Suggestions For Flotrack

Suggestions:

1) Leave pro running alone.

2) Stop making people pay for things that were already going to be available for free (and at better quality.)

OTCSucks wrote:

Serious question: Why doesn't Flotrack stream all events for free, but just fill them with advertisements? I wouldn't mind if they played an ad after every track event, and that seems like a better business plan then having a subscription system. We as fans would be happy with free content, and Flotrack would still make money off every single event.

The advertising model we knew from 1998-2013 completely changed as of April 2015. Google's "Mobilegeddon" Search Engine update came at a time when they needed to put out hot fires (read antitrust lawsuits by US and EU). Google re-grouped as Alphabet Inc., changed their company structure entirely and way on down the line pushed "mobile-friendly" cautions to their online publishers (i.e. LRC, Flocasts, RunnerSpace) that said if websites didnt become mobile-friendly they would potentially lose their search engine rankings.

This was not a black and white decision made by google. Many sites still lost out despite becoming mobile friendly and this entire niche's ad rates got hit hard. We were basically sustaining with crap ads that big companies paid for that none of you clicked nor had the money / interest to buy anything from. That's the point of the ad in a nutshell. Regardless of being "mobile-friendly" things like ad-block extensions and modern "3.0" devices with ad-blocking functionality in the default browser are also important to note in this evaluation too. That increase means the decrease of site head earnings. (See LRC thread)

There are enough of you in the USA (~530,000) from ~840,000 computers and devices in a given year that care about running sports but the raw interest and viewership alone does not monetize itself any longer. LetsRun is basically the last one standing using this business model. A bulk of the people revolve every 4-8 years while long term die hards accumulate at a very slow rate.

Look at maneuvers at the other major stops around the web. Flocasts had venture capital to purchase MileSplit. Milesplit and flocasts still use ads but ad revenues are layered onto their bulk which comes from subscription based revenues. Truthfully the whole milesplit network probably doesnt yield more than $2500 per month from ads. The view content (names and times) is worth nothing. Also remember Athletic.net was acquired by RunnerSpace which was paid through Nike/USATF. Athletic.net still uses ads but the backbone of their income was the Nike/USATF money. A site like DirectAthletics does not use ads but has meet registration and leaderboard contracts with the USTFCCCA / NCAA on lockdown.

Ad revenues from internet cross country and track & field was "okay" for a long time. Nobody got rich but now the money is no longer there at all. The advertising model has been dying a slow death for years and it is pretty much now done.

Dear Flowtrack, I guess I don't have to stay up. There is no way that I'll pay $20 for a guy chasing marathon world record in 70 degree weather. If there was a huge chance of WR happening, I might caught up $5. In 70 degrees is is only a question how well can Kenny keep it together, but no chance of WR, so I would probably not even stay up for free.

They need to f off and die (as a company).

I did my part and sent a strongly worded email on their business acumen or lack thereof.

Online Publisher wrote:

Truthfully the whole milesplit network probably doesnt yield more than $2500 per month from ads. The view content (names and times) is worth nothing. Also remember Athletic.net was acquired by RunnerSpace which was paid through Nike/USATF. Athletic.net still uses ads but the backbone of their income was the Nike/USATF money. A site like DirectAthletics does not use ads but has meet registration and leaderboard contracts with the USTFCCCA / NCAA on lockdown.

Ad revenues from internet cross country and track & field was "okay" for a long time. Nobody got rich but now the money is no longer there at all. The advertising model has been dying a slow death for years and it is pretty much now done.

I'm going to disagree with this. I work for a local TV station that has a website. We bill a few million dollars a year in ad-revenue for our website. We invest heavily in it and it has great content, but our web traffic would suggest we should only be billing probably 10% of what we do. Sometimes it does look a little like Nascar with all the logos, but it's very profitable. The vast majority of billing is from sponsorships (& pre-roll, which is probably huge with the flocasts), not from banner ads being bought with CPM's.

You could make a hundred dollars a day off something like ad choices, or use that inventory to sell a month/quarter/year-long sponsorship and charge way more. You just need to find the right advertisers and have the right relationships.

I would have to see their #'s to give a better idea of their revenue potential, but I'm assuming it's pretty high. I don't go to milesplit ever, but just checking it quickly would guarantee that Quicken Loans alone spends way more than $2,500/mo. That's a sponsorship for sure.

Maybe someone who handles the Quicken Loans account likes XC and Mark Floreani offered him a trip to the World XC championships, meet/greets with athletes, etc as part of their sponsorship. Grease him up and have him spend more. That's the name of the game. Half the job of any sales is bribing advertisers with stuff they like.

I'm guessing Flotracks subscription model is working quite well, or they would have changed it a long time ago. I haven't the slightest clue what the rights to the Dubai marathon cost them, but would guess it wasn't a lot of money. Say there's a hundred people out there interested in viewing it and purchase the month-long plan. Even if 50% cancel, the others may renew for years to come.