venom wrote:
people always say it is usatf's fault for not promoting the sport better. but really what should they do? no one ever has any suggestions. maybe the sport just isn't marketable compared to the big 4 and it isn't usatf's fault.
Exactly. Track and field is not a big time sport. It is a minor sport. Baseball, basketball and football are all big-time sports in this country and NASCAR is now another big one (although sponsorship money is not on the decline). You can't compare those sports to T&F because they are in completely different leagues.
USATF is doing a decent job. Sure the sport can always do better, but they are doing better. USATF just teamed up with USA Swimming and Gymnastics and has a major marketing firm working with them now. This is a big step in the right direction. Compare track and field with any other minor sport and it is doing ok. T&F is different from Golf, Tennis and even soccer because we don't have high profile events every single week. Plus, those sports all have millionaire fans and owners that are willing to invest millions of dollars into the sport. T&F doesn't have this and maybe never will.
T&F would be more popular if sprinters and field events were hyped up more. Those are our best events internationally and they are explosive events, which Americans can relate to (i.e. football, baseball and basketball). Distance running is starting to generate more and more money. Look at all the post-collegiate opportunities that have popped up since 2000. It is insane and the trend only continues to grow. Distance running and its funding is doing quite well if you look at how not popular it is in the general viewers eye.
Two things can help to fix the popularity of the sport that would be cost efficient. First, high school coaches can educate their athletes better about the top end in the sport. How many high schoolers even know who Matt Tegenkamp is? Sure they might know Webb and Ritz, but I bet todays high schoolers dont even know who Hall and Teg are. USATF or someone else should put together a weekly email that they can send out to coaches and athletes where they could read and learn about the sports stars. They could work with groups like Flocasts to educate the sport. This would work and it would be fairly cheap to do.
The other thing is that more opportunities for our top athletes to race needs to be in place during the summer racing season. Track and field would shine in this country if the European circuit wasn't as big as it is. Think about it...during June, July and early August what is going on in American sports? Nothing to significant. Football is not in session, basketball is over and baseball is still in mid-season and wouldn't get even remotely exciting until mid to late August. Plus, there are no college sports to compete with. Those ten to twelve weeks when our top stars could be competing here in front of crowds of present and future fans disappears. Our top stars go to Europe. T&F will never be big unless this changes. Pre and the NYC meet are our two biggest meets according to IAAF, but that is all. More meets in the summer would equal a larger and more consistent fan base.
The sport is getting more money. Email Masback at USATF and ask him. There is more money in the sport than there has ever been. Slowly but surely there are more chances to see the sport online. Traditional media doesn't care about track and field. They believe it is a sport that should only be covered during Olympic years. If you look at TV ratings track and field on TV gets better ratings than most MLB games, most hockey games and all soccer games. But yet you find all three of those sports covered by every major national newspaper extensively. I've talked to Masback and USATF has met with USA Today and other papers numerous times to try and get them to cover the sport more, or even group us with other "Olympic" sports like swimming and gymnastics, but the papers won't do it. So USATF is going to start doing their own thing. And that is why we should support Flocasts and ChasingKIMbia and other new media outlets, because old media doesn't care about us and new media is the way of the future anyways. If USATF and track and field as a sport in general could learn over the next five to eight years how to maximize new media I would venture to say the sport would grow a lot because of this.
Go read the book Elusive Fan. This book explains a lot about the state of sports in American society. It talks about why certain sports are popular and growing and why others are failing. It touches briefly on why sports like track and boxing are dead in the general sporting world eyes in the U.S. It is a great book and one that would really open your eyes and get you thinking more about the sport.
Damn this post is so long. Sorry about this. To wrap it up, Lauren Fleshman said,
"Every type of person can contribute to the sport they love. For some, it’s coaching. For others, it’s by serving as athlete host families or through fundraising. We need to find ways to allow everyone to contribute his or her strength, and to improve networking within running, so that the givers can be connected to those with needs.
If I could inspire people to do one thing, it would be to take their contribution to their sport one step further than they do now. I would like to leave this sport better than it was when I found it. Our sport needs improvement, and if others take the same attitude, it could go a long way. I think that would be inspirational."
If everyone on here could do that and really put some of your ideas that you constantly spew out on here to use then this sport would grow faster and stronger. Turning ideas into reality is helping this sport become stronger and grow more. Flocasts and ChasingTraditions/KIMbia were all ideas that took some sacrifice but are putting faces to the sport. Take risks, help the sport and the sport will become more popular, will get more money involved in it and will be better in the long run.