Why is Track and field losing the TV war?

What TV war?

Did you hear the moron commentators covering Millrose for NBC? That's why.

More people, especially women, will watch the dog show. More people will watch any football game.

Alan

I think they just figure that it's best to fill dead time with the cheapest programing they can get. An old college football game might not attract many viewers, but it's probably basically free for ESPN to replay a game they already own the rights to. While track would probably bring in more viewers, it might not bring in enough additional revenue to justify actually spending money on the rights and production. More of a cost issue than a viewership/revenue issue.

That said, I have no idea why USATF can't promote professional events to the point where they are lucrative for major television networks. With more than a million high school kids running track and/or XC each year, the potential fan base is immense. If USATF could keep even 10 or 15 percent of former participants interested in watching events, televising track would be a no-brainer for ESPN.

After this many years if it could have been done it would have been done. Lack of tv coverage and the lack of compensation for the pros is part of the same issue. Track is lumped in with other Olympic sports and will never do any better than Gymnastics, Swimming, Wrestling or Ice Skating. Track/Road Racing is the most professional of the Olympic sports but it wants to be something it never it will...a true professional sport like NFL, NBA, ect. Once you accept your sport for what it is you will enjoy it more.

Alan

Brock Landers wrote:

Did you hear the moron commentators covering Millrose for NBC? That's why.

This is a big part. Also- it's cheaper to show a two year old Football game.

After this many years if it could have been done it would have been done. Lack of tv coverage and the lack of compensation for the pros is part of the same issue. Track is lumped in with other Olympic sports and will never do any better than Gymnastics, Swimming, Wrestling or Ice Skating. Track/Road Racing is the most professional of the Olympic sports but it wants to be something it never it will...a true professional sport like NFL, NBA, ect. Once you accept your sport for what it is you will enjoy it more.

Alan

Who is Alan? And does he have to keep adding his mindless drivel?

There are a couple of interesting points made here.

Culture. Americans just don't give a f*ck.

Tennis, by contrast, has its own channel and ESPN coverage of the majors. The difference is that amateur tennis players watch, and identify with, the pros, while hobbyjoggers don't identify and thus don't watch. Tennis amateurs know about Nadal's OCD idiosyncrasies, but only LR weirdos like us discuss NOP post-race workouts.

The key is identification.

Who is Alan, you ask? He's the guy making the most sense here. T&F is not considered as exciting viewing by most. It'll never generate the revenue that most other sports programming does.

You want interesting? Stage a 5k race where participants carry hand weapons. Anything goes.

Have you ever read these message boards from the perspective of a normal human being? No one is going to be a fan of a sport that has such people in it.

Agreed. Who cares how popular track and field is. My personal interest in the sport doesn't depend on how popular it is with other people. I will watch what is available on tv (mostly on NBC Sports Channel) and/or travel to the more exciting meets and observe first hand which is better than watching on tv anyway. Those in attendance are usually track fans and not just some doofus that is going to pay to get in and then sit there and complain about the sport. I've sat in full and empty stadiums but that's expected. It's not SEC football. If I wanted to watch that, I can find it on tv or go to a game. It is what it is and there are a lot of other options for both athletes and spectators of sport. Stop dwelling on it and enjoy it for what it is and not what it isn't.

News flash. Track is boring.

the meets, the coverage, everything is geared toward the athletes and not the fans. The wait between events, meets last all day, the seating, the odd number of similar races, there is not a beginning middle and end, multiple individual events, however even when team scoring is covered the point system makes no sense and there are too many teams.

In the know, it's because today's media have a agenda(not a good one), what is the agenda???? Decadent Behavior!

want T & F on TV, tell the athletes to act like "Jersey Shore" or the "Kardashians".

if they did that, T&F would bigger than all Slutty Female Disney Stars combined!

Track was never more popular than baseball, football, etc., so it's not that track has lost ground. As a fan who makes sure to watch track meets, my complaint lies with the coverage. It sucks. I love track, and I'm getting bored watching it. Announcers are awful. They get the names of the competitors wrong. Someone will fall in the middle of the race, and not a word is said.

While watching Millrose last night, I thought it would be great if each athlete pre-recorded their own introduction with their name and college, not unlike what the NFL does. Show those before the events instead of reading off some list. Use graphics to put last names in lanes so you know who is who during the sprints, because the announcers sure as hell don't know. Turn off the lights once in awhile and play some rock music. Do something.

This has been a regular topic on letsrun and other runnIng related internet message boards since the internet began. These questions have been raised in the late 90s, 2000s and 2010s..

1. Why don't pro runners make more?

2. Why isn't running on tv more?

You either need to make it a team sport (nfl, nba, mlb), get rich people involved (golf, tennis), start making bets (horse racing), or allow the athletes to become walking billboards (NASCAR).

Running had early financial success (1890s?) because it was basically a gambler's sport.

In the current system the shoe companies have too much power. IAAF has too much power.

It's going to take someone with a lot of money to lose to change the dynamic.

You could go to a professional track team league (track events plus a marathon), or if you want to keep it as an individual sport go the NASCAR/walking billboard route.

Alan

Does not have to be boring wrote:

While watching Millrose last night, I thought it would be great if each athlete pre-recorded their own introduction with their name and college, not unlike what the NFL does. Show those before the events instead of reading off some list. Use graphics to put last names in lanes so you know who is who during the sprints, because the announcers sure as hell don't know. Turn off the lights once in awhile and play some rock music. Do something.

Some great ideas to start.

My complaint is that whoever devised the marketing plan for t&f admitted that they were following the NBA model of pushing a handful of stars. The problem is that while the NBA stars stay relatively steady, t&f changes far more frequently. Because of this, instead of announcing a wonderfully exciting race, they spend time focusing on Mary Cain or some other racer in 6th place. The average viewer doesn't even know who the stars are so IMHO it would be better just to announce a fantastic exciting race and quit pushing 6 athletes down viewers throats. In the men's 1000 they were speechless for half a lap because they did not even know who the guy challenging was (Robbie Andrews). He was not one of the scripted stars to follow. This happened in many races. Someone made a great move and made a competitive situation but focus was on someone fading. Push the sport and the competitive races, not 8 individuals with a nice smile.