Why wouldn't USATF do more to encourage or support more bids? If USATF is just sitting around passively taking bids, that is unacceptable to me.
I'll ask the question differently rather than a direct answer: Why wouldn't Nike subsidiary USATF encourage other bids that Nike does not own?
I went to the OTs in 2004 Sacramento and a few masters meets. Easy flight to the city (a little outside of town). It has a train system so I stayed a few miles East and could walk from hotel to train, train to stadium or downtown and walk all of it. Being a medium sized city, hotels were plentiful and cheap even with the event in progress. LA will have rail access to most venues by 2028. Eugene is never going to have good airport access, plentiful hotels, or public transportation.
But again, what's in it for Nike to have it in Sacramento, LA, Chicago, NYC or any other spectator friendly place?
To answer your question, there probably isn't anything in it for Nike to have the Olympic Trials outside of Eugene. After all, do you really think that Nike founder Phil Knight paid over $100 million to build a really nice stadium just so that the stadium would NOT hold big meets? Of course not.
As long as Nike is a very big income source for USATF, most big meets will be held in Eugene. It is what it is.
Franklin Field hosted the 1980 free Olympics Track & Field events as well as a small event each year called Penn Relays, and is walking distance to the train station with service to NYC, DC & Boston. What does it lack?
A ratified 9 lane track. People need to move on from Franklin Field.
It has 6 lanes that run 400m to one lap and 3 on the inside requiring more than a lap to complete 400m.
The sad part is that IUPUI can not afford to keep their stadium up to Trials level standards. Couldn't USATF become a partner in upgrading that facility? Indianapolis would be a great central facility in a large city with the airport in town. Of course we know the answer. Once again college football is expected to pay the bills.
Wasn't Indianapolis holding the TAC championships for a number of years? Seems like a more centrally located city. And didn't Indy want to be known at the 'amateur sports capital' hosting other non-NFL/NBA/etc events. Aren't many NGOs headquartered there?
Lately you don't hear anything about Indy.
Indy would be perfect. USATF just needs to put some money into the facility. It hosted the US champs a while back.
Central location with an international airport and a lot to do. If it can host a Superbowl it would CRUSH trials. That is assuming it had a facility that was upgraded just a bit.
Franklin Field hosted the 1980 free Olympics Track & Field events as well as a small event each year called Penn Relays, and is walking distance to the train station with service to NYC, DC & Boston. What does it lack?
A ratified 9 lane track. People need to move on from Franklin Field.
It has 6 lanes that run 400m to one lap and 3 on the inside requiring more than a lap to complete 400m.
Could they tear down Weightman Hall or move it closer to the street or would that be sacrilegious? They could fit a regulation nine lane track if they did that, the stadium is plenty wide enough.
Wasn't Indianapolis holding the TAC championships for a number of years? Seems like a more centrally located city. And didn't Indy want to be known at the 'amateur sports capital' hosting other non-NFL/NBA/etc events. Aren't many NGOs headquartered there?
Lately you don't hear anything about Indy.
Indy would be perfect. USATF just needs to put some money into the facility. It hosted the US champs a while back.
Central location with an international airport and a lot to do. If it can host a Superbowl it would CRUSH trials. That is assuming it had a facility that was upgraded just a bit.
I attended 87 PanAm Games, 88 Trials and 97 USATF in Indy. Be prepared for stretches of high humidity realeased into heavy thunderstorms causing delays. Not to be confused with constant swamp crotch humidity and no relief at all in New Orleans 92. No matter what, it will be more uncomfortable for everyone and will hinder many performances. Shouldnt matter but it does.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Wasn't Indianapolis holding the TAC championships for a number of years? Seems like a more centrally located city. And didn't Indy want to be known at the 'amateur sports capital' hosting other non-NFL/NBA/etc events. Aren't many NGOs headquartered there?
Lately you don't hear anything about Indy.
Indy would be perfect. USATF just needs to put some money into the facility. It hosted the US champs a while back.
Central location with an international airport and a lot to do. If it can host a Superbowl it would CRUSH trials. That is assuming it had a facility that was upgraded just a bit.
You seriously think that USATF is going to spend millions fixing up the facility in Indianapolis, when it has a brand new stadium in Eugene all ready to go?
There is no way that USATF is going to spend millions of dollars just so a handful of anonymous posters on Letsrun can be happy.
Graft & Corruption. Chicago should be the site. 1) Chicago has experience hosting large events. 2) Central Time Zone isn't a burden for anyone. 3) Eugene is fine for a college town, no more than that.
I feel the same way about Burning Man. It's in the same damn place every year, incredibly hard to get to. No hotel rooms. Impossible to get an Uber. Couldn't they give Central Park a try? Or even Orlando??
I feel the same way about Burning Man. It's in the same damn place every year, incredibly hard to get to. No hotel rooms. Impossible to get an Uber. Couldn't they give Central Park a try? Or even Orlando??
