There are some relatively quick fixes that could be implemented to make our sport more exciting. I know they've been mentioned time and time again.
1) Gambling - 170,000 people attend the Kentucky Derby at it's highest attendance to watch horses run around a track. They know almost nothing about the jockeys and usually not much about the horses (outside. Despite this, it's a spectacle with history that people want to attend, drink, and bet.
There are so many great betting lines to be had and an abundance of races: first/place/show horse racing style, over/under winning time, overall winner odds, first lap split time.
2) Alcohol. Sell alcohol and meets, as well as offer premium box seats with included alcohol and food. Most people will watch grass grow if they are fed well and offered booze. Some track & field schedules are barely above that, but nonetheless, a sporting event with some of the worlds best athletes? It's a no brainer.
3) Sponsorships for athletes. Every sport is cashing in by allowing their athletes to brand themselves. NASCAR drivers are walking billboards, golfer's have several higher profile sponsorships, and Roger Federer makes sure to put on his Rolex before the awards. Yet, Track & Field is above somehow about letting athletes have individual sponsors outside of their apparel on race day. This opens up so many doors for athletes, as well as many other companies to get involved in the sport at a cheaper level than being an outright USATF sponsor. This also takes care of the uniformity issue of having every athlete look identical.
4) Cut the dead weight. Sorry, but shot put and several field events are never going to be popular. They are completely draining to the broadcast. Either find a way to liven it up or cut them from the broadcast altogether to focus on the prime events.
5) Prevent Broadcasters from cutting away from live races. Can you imagine if it's the second quarter of the NBA finals and instead of showing the game they cut away altogether to show a 3 minute interview? Similarly, sports bettors would lose their minds if they went to leave in the middle of the Belmont Stakes to "Check in" on a subpar race from earlier in the day. Yet as Track & Field fans, we are subjected to missing out on large portions of even shorter races like the 1500m (and always in the 3k, 5k, 10k) for commercial breaks, boring interviewing, or to "check in on the shot put" (which should be gone from the broadcast as mentioned above or in the undercard).