I agree with WeHomez/RoHomez that UO will only further isolate our already NICHE sport of Track and Field

That could be, but real TV coverage, showing packed stands could also help promote the sport. You get that in Eugene.

I would like to see the meet move around, too- especially if it was in the DC area- the nation's capital for the Nationals.

But, I think we also have to consider the "look" of the stadium as presented to a TV audience.

I think DC would be a great location for a national meet- either NCAA or USATF. There are so many affluent high school kids who compete in track. No facility though.... Give me $200 million and I'll build a great one.

I kinda agree that having permanent NCAA championships would not be the best idea. As fanatic as the Eugene track scene may be, people would probably tire of it after a few consecutive years. I know that by its third year, Sacramento was totally uninterested in hosting the NCAA championships. There were very few locals attending, the stands were less than half full and there was nearly no enthusiasm for the competition. Can Eugene do better? Sure, but even they would probably lose enthusiasm eventually.

ncaa baseball seems to have done pretty well with omaha as their destination.

jackofalltrades wrote:

ncaa baseball seems to have done pretty well with omaha as their destination.

That is kind of different, Omaha has to be the most boring location in the entire country.

see discussion here: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3152517

Yup. They want to spread it nowhere. If that happens then we'll be in the same lousy shape we are in now.

So who else, pray tell, has even bid on the NCAA championships that are coming up? These are not big money-makers, so the number of bids tends to average "1" or "2". I attended the NCAA's at Sacramento, Drake, and Fayetteville that past few years and found the stands to be less than half full except for the finals on the last day. Obviously, this event is a financial loser, so there has to be something else in it for the host. Recruiting advantages? Perhaps, but even that is difficult to measure. The NCAA probably understands that the television/internet audience is the only place where they can get exposure and a full stadium of passionate fans creates the kind of aura that they need. Noone but Eugene delivers anything close to a full stadium.

Mummel Troubles wrote:

So who else, pray tell, has even bid on the NCAA championships that are coming up? These are not big money-makers, so the number of bids tends to average "1" or "2". I attended the NCAA's at Sacramento, Drake, and Fayetteville that past few years and found the stands to be less than half full except for the finals on the last day. Obviously, this event is a financial loser, so there has to be something else in it for the host. Recruiting advantages? Perhaps, but even that is difficult to measure. The NCAA probably understands that the television/internet audience is the only place where they can get exposure and a full stadium of passionate fans creates the kind of aura that they need. Noone but Eugene delivers anything close to a full stadium.

Exactly.

Eugene is not that hard to get to. Unless you a whiner. Travel is travel, and if you approach it positively, then you have a great time.

The coolest thing about big events in a town like Eugene, is that fans can actually rub shoulders with the stars and their coaches, it takes on a festival atmosphere, and every seems to enjoy it..except for the jealous, whining complaining LR types.

Get real. The sport is lucky to have at least one community that embraces it fully.

There is no other community that can come close to saying that.

I mean, if Los Angeles can draw like ZERO fans (most of the people in the stands are family members lately), and Eugene can draw min 9k, plus athletes and families, then it is much better for the sport to have that festival atmosphere in a community that cares about it and can provide a great quality track and appreciative fans.

Hayward Field is one of the few Track only facilities that planned and built in special platforms for television camera's.

That was in 1977.

College Baseball can have storied Omaha, College Track can have storied Hayward field.

In the long run seeing crowds, and people who know how to appreciate ALL the events, will be much better for the sport.

Any time you pidgeon hole an event it leads to more isolation and specialization. It would be best to move the outdoor championships up and down the west coast each year to attract mor fans, athletes, etc. The fan base should represent a cross section of the population rather than the 1960's hippies and draft dodgers, homeless, and chemical dependent crowds.

NCAA College teams don't rely on attendance.

Rather they rely on the alumni for money.

Plus, retirement aged fans don't spend very much money on souvenirs.

Having NCAA's every year at a retirement ville in Arizona, California, or Florida would be just as bad as having it in Eugene, Oregon every year.

Those small little old-aged towns have their place though.

They are more well suited for The National Championships of Shuffleboard, Cribbage, Boche Ball, and other sports for the elderly.

Hey Dead Sport,your a complete idiot and asshole if you think the 20,000 fans in attendance each day at the 2008 trials in Eugene fit any of your descriptions. If you think it was hippies,drug addicts, and draft dodgers who filled Hayward and spent thousands of dollars to get there, house themselves, buy tickets and food, your a complete tool. Track fans regardless of where the meet is held, are some of the most successful, sophisticated and affluent people in American society. So take your myopic and ignorant sterotype of Eugene and shove it, you conservative leeming.