That's not a sporting event. Real major athletic competitions should move to a new/different city every year. Like the Masters Golf Tournament, US Open Tennis, Wimbledon. In running, the 5th Avenue Mile and Boston Marathon would never have gotten so big if they kept it in the same place every year.
Why wouldn't USATF do more to encourage or support more bids? If USATF is just sitting around passively taking bids, that is unacceptable to me.
I'll ask the question differently rather than a direct answer: Why wouldn't Nike subsidiary USATF encourage other bids that Nike does not own?
I went to the OTs in 2004 Sacramento and a few masters meets. Easy flight to the city (a little outside of town). It has a train system so I stayed a few miles East and could walk from hotel to train, train to stadium or downtown and walk all of it. Being a medium sized city, hotels were plentiful and cheap even with the event in progress. LA will have rail access to most venues by 2028. Eugene is never going to have good airport access, plentiful hotels, or public transportation.
But again, what's in it for Nike to have it in Sacramento, LA, Chicago, NYC or any other spectator friendly place?
I’ve known the top brass at Nike for some time and I’ve never heard them celebrate when Eugene is selected as the site for the American trials time after time. And neither have I heard them whinge when it’s been held elsewhere.
Understand that if a group somewhere in some other part of America has the facilities, the organisation and funding to hold the American trials, it will be a welcomed development by all. No doubt the 2028 trials will be in Los Angeles as a test event for the organisers but I know of no other groups which are vying to be a host.
Understand that if a group somewhere in some other part of America has the facilities, the organisation and funding to hold the American trials, it will be a welcomed development by all. No doubt the 2028 trials will be in Los Angeles as a test event for the organisers but I know of no other groups which are vying to be a host.
I guess you weren't paying attention when Mt SAC was "vying to be a host" for the 2020 Olympic Trials. And then actually got awarded the 2020 Olympics Trials. And then had it taken away from them and given to, you guessed it, Hayward Field.
Exactly. Me and several of my friends would do the same. For sake of transparency: we all live on the East Coast. All 6 of us went to Budapest and had a fantastic time. Only one of us went to Eugene - and it wasn't me. And he complained after. While in Budapest, I met several people who had nothing good to say about their visit to Worlds in Eugene.
On the flip side, I've known many people from across the country, including the east coast, that have attended the Trials and/or Worlds in Eugene and everyone had nothing but positive experiences.
Is it safe to assume the schedule will be the same as the 2021 trials? Two rest days? I plan on going the last 4 days, but it would be nice to have an idea what I will be seeing otherwise might switch to first 4 days.
Also, why do the trials take so many days while all non trials years it is a 4 day meet?
Understand that if a group somewhere in some other part of America has the facilities, the organisation and funding to hold the American trials, it will be a welcomed development by all. No doubt the 2028 trials will be in Los Angeles as a test event for the organisers but I know of no other groups which are vying to be a host.
I guess you weren't paying attention when Mt SAC was "vying to be a host" for the 2020 Olympic Trials. And then actually got awarded the 2020 Olympics Trials. And then had it taken away from them and given to, you guessed it, Hayward Field.
The policy in L.A. is to only host the athletes. L.A. never pays for the executives hotels, air fares, meals, etc. USATF took the Nike bribe as always. Same happened at Home Depot a decade earlier for the 2 day IAAF World Cup.
I guess you weren't paying attention when Mt SAC was "vying to be a host" for the 2020 Olympic Trials. And then actually got awarded the 2020 Olympics Trials. And then had it taken away from them and given to, you guessed it, Hayward Field.
The policy in L.A. is to only host the athletes. L.A. never pays for the executives hotels, air fares, meals, etc. USATF took the Nike bribe as always.
Same happened at Home Depot a decade earlier for the 2 day IAAF World Cup.
Why doesn’t UC Berkeley host big track meets anymore? Great facility, 22,000 seat stadium, nearby warmup track, perfect weather (they usually don’t get the fog that envelops SF), major metro with lots of track fans, hotels, public transit, multiple large airports.
Stanford also has room at their track site to build a bigger stadium, someone would have to chip in a bunch of money though. UCLA has a nice track and 12,000 seat stadium that could be expanded with temporary bleachers on the back straight.
That IS the question. I'm not a blind Eugene / Nike homer and I recognize that USATF did Mt. SAC dirty. It's a mystery why others are not stepping up, but I suspect it has to be a money issue (lack of it or an unwillingness to risk fiscal losses). I also feel that the Mt. SAC incident and, more recently, Chattanooga's marathon trials bid (and subsequent lawsuit) have soured many places on mounting a bid. If USATF and Max S. are viewed as corrupt or in Nike's back pocket, then no local government or quasi-governmental agency like a regional sports authority is going to bother doing the work if they feel that rejection is the most probable outcome.
This is exactly right. USATF has proven that it simply cannot be trusted to deal with people fairly. It brazenly violates its agreements.
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