All free things come to an end. USATF.tv is now part of Runnerspace +

It looks like some events will still be free as the US Half Champs are on Saturday morning for free:

http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?do=news&act=search&mgroup_id=45365&news_id=412896&year=2016&mgroup_event_id=2510

Do they have a schedule of what will only be available for the paid customers? For the 1-2 hours of Drake that interests me, I'm not interested in dropping $10+

"Initiating this expansion in the months leading up to the Rio Olympics is all about delivering more content to fans as interest in the sport grows."

Right, no better way to expand the sport and deliver more content than putting up a pay wall.

This really does make me sad.

How can you put a price on the honor of watching a bunch of drug addicts speed around a track at near world-class speeds?

last free video track site? wrote:

Right, no better way to expand the sport and deliver more content than putting up a pay wall. This really does make me sad.

You can always watch Drake Relays on Flotrack Pro$$$ instead! Maybe they think charging money will make people want to watch more, the classic marketing strategy, making it seem more valuable.

Wondered when this would happen. The only way track PPV works is if its all under one umbrella.

I'm already paying Milesplit 48$/yr. I'm not doubling down. They need to link up and have some kind of cross promotional deal.

Just like the espn model. Buy up content and hold it hostage so what used to be free (advertising based) now costs more than most casual fans are willing to pay. Of course the sports model is to get on the regular cable package so everybody that gets cable has to pay for the sports channels whether they want to. It's like hitting the lottery everyday for these companies.

My long held rule is that I pay for the internet. I don't pay for ANYTHING else that is on the internet. (not even porn)

cheeposkate..... wrote:

Just like the espn model. Buy up content and hold it hostage so what used to be free (advertising based) now costs more than most casual fans are willing to pay. Of course the sports model is to get on the regular cable package so everybody that gets cable has to pay for the sports channels whether they want to. It's like hitting the lottery everyday for these companies.

My long held rule is that I pay for the internet. I don't pay for ANYTHING else that is on the internet. (not even porn)

Great, do you work for free?

USATF rules! wrote:

You can always watch Drake Relays on Flotrack Pro$$$ instead! Maybe they think charging money will make people want to watch more, the classic marketing strategy, making it seem more valuable.

Drake is only on USATF.

If it's got pros in it, the meet usually is on USATF. Flopro should be renamed Floco as it mostly has college meets.

Drake obviously has pros and colleges.

Ok, I have to ask, but why in the hell would anyone EVER have to pay for porn?

NOOOOOOO

oLD 800M DUDE wrote:

cheeposkate..... wrote:

Just like the espn model. Buy up content and hold it hostage so what used to be free (advertising based) now costs more than most casual fans are willing to pay. Of course the sports model is to get on the regular cable package so everybody that gets cable has to pay for the sports channels whether they want to. It's like hitting the lottery everyday for these companies.

My long held rule is that I pay for the internet. I don't pay for ANYTHING else that is on the internet. (not even porn)

Great, do you work for free?

How much did you pay Letsrun to read that poster's text? And to quote him? And to reply?

Its not free in the first place. Nike paid USATF for it. The idea is usatf promotes the sport to the public with the huge cash influx, only pocketing a reasonable percentage for the upper echelon staff along the way. (btw, I have no idea if this fool LRC comment has any merit to it, but I sure would like to see usatf's books and a public discussion about them)

It was good while it lasted. Wonder if the archive videos will still be free?

oLD 800M DUDE wrote:

Great, do you work for free?

I own some rental properties in a small town. Let's say there are 600 houses in town that average 100k and rent for 700 a month. I could get a bunch of investors together to buy up every single house paying 125k per house to entice the owners to sell to me. Once I get every single house in town, I can then raise the rent to 2,000 a month. Those poor saps can either pay me or move to another town. I'm sure there is nothing illegal about that though I probably wouldn't have too many friends (except my investors)

cheeposkate..... wrote:

Just like the espn model. Buy up content and hold it hostage so what used to be free (advertising based) now costs more than most casual fans are willing to pay.

And therefore, you are not their customer. USATF is all about monetizing the sport, not growing participation/viewers. They are copying the NBA/NFL/MLB where attendance is collapsing, but revenues are up.

Like MLB, no one seems to mind the relevance of the sport is evaporating while other sports (football/soccer) take its place. The revenue is a win for USATF.

screw people over for free wrote:

Those poor saps can either pay me or move to another town.

Except USATF owns all the other towns too. They operate a monopoly. The IAAF is a worldwide monopoly, so the price of rent is the one they set.

You pay USATF the price they demand or be homeless. Period.

Umm, the NFL and NBA are doing just fine in attendance (aka not collapsing). In fact, the NBA had record-level attendance last year. Just fact checking a little.

For all of those who complain about this deal, when was the last time you didn't pay to watch major sporting events? You pay for cable or internet or both, which affords you the ability to watch other sports. Again, for all those complaining, you do realize it costs money to stream a meet, right?

We don't live in the amateur age anymore where things are free. Get over it. Sports are businesses, which means they are in the business of making money. Suck it up, pay $8/month, stop your crying and enjoy the service that they are offering you.

riley stops wrote:

Umm, the NFL and NBA are doing just fine in attendance (aka not collapsing). In fact, the NBA had record-level attendance last year. Just fact checking a little.

You are using the constantly shifting NBA/NFL definition of "attendance." The modern term means revenue per seat. That number is way up because they are building smaller sites and demanding much more for the fewer seats. Same for the NFL. Days of 100,000 seat stages are gone.

You're welcome.