Great meet but no people came to see it. There were probably 300 or so people in the stadium. It was televised and had several superstars from our sport. Meanwhile, a few hours later on the same Texas A & M campus, there was a World Cup warm up match between Argentina and Honduras that had an audience of 91,000!
The only marketing I received was an email flyer from USATF, only because my 10 year old daughter does track and is a member of USATF.
If I, a true track fan who closely follows the sport, and live in Texas, barely hear about a world class track meet an hour from my home, how pathetic was this meet’s marketing plan?
On letsrun,com we have dies hards from all over. We get the mistaken impression that we have a popular sport. But that doesn't translate to the public who don't care about running, track, field. Certainly except for Southern California and the US Southwest region in general.
Track is not popular as a spectator sport in the US for myriad reasons, only some of which have to do with USATF's inability to market the sport. Athlos and Millrose sold out and the Boston Indoor Pro meet was like 90+% sold out but I haven't heard about numbers like those besides in those 2 cities and Eugene sometimes.
I was at the OSAA State Championships at Hayward and saw pallets marked "UO Covers" staged on the east concourse. I don't know if they are re-covering the seats on that side (many are sun rotted) or that these were vinyl tarps to block off sections of seating that go unused? In any event, attendance is terrible outside of OSAA and Pre. Nike Outdoors only fills about 1/3 of the stadium and UO meets draw less than 1000 "fans". Many of the "fans" for those meets are athletes lounging pre or post event.
USATF is trying ahead of the 2028 Olympics, but the efforts seem to be a bust so far.
I was at the OSAA State Championships at Hayward and saw pallets marked "UO Covers" staged on the east concourse. I don't know if they are re-covering the seats on that side (many are sun rotted) or that these were vinyl tarps to block off sections of seating that go unused? In any event, attendance is terrible outside of OSAA and Pre. Nike Outdoors only fills about 1/3 of the stadium and UO meets draw less than 1000 "fans". Many of the "fans" for those meets are athletes lounging pre or post event.
USATF is trying ahead of the 2028 Olympics, but the efforts seem to be a bust so far.
USATF association with more big domestic meets is something, sure. But how about cut 3.5 million from Max Siegel's salary and use it to advertise the meets during other sporting events - on tv, on streams, etc.
The fact that tickets (tons of them) are still readily availble for nationals in the biggest city in the nation and even next weekend's LA Grand Prix indicate that their efforts are not near enough.
It should be relatively easy to convert some of the masses who sign up for weekend road races into fans. In places where they don't pay the ceo 4 million, organizations have done this.
I went to a ballet performance last year put on by one of the top 10 companies in the US (thought it would be a fun date, but whatev) and ever since then I've been getting near weekly mail and emails requesting donations. I guess that activity is unhealthy to the point it relies on dedicated fans making big donations to keep it alive.
That's the future I see for track & field with Max Siegel et al. The only reason its not already there is that they have a monopoly on xc and can sell streaming rights- athletes have to join/pay dues to run the club championship for their area - and the national one (but no one is going to travel to ohio in december this year lol).
How long is peacock going to want to pay big bucks to stream meets in half empty stadiums though.
I was considering going to LA Grand Prix this weekend, but I’m not buying a ticket unless I actually see who is performing. There is next to no information regarding the fields.
The weather at the Lone Star meet was not that hot. It was perfect conditions for sprinting, even 400m and 800m. They made a big deal of the temperature on the TV coverage but it was not that bad, barely 90 degrees and College Station is far enough inland that it’s not that humid. The main stand was only 1/4 full. The rest of stands completely empty. Jos were there two years ago and they didn’t have enough space and people were turned away, even those with tickets.
Great meet but no people came to see it. There were probably 300 or so people in the stadium. It was televised and had several superstars from our sport. Meanwhile, a few hours later on the same Texas A & M campus, there was a World Cup warm up match between Argentina and Honduras that had an audience of 91,000!
The only marketing I received was an email flyer from USATF, only because my 10 year old daughter does track and is a member of USATF.
If I, a true track fan who closely follows the sport, and live in Texas, barely hear about a world class track meet an hour from my home, how pathetic was this meet’s marketing plan?
Messi is the most popular athlete on the planet. Even the prospect of him playing almost filled the stadium.
The weather at the Lone Star meet was not that hot. It was perfect conditions for sprinting, even 400m and 800m. They made a big deal of the temperature on the TV coverage but it was not that bad, barely 90 degrees and College Station is far enough inland that it’s not that humid. The main stand was only 1/4 full. The rest of stands completely empty. Jos were there two years ago and they didn’t have enough space and people were turned away, even those with tickets.
