Footlocker needs to nut up and get bold if it wants to thrive. Here are my recommendations:
1. Make it an invitation only event to secure the best possible fields. Issue those invites as the NXR events are wrapping up and to high placing CIF runners. FL/Hoka could put out a weekly rankings just like college football. Interested athletes would be motivated to make/stay on the 32-40 athlete watchlist.
2. Footlocker holds their meet on the same day as NXN. You don’t roll over for Nike! If the NXN girls run at 10:05, then the FL girls race starts at 10:30. NXN boys at 11:15, then FL boys at 11:40. Fans can switch between livestreams to catch four great races and FL pulls eyes away from Nike’s athlete intros and awards presentations. The weather visuals and performances can be compared by viewers in real time. Can you imagine how much forum traffic on LRC this would generate?
3. To point #1, top individuals would be forced to choose one or the other. Are you a contender with a weak school team? Do you want to put in a training block rather than traveling to a hard qualifying event? Does the team mean more to you? Do you take the sure thing rather than hoping to survive The Merge?
4. If invite only, FL needs to re-assert that their event crowns the “true” national champion. The best vs. the best, no one sits at home because their team had a bad day at NXR or Rich Gonzalez didn’t find you worthy at Woodward Park.
5. FL has to match the hype and the energy of NXN for both athletes and fans. Move the race to the LA area. There is probably a golf course or regional park that could host these relatively small fields. Bus the kids up to Goleta to see Hoka HQ to see future product, get their swag, talk to designers, shakeout run with Hoka athletes, etc. just like the Nike Campus experience. Of course, hype it up online and treat the kids like rockstars. You have to match Nike punch for punch.