There was a thread on this last night but it suggested moving the Trials to Chattanooga which isn’t happening so I’m starting a new one.
Sarah Lorge Butler has a nice recap up on RW which I’ll link to at bottom.
The USATF athletes advisory committee has written a strongly worded letter to organizers of the Trials saying they want the start time moved to 10 am from noon and that USATF and NBC had agreed to that but that
the Orlando organizers have said they’ll lose $700,000 if it’s moved. The athletes are expressing their disappointment with Orlando which said it would optimize the athlete experience. The athletes are also saying 96% of athletes they contacted want it moved but Sarah points out some prominent ones don’t.
Sarah in her column says that originally Orlando wanted an 8 am start which is interesting but now want noon and according to Jared Ward they’ll move it to 10am if USATF gives them $700k it will cost them if it’s moved.
11:48 am Update: The LOC has released it's own letter saying they want to put the athletes first and are fine with an 8 am start but it will cost them a lot financially.
Thoughts?
Mine: 1) USATF is ultimately responsible . If a noon start time was essential for $700k in sponsorship they should have thought twice before disqualifying Chattanooga bid which was recommended by most. If 700k rests on the weather the day of race that should have been factored in.
2) I still don’t have a huge problem w noon. See what forecast is week of race and adjust it need.
3) $700k is a lot of money in our sport. I’d love to know how a 2 hour difference could mean that much in revenue. We clearly don’t know full picture. But we need more transparency.
4) Disfunction is still par for the course
Sorry for typos on a phone