LOL, are you joshing?? NY just held it's Grand Prix meet Sunday before last & there were 1700 paying spectators. A meet with Noah, Sha'Carrie, Devon Allen AND free parking. New York frigg'in City!
Look at the map, Kamala. New York isn't anywhere near LA.
So you concur that L.A. would have had 30,000 or so? I honestly don't think so, so I was giving an example of a similar huge city which just hosted an elite track meet.
While I think there's better cities to host - in terms of travel, amenities, hotel rooms - how many championship caliber track and field stadiums does the U.S. actually have? Is every location that hosts NCAAs also fit for USA Championships and Worlds?
Hilmer Lodge Stadium has capacity for 21,000 fans.
Love the choice, but didn't HLS try to host 2020 trials, but renovations were nixed by NIMBY lawsuits? That said, I have no idea if HLS absolutely HAS to be renovated to host major meets, but I'm sure there's stuff they'd want to do.
Youth Junior Olympics are being held there next summer and that will be packed. I for one am very excited that its finally not being held in some s--thole in the south thats 100+ degrees with 90% humidity.
it just seems like such an unrealistic trip if you're not local
the cheapest hotel room for July 22-25 costs an even $2000
cheapest roundtrip flights from NYC are ~$1200
how is the family of someone who qualifies this weekend supposed to make a trip to see them at worlds?
Same way they will be able to afford it next year in Budapest. Or in Doha, London, etc.
The biggest issue by far in Eugene is lack of quality accommodations in the form of large 4+ star hotels and ground transportation. That is a big deterrent for international visitors that have money to spend and want the comfort and convenience of a large city.
It will absolutely be cheaper for Americans to go to Budapest next year because it’s an actual city with real hotel capacity and good volume of flights.
Sitting through a track meet isn't the greatest experience. It's not like a football or baseball game where it's just one team against another. It's dozens and dozens of athletes in events you don't care about and you have to wait virtually all day for the events you do want to see. Those events might take minutes or even just seconds.
Yep, and there's no connection between all the events. In football, what happens on first down impacts what takes place on second down. What occurred in the first quarter impacts what occurs in the 4th quarter. In track, the 100 meters has no impact on the hammer throw, which has no impact on the 1,500 meters. It's just a bunch of random, disconnected events. The meets go on for hours and hours and hours and there's to score to keep track of, no story line to follow throughout.
It's rather amazing that anyone buys a ticket.
I find American football and baseball incredibly boring.
The MtSAC Hilmer Lodge (Walnut, CA) remodel was initiated to host the Olympic Trials in 2020. The Walnut City Council sat on their hands for approvals until it was too late for the stadium to be completed in time. Those Trials (which ultimately occurred in 2021) were then given to Eugene. The remodeled Hilmer Lodge’s first MtSAC Relays in 6 years were held this past April. It would be a fine venue for Olympic Trials, and possibly another US Diamond League meet.
Hilmer Lodge Stadium (35 miles east of Downtown LA, 20 miles north of Disneyland) has been completely remodeled and is now one of the finest Athletics venues in the US.
Events like this are put out for bids. What other places bid for it? What was going to be the cost of hosting it there? Having worked enough, a place could be appealing and then you run into the costs and it gets crazy. For instance, NYC...union labor costs and BS stuff drives up the cost. Want an extension cord? You cannot plug one in and run it, gotta have an electrician come do it. Oh and you will get charged for that and it will take a day to get it done. There is a lot that goes into an event.
From one perspective Eugene makes perfect sense this year since it is the location for Worlds. Getting used to the facility is a good thing.
People talk about putting it in NYC. That is great for folks close by and maybe you could fill the stands with just them in which case that goal is met. But the travel cost then shifts. (Travel costs are going to be an issue for someone).
Eugene and the area has passionate track fans I am sure, but sort of like what people say about hockey: every city as 20,000 rabid hockey fans, but that is (was) the only people who would come out. (Hockey has gotten a lot more popular so less of an issue now). No doubt a lot of people are choosing what events to go to. Maybe a lot of folks who would come in are waiting until Worlds.
You are correct. NYC is a bad place to hold it. On top of all this, it's a nightmare getting to Icahn Stadium - only the most committed fans would even consider going.
You are talking crap. It is incredibly easy to get to Carl Ichan Stadium. A helluva lot easier than it is to get to Hayward field for sure.
Eugene is a podunk town without major population catchment area like NYC and it's bedroom communities.
NYC is also the gateway to the world with massive tourist infrastructure. Someone could bring their family and know that while they are at the stadium, their family can be comfortably occupied with any number of things to do.
Then there is the lack of stress of finding somewhere to stay.
Ease of public transport
Holding such an event in NYC is a no brainer if one wants to grow the popularity of the sport. But by all means, continue to hold such events in off the beaten track, podunk, hidden away places...
We merged two threads together basically argueing the sasme thing. One was called, "“Track Town USA” is such a joke - and one "Just 2,750 paid fans at USAs on Thursday with good weather, NO rain"
Everything but the homestretch right by the finish line is empty. Totally empty for NCAAs. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes…
Where are people even going to stay for worlds? The accommodations are mostly crappy motels on unpleasant-to-walk streets. For like $300/night a room. Unless you stay in one of the places right by Hayward, you have to walk on busy streets that can be hard to cross, past huge homeless encampments to get anywhere.
And it’s a huge pain to get to.
Also, it obviously will vary person to person, but allergies are so bad for me when I’m in Eugene I walk around looking like I’m crying my eyes are just pouring water, despite twice a day Zyrtec.
Weird, when OU has a football game in Autzen, it sells out, and tens of thousands of fans fly in from all around the country and somehow manage to deal with bad motels, on unpleasant to walk streets with homeless encampments everywhere.
For some reason with track events this is an issue, but for football its not....Why?
Weird, when OU has a football game in Autzen, it sells out, and tens of thousands of fans fly in from all around the country and somehow manage to deal with bad motels, on unpleasant to walk streets with homeless encampments everywhere.
For some reason with track events this is an issue, but for football its not....Why?
Almost every OU footbal fan lives in the state of Oregon. They didn't sell out most of their games, and I'm sure actual attendance was less than the reported attendance due to the way tickets are sold in college football.
But, I live on the east coast. I have several friends who will be going to Worlds, so decided to skip USAs. I wonder how much that has played into the empty stands.
Everything but the homestretch right by the finish line is empty. Totally empty for NCAAs. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes…
Where are people even going to stay for worlds? The accommodations are mostly crappy motels on unpleasant-to-walk streets. For like $300/night a room. Unless you stay in one of the places right by Hayward, you have to walk on busy streets that can be hard to cross, past huge homeless encampments to get anywhere.
And it’s a huge pain to get to.
Also, it obviously will vary person to person, but allergies are so bad for me when I’m in Eugene I walk around looking like I’m crying my eyes are just pouring water, despite twice a day Zyrtec.
Weird, when OU has a football game in Autzen, it sells out, and tens of thousands of fans fly in from all around the country and somehow manage to deal with bad motels, on unpleasant to walk streets with homeless encampments everywhere.
For some reason with track events this is an issue, but for football its not....Why?