I absolutely agree that unless the sport is promoted and directed towards the fans the sport will fade further into the shadows. I go to D1 xc and track meets and think it's the most ridiculous thing how "amateur" the meet organization/presentation is.
I was at a Clemson indoor meet recently and a guy from the town that had just came to watch the meet stopped me and asked when the meet started. I said "1pm" and he told me, "oh the internet said 11, I guess I'll go home and watch the football game."
What kind of sport is so negligent towards it's fans? Are we TRYING to fail??
The future of track lies with short, well-produced indoor meets that are either:
1. 5-10 events, tops
2. Dual-meet fashion, to give people a team/person to cheer for
3. Combination of both