F is too big, too diverse for that. T&F people must have an open mind. We support each other, even other team members. That philosophy should extend to meet selection issues as well. UO should definitely be on the rotation. I liked the NCAA's when it was at Boise State U. Boise is a big town. I think San Diego St should give it a shot. USAXC a few years ago was a huge success at SD. Plus FL at Balboa is the only real HS XC champs. NXN is held under miserable conditions and should move to Phoenix or Tucson I think. What about Fresno St ? UC Irvine ? UC Riverside ? Btw, I didn't graduate nor work at any of the schools mentioned.

I went to one of the meets in Boise, they broke some attendance records. But they're going to take the track out of the football stadium in a couple years and have a separate facility.

I'd like to see a rotation or in a different city every year just for variety's sake.

That said, the hopes of Wejo and others of growing the sport? I've heard this for years now. I think track and field is a niche sport and it always will be.

The Olympics, Penn Relays, Mt. Sac, Pre, and other meets will continue to draw. The sport as a whole will not be broadcast on TV very much, will not be popular on ESPN.com, and will not be on the minds of many. It's just the way it is.

They should still try and market it in and outside of Eugene, however.

God knows they've been trying to market it outside of Eugene since 1980. Track and Field was a much bigger sport until 1980 and Eugene was the epicenter (1976 and 1980 Oly Trials were huge). Then USATF decided they needed to go to bigger cities and they went to New Orleans and LA and Sacramento, only to find that the sport was losing fans instead. So, now we are back in Eugene, and one can feel the renewed interest and the level of the passion rising again. Just saying..

No sir, it is you who makes very little sense, and obviously has no clue about these meets. Meets like Pre rely very little on TV advertisement revenue, instead the opposite--the main revenue sources for the Pre Meet are approximately $200,000 in ticket sales, and large Nike subsidies, in additon to lesser Oregon Track Club funds.

You have made my point is that these other meets like Mt Sac, Penn, etc draw very little from entrance fees and tickets. The "big attendance" numbers are coming from kids competing, parents, etc, who are not the kind of people willing to pay the kind of bucks needed to have a successful major national/international meet. This is exactly why Eugene gets the major events...people in Eugene are passionate enough and willing to fork out bucks to watch the meets.

You are the biggest lair on LR. To say that TV isn't the primary revenue source is the most retarded thing ever said on LR. Pre is a one day TV meet like Adidas, Reebok, and Golden League. The only thing that matters is the TV gate. The stadium at Rome is less than 1/2 full. Adidas uses an unfinished facility blowing off local ticket sales yet the meet makes good money because of TV.

Brilliance on Foot wrote:

So, now we are back in Eugene, and one can feel the renewed interest and the level of the passion rising again. Just saying..

At least you're looking at this rationally. Just sayin'....

Cut the Nike/Adidas bull shit please. T&F was made a huge sport outside of Euegene ages ago.

I seems that when someone blows smoke out their ass, as you have, and you don't like being corrected, you throw out the "liar" word, somehow hoping that will give you some of the credibility that you never had. So, let me repeat, you don't have a clue about these large international track events and how they are financed. Until you do, I advise you to not try to act like you do.

Admit it you'be been caught in a lie and you can't get out of it.