The humidity was brutal. It ranged from 65%-75% during the actual meet. Temp was 84-89 from start to finish. It was freakin' moist. How many of you sages were actually there?
The weather at the Lone Star meet was not that hot. It was perfect conditions for sprinting, even 400m and 800m. They made a big deal of the temperature on the TV coverage but it was not that bad, barely 90 degrees and College Station is far enough inland that it’s not that humid. The main stand was only 1/4 full. The rest of stands completely empty. Jos were there two years ago and they didn’t have enough space and people were turned away, even those with tickets.
The humidity was brutal. It ranged from 65%-75% during the actual meet. Temp was 84-89 from start to finish. It was freakin' moist. How many of you sages were actually there?
I was just about to type the same thing. I used to live in College Station. The summer humidity there can be awful, and that's how it was on Saturday afternoon. It would have been very uncomfortable to be in those stands.
Lousy weather + poor meet promotion + college students on summer break + big soccer game later in the day = low turnout
Track meets in Europe, China, even Botswana don’t seem to have an issue packing very large stadiums. Penn Relays seems to do a decent job, so do some of the Boston and NYC indoor meets. I think the main problem is putting on a “big” meet somewhere like College Station or Oregon, which are terribly inconvenient to travel to for most people. I have no idea why they can’t do what other countries do, and put on the meets where potential spectators actually live, or could at least travel to conveniently.
AT least the new USATF Chief Comms general fixed the UCLA GP which had a decent turnout. Same dull turnout in the non-Cali 49 states where they have yet to develop a running, track and field critical mass. You always hear meets scheduling high school races in between elites, and D1 races, for ticket sales to prep parents otherwise the seats would be unsold. Marathons are a joke with thousands of fatbods paying $150 for a bib, banana, bottle of tap water, and finish medal.
Great meet but no people came to see it. There were probably 300 or so people in the stadium. It was televised and had several superstars from our sport. Meanwhile, a few hours later on the same Texas A & M campus, there was a World Cup warm up match between Argentina and Honduras that had an audience of 91,000!
The only marketing I received was an email flyer from USATF, only because my 10 year old daughter does track and is a member of USATF.
If I, a true track fan who closely follows the sport, and live in Texas, barely hear about a world class track meet an hour from my home, how pathetic was this meet’s marketing plan?
Apparently, many of the commenters to your post missed the point that 91,000 people showed up to a soccer game a few hours later and just a short walk away.
Reading comprehension could be a useful skill for many ADULTS.
Great meet but no people came to see it. There were probably 300 or so people in the stadium. It was televised and had several superstars from our sport. Meanwhile, a few hours later on the same Texas A & M campus, there was a World Cup warm up match between Argentina and Honduras that had an audience of 91,000!
The only marketing I received was an email flyer from USATF, only because my 10 year old daughter does track and is a member of USATF.
If I, a true track fan who closely follows the sport, and live in Texas, barely hear about a world class track meet an hour from my home, how pathetic was this meet’s marketing plan?
Apparently, many of the commenters to your post missed the point that 91,000 people showed up to a soccer game a few hours later and just a short walk away.
Reading comprehension could be a useful skill for many ADULTS.
The soccer game had Messi, right? Which superstar was at the track meet?
Great meet but no people came to see it. There were probably 300 or so people in the stadium. It was televised and had several superstars from our sport. Meanwhile, a few hours later on the same Texas A & M campus, there was a World Cup warm up match between Argentina and Honduras that had an audience of 91,000!
The only marketing I received was an email flyer from USATF, only because my 10 year old daughter does track and is a member of USATF.
If I, a true track fan who closely follows the sport, and live in Texas, barely hear about a world class track meet an hour from my home, how pathetic was this meet’s marketing plan?
YouTube has a video of Sunday's Brooks' PR national meet for high schoolers, with some impressive races at Renton HS outside of Seattle. But, with only scattered attendance. Brooks is HQuartered in Seattle, and has held this meet in the area for several years. However, I've been told that Brooks does very little publicity for its PR meets. Sad.
Track meets in Europe, China, even Botswana don’t seem to have an issue packing very large stadiums. Penn Relays seems to do a decent job, so do some of the Boston and NYC indoor meets. I think the main problem is putting on a “big” meet somewhere like College Station or Oregon, which are terribly inconvenient to travel to for most people. I have no idea why they can’t do what other countries do, and put on the meets where potential spectators actually live, or could at least travel to conveniently.
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