they need to stop doing USAs in oregon. accommodations are garbage and it is too difficult and expensive for travel.
This is the biggest issue. Hotels are slim pickings and they way overpriced. Portland is 90 min away, so it's not ideal to stay there either. It's a great venue, but Eugene is just too much of a sh--thole.
I wish. Been to other locations with similar low turnout. NYC with many more people and lots of (super costly) hotels. I am all for trying it again and again elsewhere, but in the past, over and over, low numbers. It’s a meet for super-fans. Some great. But, you know, the other kind who all want a free feed when Peacock is such a great and low cost option. It’s not a sport that has top ten highlights of the week with diving catches and tipped passes intercepted.
I feel like it wasn't that long ago that Hayward meets were a big deal that drew crowds. Is it because of the new stadium? Did Eugene suddenly become a sh!thole out of nowhere?
yes. Tore down only stadium with any atmospherics. I bet old Hayward itself was a draw in addition to the meet.
isn't PARTICIPATION the aspect we should all be hoping grows??
why is "growing the sport" in terms of spectators, viewership, merchandising, advertising important to anyone other than those with a commercial/financial interest?
i think we would all love to see much better coverage of T&F available in the US, but "the sport" isn't a plant in our garden or a child in our nursery.
When participation grows it just means more overweight women in tutus showing up at the local 5K or half marathon, and more gallowalkers doing 6 hour marathons. It doesn't benefit the core participants for more of these people to show up.
I hate to break it to you but those are the core participants. Look at any public running events and tell me which cohort has more people in it. People running a sub 2:30 marathon or people running more than 4 hours.
I feel like it wasn't that long ago that Hayward meets were a big deal that drew crowds. Is it because of the new stadium? Did Eugene suddenly become a sh!thole out of nowhere?
The Hayward Field meets that drew so well in the past were almost always connected in some way to the U of O track team. They drew well for the Twilight Meet, the Pac 10 Championships and the Pac 10 North Championships when those meets were in Eugene, and dual-tri meets against other Pac 10 schools, especially Oregon State. People got to know the university runners and when national championship meets, Olympic Trials, etc. were staged there you had a good representation of Oregon runners to generate interest in those meets. The thing to remember here is that the crowds at those meets were very largely made up of people who were living in or near Eugene.
That's nearly all gone now. There are TWO WHOLE home meets on the university's schedule this year, one in March when a lot of people won't be real keen to sit outside for a couple of hours, and the Twilight Meet. If you live in or near Eugene you have very few chances to watch the team compete, get to know the athletes and develop some affinity for them and may not be all that interested in how they fair at a national or trials meet and are not as likely to turn out for such meets as they were twenty plus years ago.
I feel like it wasn't that long ago that Hayward meets were a big deal that drew crowds. Is it because of the new stadium? Did Eugene suddenly become a sh!thole out of nowhere?
yes. Tore down only stadium with any atmospherics. I bet old Hayward itself was a draw in addition to the meet.
Running has been a mass-participation, 'festival', 'event' thing for at least 30 years now, numb nuts.
Considering that nobody cares about competitive running or runners, you should thank your lucky stars that so many want to participate in events. Otherwise, there would be no running 'market' at all in the US beyond high school and college.
Running has been a mass-participation, 'festival', 'event' thing for at least 30 years now, numb nuts.
Considering that nobody cares about competitive running or runners, you should thank your lucky stars that so many want to participate in events. Otherwise, there would be no running 'market' at all in the US beyond high school and college.
Kipchoge became a household name by winning mass participation events in major world cities. Nobody knew him from his track days.
The reason the world majors are a big deal is because of the spectacle of thousands running through the streets. If it were 50 elites, no one would care.
Anyone who has been to the NYC marathon as a spectator knows the big crowds don’t show up until the 4-5 hour runners make it to 1st Ave.
I wish. Been to other locations with similar low turnout. NYC with many more people and lots of (super costly) hotels. I am all for trying it again and again elsewhere, but in the past, over and over, low numbers. It’s a meet for super-fans. Some great. But, you know, the other kind who all want a free feed when Peacock is such a great and low cost option. It’s not a sport that has top ten highlights of the week with diving catches and tipped passes intercepted.
