Diamond League Spectator Attendance not that Good

I too was there. It was a great meet in the fact that it was full of elites, and the high jump stole the show, very exciting. The announcer was british which was a big plus.

I was shocked however that there was absolutely NO merchandise being sold, I was thinking it would be a good opportunity to grab some tf gear. There was one tent that had a handfull of Jamaican donation pamphlets or something. The other downside of Icahn field was that the long jump pit is on the wrong side of the field such that the main stands cant really get into the long/triple jump. Drake stadium has it right as it is in front of the main straight away so you always have that even when there is downtime on the track.

I also tried to get into the warm up area, without any success, but that is understandable.

I too made a bus transfer in Harlem, which was an experience equally as notable as the meet itself.

As a Brit I find Ian Brooks embarrassing.

There was no food initially on the back straight. Eventually they got some scary looking hot dogs, Lays chips and candy.

The long jumpers who were asking the crowd to clap rhythmically were pretty much ignored, the crowd mainly consisting of competitors at that point.

125th St is pretty safe these days but it must still be a shock to people who don't spend a lot of time in East Harlem.

The incident with the giant screen summed up the organization.

I know I seem to be complaining but I enjoyed myself and it was fun mixing with the athletes on the back straight and standing next to Alexa's coach during the 1500m.

He wants her to focus on turnover apparently. She was paced very well, though I don't know if it was deliberate.

I bought a cheeseburger, it was probably the most questionable hamburger I have ever eaten, it was kinda of a gel like consistency...mmmmmm.

I agree he wasnt the best british broadcaster I've heard (Tim Hutchins). But certainly better than almost all American commentators these days.

I wish I would have realized the backstretch was full of competitors :(

Jenny Simpson sat 2 seats in front of me. She didn't really react to Mary Cain's performance.

Morgan Uceny came and watcher the climax of the high-jump.

There were quite a few sprinters too. And Jamaicans everywhere!

I have been to the Adidas GP in NYC, it is a sad event. First of all, it's on Randall's Island, not exactly a prime location. It's a PITA to get over there.

Then it is dragged out, very few "blockbuster" events.

Then again, most of the diamond league events are lackluster these days.

I am a bit older, I remember the "Golden Four". That was amazing. Brussels, Zurich, Berlin, Paris (?).

Randy Oldman wrote:

As a Brit I find Ian Brooks embarrassing.

No one was referencing him.

The GLs were never filled either since it's simply 1/2 a meet, a 2 hour TV show. The DL is not a major meet either. 1/2 the seats at DL Rome and DL Eugene were empty. The NY DL is way out of town, on a former trash dump, literally. Don't be disappointed becuase nobody expected much attendance from the NY DL or any of them for that matter.

Jeff Wigand wrote:

Randy Oldman wrote:

As a Brit I find Ian Brooks embarrassing.

No one was referencing him.

Who else was theeld refencing?

theeld wrote:

I too was there. It was a great meet in the fact that it was full of elites, and the high jump stole the show, very exciting. The announcer was british which was a big plus.

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5854774&page=1#ixzz356HJHzSN

Take it easy, just a DL wrote:

The GLs were never filled either since it's simply 1/2 a meet, a 2 hour TV show. The DL is not a major meet either. 1/2 the seats at DL Rome and DL Eugene were empty. The NY DL is way out of town, on a former trash dump, literally. Don't be disappointed becuase nobody expected much attendance from the NY DL or any of them for that matter.

Umm, were you in Eugene for the Pre Classic? Every seat was filled on Saturday and Friday night was actually pretty full compared to years past. DL NY and DL Rome are both horrible meets. Eugene, Oslo, and to a degree Shanghai are the best up to this point. I don't even count Doha because it's such a joke.

We all know the best of the best meets come after USAs. There are some very marketable fields set for Paris, Lausanne and Glasgow already.

Hayward was not full again, and it should be moved somewhere else like Penn for instance. NY is way out in the sewage dumps. Oslo is a small stadium like Hayward. Rome Olympic Stadium has 70,000 seats and is always 1/5 full for the DL. Zurich, Paris & Berlin are about the only places the DL sells well.

Yes. Eug and Olso are small little places. Most of the big cities that have the DL fail. Fearful of drug positives, the IAAF jews down the number of DL throwing events. The DL experiment was a good try. But it looks like the DL is dead and will be cancelled.

Randy Oldman wrote:

Who else was theeld refencing?

Geoff Wightman, the person who did the in-stadium commentary on Saturday.

Look who WASN'T in Rome:

Usain Bolt

Yohan Blake

Allyson Felix

Carmelita Jeter

VCB

All they had was Gatlin and Fraser-Pryce. They probably did well to attract what they did.