Mt. Sac OUT as host of 2020 Olympic Track and Field Trials as USATF Reopens Bidding Because of Lawsuit

It's a setback yes but no bigee. There's so many meets each year that want to be in So Cal area such as NACAC, Pan Am, Special Olympics, Cal St HS, CCCCA champs, IAAF, Police/Fire Games, Youth, etc. the new stadium will be humming. The So Cal area T&F community is known for it's quiet strength in numbers. We presently have more athletes and coaches than the rest of the Western Hemisphere combined and we will continue to have our unofficial, symbolic HQ at Mt Sac.

Bull.

Eugene is the best site for track but if you want to mix it up pick Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

Would be a major media event $$$$$$

Drake is America's most iconic and legendary Athletic venue ever imaginable. Drake has the USATF Champs this year and I hope Drake bids on 2020 as well.

wejo wrote:

Mt. Sac says stadium will be ready by 2020 (the lawsuit apparently isn't stopping construction. It really is more on how it will be paid for). Mt. Sac officials were totally blindsided by decision by USATF and neither Max Siegel not the Board delivered the news to them.

What a dumpster fire of an organization.

polevaultpower wrote:

Icahn Stadium in New York seems somewhat possible, but I don't know why they would want to now if they didn't a year ago. Stadium is nice but logistics are a nightmare and the city is so expensive, it would drive away a lot of potential ticket buyers. The Diamond League meet did not sell well unless Bolt was running, there does not seem to be a strong local fan base for elite track and field.

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I never understood the knock against Ichann. The reason the Diamond League Meet Failed was they moved it to a noon start time in the middle of June. Plus it a nice walk from the subway over the pedestrian bridge to the stadium, and you can see the athletes warm up. i would think it would be better then Des Monies at least.

The FBI is investigating Track Town USA, USATF, USOC, IAAF, UO, Eugene, Nike, and now probably Walnut, Mt Sac. Stay tuned.

Icahn would be very different, but I could see it being successful. The Trials are a much bigger draw than DL. They're on in every sports bar, and the once-every-four-year buzz would probably induce a lot of locals to catch some of the action. Sure, it probably wouldn't be like Eugene, where you've got a lot of the spectators making a long vacation out of it and staying for the whole two weeks, but NY is so accessible that I could easily see people popping into the city for a couple of days. Plus if you're going with a group, there's a lot for non-track fans to do.

wejo wrote:

Scott Reid update:

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/01/mt-sac-loses-2020-olympic-track-and-field-trials/

Mt. Sac says stadium will be ready by 2020 (the lawsuit apparently isn't stopping construction. It really is more on how it will be paid for). Mt. Sac officials were totally blindsided by decision by USATF and neither Max Siegel not the Board delivered the news to them.

This is frustrating to me. Sounds like there really wasn't communication on USATF's part. If the stadium is going to be ready regardless of the legal issues then it really shouldn't matter.

Even though I wasn't on board with the USATF board suspending Vin Lananna, I guess it's for the best that he assumedly wasn't part of this mess. People would definitely be calling out the conflict of interest with Eugene now a potential bidder.

I'm bummed, I was hopeful that the Trials at M. SAC would be a great meet. I thought a break from Hayward would be good, but I'm less excited about the prospect of having it at Sacramento.

Smells fishy. Let the FBI find out which people and organizations were involved.

I would expect Portland to be the bidder now, since Eugene will be under construction.

Another 800 Dude wrote:

I would expect Portland to be the bidder now, since Eugene will be under construction.

Eugene says they will be ready by 2020. They re-bid for NCAAs. TrackTown has stated they will bid again (for the meet in Eugene).

Portland may be a great host. I'm guessing there would be minor modifications to Multnomah, Civic, PGE, Jeld-Wen, now Providence Park to build a regulation track. I've seen historical photos with a track in place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Multnomah_Stadium,_1940.JPG

Portland in late June is rarely hot and generally not too rainy. It's a near major metropolitan area with a lot of folks who care. I'm not sure what contractural obligations exist with the Timbers.

The evening sessions would have 22 to 24K engaged fans attending.

Can a winning bid be put together in as little as four weeks? Understand that USATF does not put up the money to make the meet happen, that’s entirely up to the organizers.

I have no idea, but I suspect the answer is no. Whoever wins the bid knew this was coming down the pike well before it was announced — and more than likely Mt SAC got the chop not because of the stadium issues but so that the Trials could be switched to that host.

They’ll announce Hayward as the host at the Pre Classic.

Trials Twenty Twenty wrote:

Going to be in Indy

Bring it back to Indy, baby! I don't care if the stadium is not suitable anymore. Fix it up and make it happen! Heck yes!

That old pic of the Portland local stadium neglects to mention that its now a MLS soccer/college football stadium full time with no room for a track. Portland should have a multi-use stadium with a track built that could host a Worlds but Nike and Phil want to keep that cash cow in Eugene because if Portland ever had one it would draw all major events away from Eugene.

I am hinting at adidas to support such a move... cough cough

Hayward will be in court with the historical folks for many years and will have to add seats to the current setup for WC 2021.

Los Angeles Coliseum? wrote:

What about the Los Angeles Coliseum and USC facilities? Worked well for the 84 Games.

USC doesn't want such minor, unknown, smallish championships such as IAAF WC. They had two NFL Super Bowls, numerous NBA Championships and MLB World Series, hundreds of Academy Awards, the FIFA World Cup, and so forth in that part of town.

Isn’t it obvious? wrote:

Can a winning bid be put together in as little as four weeks? Understand that USATF does not put up the money to make the meet happen, that’s entirely up to the organizers.

I have no idea, but I suspect the answer is no. Whoever wins the bid knew this was coming down the pike well before it was announced — and more than likely Mt SAC got the chop not because of the stadium issues but so that the Trials could be switched to that host.

They’ll announce Hayward as the host at the Pre Classic.

Some are wondering if Max orchestrated the whole charade for Nike. The Lanana suspension might be a ruse, i.e. a phony alibi. This may develop into a Hollywood movie.

Screenwriters Guild wrote:

Some are wondering if Max orchestrated the whole charade for Nike. The Lanana suspension might be a ruse, i.e. a phony alibi. This may develop into a Hollywood movie.

I am pretty open minded to Nike conspiracy theories, but I don't have any reason to think this is the case. The Vin thing is not a ruse.

TrackTown was totally in the dark that USATF was planning to reopen bidding.

If this is being driven by someone wanting the meet somewhere else, that somewhere else is not Eugene.