Track isn’t popular because it’s BOR-ING.

notafatty wrote:

If you think watching racing, even slow JV high school racing, is boring you aren't watching it properly. You need to make bets on who is going to win, who is going to go out to fast and crash. Any event where the outcome is in doubt has drama and tension.

Hahahahaha yeah i've actually done this before

I mean, what would a average sports fan rather watch... the Final Four or the NCAA 10K finals?

There’s basically all you need to know.

The East 10k last night was exciting and it wasn't even a championship. But if the field events are on the other side of the track, you can't get much of a view of them without a screen on the scoreboard. Put the fans close to the action, have an announcer and let the crowd know about the significance of events and competitors, and don't charge a fortune for concessions.

I love those posts, whenever I'm in need of a laugh I know where to come.

loqueelvientoajuarez wrote:

Some field events (javelin & pole vault), sprints, and middle distance are really fun to watch at a good level, much more than golf/cricket/baseball where mostly nothing happens. Watching high school soccer really sucks... yet the sport is super popular.

1) High school soccer is not really popular as a spectator sport.

2) Interesting you say the javelin is super interesting to watch. I had never even contemplated that. But I a lot of people would argue that golf is more interesting. People are trying to hit the ball really far and get in a hole vs just throw something as far as they can.

well..... wrote:

3hr-marathoner wrote:

On TV its all about the packaging. They've figured out how to make golf viewable, why not track?

This is *really* easy to answer.

There's a financial incentive to making golf viewable. Golfers are a wealthy demographic. They spend a *lot* of money on their sport. Businesses that sell things that are desired by the types of people who play golf want to be able to reach these people through ads. There are obviously golfing equipment makers, but there are also businesses that sell the kinds of cars and other goods that golfers prefer. If you're a TV network, you have an incentive to invest enough make your golf shows interesting enough to draw a big audience of golfers.

What's the financial incentive for making track and field flashier? It's not as if there's a shortage of alternative programming and sports.

Everyone has an interest to make their programming more entertaining so more people watch it. You could say that about anysport.

But runners are a very wealthy demographic as well.

zxcvzxcv wrote:

The East 10k last night was exciting and it wasn't even a championship. But if the field events are on the other side of the track, you can't get much of a view of them without a screen on the scoreboard. Put the fans close to the action, have an announcer and let the crowd know about the significance of events and competitors, and don't charge a fortune for concessions.

All you've got to do is finish top 12 to make NCAAs right? What was so exciting about it? If you know someone battling for the 12th spot or there is a storyline behind it, yet it may have been interesting but I follow the sport pretty closely and I had no idea this was some big event I'm supposed to be watching, much less pay $30(?) to watch online.

Instead I was watching my the last half of the Warriors-Rockets. First NBA game this year I've watched more than a few minutes of.

Way the eff better. Not that I'm not watching Diamond League tonight, I am. Just saying.

https://www.redbull.tv/video/AP-1VR6YDKSN2111/xc-short-track-en-nove-mesto

one more thing, the basic noob thinks that EPO is a steroid and will make you jacked, and only the 80s soviets and late 2000's russians were dirty.

agreed for sure. i think with the slow heat type sh*t they should make it like this from here on out.

for big televised meets, college or pro you have to have run a specific time, you have to do it at a smaller meet or at your own facility and it has to be filmed. two day meet, at night only. one night sprints 100-800. next night 1500-5k. in sprints only ONE race of 9 people, in the distance 18 people. thats it. no slow and fast heats, no semi and prelims. one race for each event. 9 for springts, jumping and throwing isnt running so they have to figure that out on their own

99% of runners who run road race don't care who won. What are the odds non-running public will watch T&F? There is no entertainment value and only ones who watch are the ones who have something invested in it. People find competitive eating more entertaining. That tells you all you need to know.

Disagree with you. Track is eminently watchable, it's just packaged horribly on TV and many meets are incredibly inefficient.

The very first thing I would do would be to get rid of women's events being in the same meet as men's events. As much as I respect the efforts, they aren't that exciting.

Secondly, ditch the pacers.

It wouldn't hurt to have specialty meets like all mid dist/dist., all relays, etc.

As far as TV, if it's not live, edit it. Nobody really cares if it's not live and you're not ruining the authenticity by omitting people getting into their blocks. If there's a false start, superimpose a brief note on the bottom of the screen.

Furthermore, no human interest stories on TV, just pay a random horse racing or hockey announcer who is competent to learn the runners' names. It's cliche, but watching some of the BBC commentary makes me realize how bad the US commentary is. I literally could do better commentary.

Limit the number of runners from each country in a race. Put them in non-quasi-futuristic looking singlets that have their country's name on the front. Use split screens. Train cameramen on how to monitor the action at multiple points in a race. Those setups where the camera rolls around the track are great as well.

A high school track meet can be entertaining. This is the oldest sport there is and almost everyone can relate to it, it's just packaged terribly (and again, meets are run terribly. give people 10 seconds to get set in the blocks or get a no time). I agree that trak is almost unwatchable on TV in its current form.