Graham Fischer broke an American Record last night in spectacular fashion but not even a mention of of on ESPN or similar media platforms. Only on running specific platforms.
I bet you ESPN will post about who wins the hotdog eating contest in the parking lot tailgate at the super bowl today tho..
It's a positive feedback loop. At least I think that's the best way to put it. People don't find distance running to be that exciting, so it gets very little coverage, so people end up caring even less, and the cycle goes on and on. We have fallen far into irrelevancy.
I would love to see Netflix or Amazon develop a documentary movie or series about a group of elite American men/women training for the five world marathon majors. This would generate publicity for the athletes, the races and likely Nike or whichever gear companies get involved. Film it over the course of a couple of years and release it in an Olympic year. I’m sure they could film and edit footage of the races in a way that makes them more compelling than just watching a live feed.
Most active runners have to work outside of running for income and running is a hobby for most. the NFL salary cap is $209M for each team with 52 players on each team which averages out to over $4M per player. Talent follows the $$. Best athletes are probably not runners.
Track needs to promote what no other sport has: raw speed in pure head to head competition. I have never seen a boring race, every one is filled with effort, heart, drama, thrill and disappointment. It just takes a knowledgeable and passionate production crew to bring that out.
I think that much of the reason for a limited interest in distance running is the lack of a perceived fight or flight visual stimulation which is present in sports where face to face confrontation exists. This occurs in football, futbol, basketball, hockey, the big spectator sports. Running is more subtle requiring an in depth knowledge and experience of what goes in to the preparation and effort to achieve well in the sport. There isn't a way to enhance the interest of the population without significantly changing the nature of that sport.
Graham Fischer broke an American Record last night in spectacular fashion but not even a mention of of on ESPN or similar media platforms. Only on running specific platforms.
I bet you ESPN will post about who wins the hotdog eating contest in the parking lot tailgate at the super bowl today tho..
Skinny men have never been taken seriously by nubile young women …
NBC has a virtual monopoly of important Tack and Field meets and doesn't have a clue how to present the sport in its best light. They forget that what viewers want is informed exciting commentary of what they are viewing on their screens. They don't want to hear about, uncles, aunts, family members or pet rats ( Craig Masback once spent an entire lap and a half of an indoor race talking about Laura Muir's pet rat). They want to be brought to the edge of their seats as the drama of a race unfolds. Sadly, we lack commentators that can accomplish this. Most commentators' prescript the race and have to convey their rehearsed lines while missing the action as it unfolds. Too often we hear color commentators talking background nonsense while missing the critical moves in a race. There should be no distinction between color commentators and play by play, there should just be commentators' period! Commentators who can describe the action with passion and conviction, anticipate the moves and describe an exciting conclusion. No other major sport would put up with the poor quality of broadcasts that we endure. The quality of the commentators is of vital importance as is the format of the presentation. It seems that track and Field does not view itself too highly and is just thankful to be televised at all!
It's a beta sports of slow twitch muscles with no skills required. Absolutely zero entertainment value. On top of the that, over 40% of the population is morbidly obese. Do you really think they gonna waste their precious couch time watching a bunch of 130 lb men run around in circles in 2 inch shorts?
NBC has a virtual monopoly of important Tack and Field meets and doesn't have a clue how to present the sport in its best light. They forget that what viewers want is informed exciting commentary of what they are viewing on their screens. They don't want to hear about, uncles, aunts, family members or pet rats ( Craig Masback once spent an entire lap and a half of an indoor race talking about Laura Muir's pet rat). They want to be brought to the edge of their seats as the drama of a race unfolds. Sadly, we lack commentators that can accomplish this. Most commentators' prescript the race and have to convey their rehearsed lines while missing the action as it unfolds. Too often we hear color commentators talking background nonsense while missing the critical moves in a race. There should be no distinction between color commentators and play by play, there should just be commentators' period! Commentators who can describe the action with passion and conviction, anticipate the moves and describe an exciting conclusion. No other major sport would put up with the poor quality of broadcasts that we endure. The quality of the commentators is of vital importance as is the format of the presentation. It seems that track and Field does not view itself too highly and is just thankful to be televised at all!
And the organisers of really competitive events like the RAK half this Saturday are all about the paying mass race on their website. They could get someone to write 20 great stories of the class East Africans who are about to give their all to compete with each other. So far we only know the top three of both men and women. So much promotion could have been done this week.
I guess you have to live in an area created by athletes, for athletes like Southern California to get attention. We're having out 3rd Olympics in 2028. The last two was in 1984 and 1932.
How many of these threads over the years? Sorry but track and field will never be mainstream popular. Just accept it and enjoy the sport and help contribute when you can.
This topic does come up a lot but it’s pretty short-sighted to say it will never be popular in the mainstream. Especially when T&F was a relatively popular sport in many of our lifetimes. If you ask someone over 40 about Carl Lewis, Flo-Jo, Micheal Johnson, Prefontaine, they’ll at least recognize one or two of those names as a track athletes.
Just like anyone under 40 knows who Usain Bolt is. The problem with niche sports in 2022 is that everything and anything is available via streaming platforms. Back in the day all you had were the major networks and they covered everything and everyone was viewing the same stuff. Nowadays you can watch a random college track meet on ESPN+ but you have to already be a track fan and probably a runner yourself to even think to go find the event.
all good points... how many people of any age could name just one sprinter from the last Olympics? like a previous poster said, who wants to watch a bunch of 130 lb men run around? I love running but I'm not sure things will change.
Some of the currently most viewed track and field pages, you have to scour their article to find how it is even related. Then you find the 1 sentence that says, oh yeah this did track at some point and medalled at worlds. And then it goes back to paragraphs upon paragraphs of stuff about their other endeavors.
Good grief. I took the month of February off from letsrun, and I return to see multiple threads on the tired old topic of making running "popular." This has to be one of the most commonly recurring topics on this cesspool of a website.
Running isn't popular because it's boring to watch. Full stop. No other reason.
How many swim meets do you watch? I'm guessing none, and for the same reason. Do swimmers sit around on some website and yell at the clouds about why swimming isn't popular? Maybe they do, I don't know.
Running is a great participation sport. So, go participate in it. I like the fact that "my" sport is about doing and not watching. Anyone can watch.
It's all marketing. I'm old enough to remember 10K road races on TV almost regularly.
Races like Falmouth and there was a 15k in Tulsa were on.
I remember the NYC and Chicago Marathons had more viewers than any football games other than the playoffs and any baseball games other than the World Series.
It seem to me that the best runners raced more and were in the public eye more. They were accessible after the local race. People then watched on TV.
If they're racing a few times a year people forget them.
I love track, but I have to admit that it's boring to watch.
Cross country is better. Maybe because of the team aspect or because the course are interesting. Things like runner location/pace tracking and dynamic team leader board help. Track often suffers from lack of action or lead changes until the final lap or so. Or once runner gets a big lead, the field is not going to close the gap. Etc.
Cycling is 100x longer, and it's much more interesting to me that watching track. Maybe it *is* the presentation, I don't know.
It is the presentation. And, I think track meets should be sprint/middle distance affairs.
Let the longer distance runners run cross-country and road races.
I love the 5000 on the track but maybe the average person can only tune in to the 3000.
Consider- a football game has about 8 minutes of action with a TON of down time.
The average Joe or Jill couldn't name three skiers or tennis players and no one gives a flip about figure skating except for 10 minutes every four years but those sports align with lifestyles that advertisers love. Track and Field and especially distance running not so much.
And guess what? Running isn't the lone neglected step sister.
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