I live in NYC. Besides the NYC marathon don't expect any serious number of spectators to fill a stadium or even a major road race besides family and friends. Why do we keep rehashing this over and over?? Track is NOT a popular spectator sport for many reasons. Regardless of what city it is held in. The only positive thing I can predict is if you have Trials at Randalls Island expect to see more people in the stands than Eugene. But then again, how much is more? New Yorkers could care less.
I would like to see the meet moved to Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Others that would be OK would be Mike Myers Stadium in Austin, Bernie Moore in Baton Rouge, or John McDowell in Fayetteville. Even Helmer Lodge in Walnut, CA would be better than Hayward.
Yeah sitting outdoors for hours in any of those places in July let alone running a race sounds like Big Fun, where do I sign up?
In Baton Rouge today it was 93 degrees with 87% humidity, good times.
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What is the reason that 2024 Paris trials have not been announced for Eugene yet? They should be pumping ticket sales these next 3 days.. instead, we don’t even know where trials will be. It’s nuts.
Holy crap. Just saw what you were talking about. It’s completely empty except maybe a third of the stands near the finish that are filled. I’d say 20% attendance Extremely sad.
Holy crap. Just saw what you were talking about. It’s completely empty except maybe a third of the stands near the finish that are filled. I’d say 20% attendance Extremely sad.
Not sad, humiliating. USA Swimming is hosting Olympic Trials in a football stadium. USATF can’t get 25% attendance at the Mecca of Track. A disgrace.
yes. Tore down only stadium with any atmospherics. I bet old Hayward itself was a draw in addition to the meet.
Could not agree more.
I disagree. I have many great memories of Hayward, but the new stadium is a far better spectator experience in my opinion. If I'm wrong, I don't get it. There was something "cool" about the old Hayward, but it was so uncomfortable... bench seats with rows too close to each other. Total old school, but an upgrade was long overdue. Are there some flaws to the new stadium? Absolutely. One, it's too big. But I'd take the new stadium over the old 9 out of 10 times.
I honestly think the problem with Eugene right now is oversaturation. Too many meets in the past 15 years have been in Eugene between the Trials, USAs, NCAAs, etc. I, personally, don't care as I'd rather go to Eugene in the summer than Des Moines, Austin, etc., but I understand the frustration from others. I think I've been to every Trials since '88 and none came close to my Eugene experiences in '08, '12, and '16. And crowds were great at all 3 of those events. 2021 was weird. It almost didn't happen (for spectators) due to Covid and then it was ungodly hot the second weekend. I think it was easy to blame it on Covid and the weather, but the combination of expensive travel and accommodations and so many Eugene meets have left people ready to move on to other locales. It's unfortunate in that I don't think many realize how damn awesome the '08, '12, and '16 Trials were. And back then you could find really inexpensive, nice Airbnb accommodations super close to the track.
Well - I disagree with you (also here in Oregon) . . . Oregon is SMALL, Eugene is NOWHERE-VILLE. Cannot argue that
What did Kate Brown do? Measure 110? What a disaster
(It is true, Oregon is "unique")...Sorta like California!
"Oregon .... Come join the Homeless Movement, and Destry Your Brain on Hard Drugs ... Trans Welcome "
I live in NYC, am surrounded by liberal coworkers, and when I mention I have family in portland/oregon and am going to visit, they all sort of shudder a bit "isnt like...super super far out liberal there? I could never live there"
not making this up. the view of oregon even amongst liberals outside the west coast is not good.
NYC how many terms for Bloomberg? Giuliani? Yea nyc hasn’t been liberal for 30 years
Why do you all care how many people are in the stands? Stop saying we need to grow the sport by catering to the mythical casual fan - these people do not exist and will not attend a track meet if it was happening in their backyard.
The important issue is the streaming. This should be easy and free to watch so the actual fans of the product can support and follow it. The fact that there are diehard fans who can't or won't even bother to watch it because it is no longer on NBC and split between multiple paid streaming service is the problem.