There was not 20k fans on any day.

The Eugene Register-Guard reported after the 2009 USA Outdoors than fan attendance was disappointing. That Eugene is oversaturated with too many meets and not enough quality fans with disposable incomes. I guess UO will be cancelling it's advertisements in the RG. Bad Move, RG !

Those of you not in favor of having the NCAAs in Eugene as many times as possible must have never attended a major meet at Historic Hayward Field. Ask any T&F athlete who has competed there and the majority will definitely pledge their support for Eugene-especially in the summer months.

I am just one of many who travel down I5 on a regular basis to attend meets in Eugene ranging from the Oregon HS State Meet (which attracts more spectators than attended the recent NCAAs at Arkansas) to the Pre Classic, Olympic Trials and USATF Championships. As far as I can remember, I don't use drugs, am not a hippie anymore, but am definitely a T&F fan.

From the first time I competed at Hayward (as a college kid from the South), it has always been one of the best venues not only in the US, but in the world to enjoy T&F.

If they can't draw a crowd in Eugene, then it won't happen in other places, unfortunately.

Don't be condescending and act like UO is doing us and our sport a favor. Nike / OTC are trying to hijack and ruin our sport. The folks in the Eugene town don't know anything about our sport, and the fans are too old an feeble to make a differnce. The security guards are homeles, meth addicts, and tree house inhabitants, hired from the Eugene Union Mission and St. Vincent De Paul Service Center. The press reports that Eugene is already worn out from having too many meets.

Observe the progression of any sport in the U.S.A., and you will see that there are some athletes that are developed in low cost settings. When they 'make' it they move to the big cities to cash-in and get exposure. Our sport needs to continue to have flexibility and exploit the large (and the small markets) to maximize our audience.

How can what he wrote be considered condescending, it was a report of personal experience, and personal opinion.

So, you start out showing your ingnorance.

What is your proof for "Nike/OTC" trying to "hijack and ruin," "our sport"?

Comments like these just have no credibility and intelligence whatsoever.

Nike has done, and continues to do more for track and runners than any other sporting good company in history.

They do so because they were born out of a track team. At the U of O.

What Nike is trying to do is give the sport a secure home, with consistent strong attendance, and fans that understand and appreciate the sport.

And, if you knew the economics of it, Nike is not doing a favor" they are paying tribute and giving back to the sport they were born from and love.

--Maybe you need to take your childish, paranoid self to a therapist.

I see you work for Nike in Beijing, OTC, or Adidas. Too late buddy, the USATF commission has already reported that shoe companies in our sport have become a detriment. We are already in the middle of a domestic T&F dark ages, with the recession, and the lowest penetration of TV since records have been kept. Don't be condescending and think that it's all Eugene's fault either. You don't own our sport and you can't save us by yourselves either. Eugene having elderly and itinerant fans is nice for a sociology paper, but doesn't translate into money for elites. Rather, we need young fans all over the country to support our sport. Regular season high school football draws 50,000 fans in small towns in the South, but the NFL didn't move the Oilers to my home town of Tyler, Texas. We should continue to have good training centers like Chula Vista, Eugene, Mammoth, Flagstaff, etc. and move our showcase meets around each year to the major media markets to maximize the youth audience. That's where the future is. BMX, X-Games, MMA/UFC have all done that and have easily surpassed our sport.

I see you work for Nike in Beijing, OTC, or Adidas. Too late buddy, the USATF commission has already reported that shoe companies in our sport have become a detriment. We are already in the middle of a domestic T&F dark ages, with the recession, and the lowest penetration of TV since records have been kept. Don't be condescending and think that it's all Eugene's fault either. You don't own our sport and you can't save us by yourselves either. Eugene having elderly and itinerant fans is nice for a sociology paper, but doesn't translate into money for elites. Rather, we need young fans all over the country to support our sport. Regular season high school football draws 50,000 fans in small towns in the South, but the NFL didn't move the Oilers to my home town of Tyler, Texas. We should continue to have good training centers like Chula Vista, Eugene, Mammoth, Flagstaff, etc. and move our showcase meets around each year to the major media markets to maximize the youth audience. That's where the future is. BMX, X-Games, MMA/UFC have all done that and have easily surpassed our sport.