Kenyans FTW wrote:
People who don't follow track know Kipchoge as that guy who ran 2:0025.
Um, I've run over 50 marathons and don't know squat about Kipchoge. He was that guy who almost broke 2? Whatever. No one who's not deeply buried in the details of T&F knows anything about him.
If you want T&F to become a sport watched by sports fans, as oppposed to pure track and field junkies, then great. I agree. It would be great. It can happen, but not in the current environment. I'll suggest two changes.
(1) Structure meets and even championships around teams. Give the teams names, visible owners, logos, merchandise. Give the teams a home or anchor, whether its a geographic location or a sponsorship. Make changing teams difficult -- maybe no less than 2-3 year contracts. Give people reasons to root for teams, not just individuals. Think the way college T&F is now, but take it to another level.
(2) Change the approach to broadcasting. There needs to be a speed metric that's visible on the screen for runners, at least the leaders, at all times. That number can take on significance to Joe Sports Fan. Maybe it's MPH. Maybe it's KPH. Maybe it's one of those shown as a fraction over the distance. Make it something, and get it on the dang screen at all times. If you think Joe Sports Fan can SEE the difference between a fast lap (or just running fast in a road race) and a slow lap (or plodding in a road race), you're lost. You can't SEE speed on tv. Something else needs to convey it. Sports like baseball became amazingly popular partly because they adopted metrics that fans could follow -- pitch speed, batting average, etc. Running needs an equivalent, and unfortunately there's only one # that really matters -- speed.