Flotrack signs multi-year deal to stream diamond league

Is this a delayed April Fool's joke? Unbelievable! Seb Coe wants to kill track in America.

The solution to this is spelled with three letters: VPN

In regards to growing a fan base in the US....

It never was attributed to what was being shown on tv. Its because of the fact that t&f is the highest participatory sport at the grass roots level. Some of those continued in college and fewer beyond. Typically, the hardcore fans are those that competed in college and beyond. Those that chose careers related and shared their passion with younger people. Those that looked anywhere they could to observe more from afar unless they could get there by their own resources to sit together with others who do the same including parents who support their own children in the sport. As a coach, I used recorded video, youtube etc to show the newbs what was possible from the past.

Realistically, you have to understand that the numbers for the sport arent going to grow much beyond that core group. People dont sit around and live vicariously through world class triple jumpers and hurdlers like they do football and basketball players who can purchase jerseys, be entertainded for 2hrs max and then look forward to next week. Maybe throw the ball around or shoot some hoops in the driveway. I am weird that I played track in the open lot with some friends as a kid. Threw round and flat rocks, vaulted across the canal etc...

Its up to YOU, the hardcore fans to teach young people about the sport. Not some screen or subscription. As Ive said many times before, I would much rather sit in the stadium any day than watch a broadcast from any platform to get the closest experience that the athletes have to UNDERSTAND what really haplened even if it meant sleeping in the car or tent and eating out of a cooler to save money.

What are you willing to do to get what you want in the experience or growing the sport? If not you, then who?

If you're that person, pay your fee, then share it with others and stop complaining about the sport not growing fans. Go out and coach some kids, build some relationships and help THEM pay it forward. Thats really the only chance to grow it.

You would be amazed at how big of a positive impact and contribution to the sport 1 person can make over 40 years as an athlete, coach, announcer and meet official.

Bunch of word salad to justify this stupidity.

Nobody should have to sleep out of a car or tent to consume this sport, are you out of your mind? People are asking for a reasonably priced subscription to watch 1-2 meets a month, telling people they are the reason the sport isn't growing is loser behavior.

You can cancel after the season so ya don’t have to get the yearly package. Oh well.

Fortunately, this part is true. They're essentially just rebroadcasting the BBC/Eurosport broadcast but through their platform - you'll at least still have the British commentary, which is SIGNIFICANTLY better than NBC. No human on the planet could possibly survive the flotrack crew taking over the diamond league commentary; and I'm surprised I've survived listening to NBC's shenanigans.

THAT BEING SAID, I am not a fan of this because flotrack just sucks and the pay increase is absurd. And the fact that I won't be able to watch it on TV is incredibly stupid...will not be pulling out my laptop just to watch track lol.

Since when is track in field the top grassroots sport in the US? We just started middle school track here not long ago. Until then it was just HS lol.

Here's one word for you to figure out, just to keep it simple for ya : entitlement.

I said...in regards to growing a fan base, in reality, not tv land, its never been about screens growing the sport. That is an extra that you demand. You are not in a position to determine how much live tv time you are going to get for what you are willing to pay. You feel entitled.

People that think a streaming service subscription price is going to determine if the sport grows or not are idiotic and sad.

Now go outside and play!

How many of you realize that the CEO of Infront Sports & Media, the company that sold the rights to the Wanda Diamond League to Flot Rack and is partially owned by Wanda, has as its CEO, Phillipe Blatter, the nephew of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter?

yle.fi

Yle exclusive: Fifa boss' nephew made millions with Fifa contracts

An Yle investigation has unearthed information showing that Philippe Blatter, nephew of beleaguered Fifa President Sepp Blatter, built himself a sports marketing empire via lucrative deals between the company he managed, Infr...

Open link

Diamond League runs for 6 months. So $30 x 6 months is $180

Or you can do the annual package for $150.

You might want to check your math again

It's truly remarkable how incompetent the FloTrack commentators are. They posted the video of last night's women's steeplechase to YouTube. The commentator didn't mention one name until nearly 1:30 into the race because Greta Karinauskaitė went to the lead and he had no idea who she was.

Finally the camera had a close up of her uniform. You could tell he saw the initials CBU and frantically looked at the list of runners to see who that was. He butchered Greta's last name. Not even close.

Granted, it's a difficult name. But this is a prominent collegiate runner. You would think he might have heard of her, even if he didn't recognize her, to the point of offering a competent version of her name. Instead it wasn't even phonetically competent. Mostly a blab. Repeatedly.

Greta did him a favor by running a comparatively poor race and dropping out of contention late. That race is merely the latest evidence that their announcers are not only low caliber but also have very little dedication or pride. They show up unprepared and blurt out generic nonsense for the entirety. This is year after year. FloTrack obviously doesn't care.

Didn't know, but I had a hunch that corruption played a role in the way broadcast rights were being passed out to undeserving profiteers.

It is not just "paying more for the same thing”. Yes, I get Diamond League track, but also the rest of Peacock. I will not be adding Flotrack and will cancel Peacock as I watch some but not enough of the other options to justify the spend. Grrrrr.

You're obviously a newcomer to track and field broadcasts. Names are something butchered at will on almost every broadcast across the spectrum. You'll come to know that with more experience, grasshopper.

who are the Morons that subscribe to flotrack anyway????

Disastrous for the sport if track and field in the USA.

No possibility for causal type viewers like when it was in NBC Peacock.

athletes will get even less exposure.

Wanda is disastrous as the major sponsor of Diamond League and the owner of the media promotions group that owned/bought and then sold the rights to Flotrack

terrible Chinese ruining the world and the world of track and field

this is so disgusting and disappointing, when i read the headline I immediately thought "wait no it's not april 1, right?" this isn't good news for anybody. flotrack is so bad for the sport.

It's all in the presentation. First off, are they going to hire the SUPERB UK presenters? I doubt it. I'm cringing out of fear. The Diamond League meets have been one of the few pleasures left for me and now I'm needing to drink heavily. Where have the camera feeds originated? NBC or the European meet people? Regardless, they know how it's done. God help us if Flotrack is going to have to learn all of this.

@rojo and @wejo - Ever consider buying the rights yourself (for LetsRun)?

Sorry if was brought up in thread already - didn't read all replies.