So, you run? And like...get paid?

Bay Area Track Club on October 26, 2010, 3:49pm | More Posts

By David Torrence

I don’t consider myself a celebrity.

I don’t expect my races to be discussed and analyzed on PTI. I don’t think that I’ll ever be in a tabloid…Heck, I’m still shocked when people want me to sign an autograph after a race.

I have no disillusions of the current state of our sport, and the athletes within it.

But are you KIDDING ME?!

After completing my third summer of racing in Europe, I was BEAT. I hung out at home, visited old friends, and generally just took a nice long break. Got to be around people with “normal” jobs who live “normal” lives, and are generally connected to mainstream media. It was nice and refreshing…but also a bit frustrating.

There was this question. No matter whom I talked to, no matter how into sports they were…it just kept coming up. Over and over again…

“So…you run? Like, that’s it? For a living?”

Yes. I do run. I am a professional Track Athlete and I get paid like anybody else. I’m not on the level of a NFL/NBA/MLB player, but it pays the bills.

“But…like….how does that work? I mean, there’s actual professional track meets out there?!”

I explain to them the US Track Circuit, and then go into detail about the European circuit, and I get some ooh’s and ahhh’s about the places I’ve been, meets I’ve won.

But behind that smile and racing stories…I’m seething.

Not at them. No…it’s not their fault at all. They are simply in tune with what is constantly being presented to them.

I’m furious with the marketing, branding, information, commercials, recaps, interviews, and in general completely TERRIBLE spot Track and Field has found itself in these past few decades.

USATF has done some great things to support struggling athletes. But we are ALWAYS going to be struggling if more is not done.

PEOPLE DON’T EVEN KNOW PROFESSIONAL TRACK EXISTS.

How terrible is that? Here we are, all these super fit, talented athletes beating our muscles into submission, willing our bodies to do the unthinkable, competing with all out hearts…our SOULS. And people don’t even know that it is a professional sport. REALLY?!

I am on a mission. A mission to not only become the best athlete that I could ever be, but to do whatever I can whenever I can to educate, inform, and ENTERTAIN the public and MAKE them notice me. Notice US.

I am not going to sit idly by and watch our sport go down the drain.

As a matter of fact, we have some events… some things planned. I would suggest that you maybe keep your calendar open on January 16, 2011.

But in the “right now” things are moving and shaking.

CEO Doug Logan is out, and the search is on for the next “savior.” But lets say YOU get chosen. Lets say YOU are the new CEO. What would be YOUR first order of business if you were hired? What direction would YOU take our sport?

I have ideas…for another time, another blog. But first lets hear what you have to say. You know you’ve seen something, heard something, that makes you roll your eyes and curse to the heavens “Why can’t they get this right?!”

Lets talk this out people…and maybe, just maybe, we can get somewhere.

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Updated on October 26, 2010, 6:29pm

76 comments

Mathis 2 years ago

In most of the pro sports world the norm is that the athletes first and foremost represent a team (because that team pays the salary for the athlete). Luckily many of the athletes also get to represent their country during world championships and/or Olympics etc. This would also be the case if we would be able to make a pro league for athletics.
I think the only way to make teams somewhat even would be to have them as pro teams. If there is another way it would be awesome, I canât see it though. I donât think a pro league for athletics would be competitive in the entertainment industry unless the meets were tight and competitive and it was hard to predict in advance which team would win.
To have a draft like you do in mainstream pro sports the US would also help to keep teams even. However in Europe no sports have a draft system. So it is also possible to have a pro athletics league without a draft system.
You are obviously correct that most people want to live in the country they were born, I suspect that this would be more of a concern for Americans than most other nationals. There are many reasons for pursuing a career abroad for a few years, and many of the national leagues in Europe have a lot of foreign athletes. This holds true also for sports that are not the most popular, like for example Handball, Rugby, Volleyball. Most of the athletes of these sports do not perform for foreign teams and live in foreign countries because they are motivated by huge sacks of money. I think the situation would be similar for T&F as well. After all life as a pro athlete does not last a lifetime. It would only be an adventure lasting a few years.
If we made a pro league and got it right (interesting dual-meets with the top talent from our sport) I feel confident that it would generate a significantly increased interest for our sport. This would mean that sponsors would be willing to invest more money into T&F as those sponsors would get more exposure. The current IAAF competitions (Diamond League etc) would most likely be downsized and part of the sponsorship that goes into the IAAF coffers would go to this new pro league instead. Furthermore there are companies that put a lot of money into track and field today. Most notably some shoe/athletics apparel companies, but I donât think that Samsung gets to be a title sponsor for the Diamond League, and a marketing partner for the world championship and indoor world championship for free..
Donât get me wrong, I am not trying to insist that my idea of a pro league in athletics is viable. I see many pitfalls for this idea myself and actually I am very unsure if we could make this work. All I am trying to get across is that we really should consider drastic measures. I sense that many do not really get how bad the condition of our sport really is.
I agree with what Stephen S wrote:

First off, let's give T&F some credit. Some have claimed that the sport is hopelessly boring, it doesn't have what it takes, etc. I think track has just as much potential to be a great sport as NASCAR, golf, soccer, i.e. boring (IMO) yet wildly popular sports. We're a bunch of sleek sexy dudes and hot mamas in peak fitness. I've never received anything but admiration when introduced as a runner, and when the track spikes come out, it's all that anyone in the room wants to see.

However this does not change the fact that our TV-Numbers are now so bad in the states that we do hardly get a mention on mainstream US TVâ¦ The situation for T&F is also rapidly getting worse in Europe where our sport is still much more popular than it is in the States. That we, the hardcore fans, like T&F is in my opinion not very relevant when we fail utterly in attracting any TV-audience. With no TV-audience there will be almost no money involved for even the top athletes and the evil cycle will take another spin as the quality of the athletes surely will decrease. The only reason there is some money in athletics today is because of the Olympics. Based on the TV-numbers for Beijing, athletics will not be the top/main Olympic sport for long. If we sit back and allow that to happen we will be in a much worse position.

I hate to write this, but if we fail to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and keep on with the status quo I can't see T&F bucking the current trend in the short to medium term. I love this sport, I always will, I will always try to follow it not matter what. The problem is that there are not close to enough people who feel this way and unless we become successful in attracting some more our sport will continue its downward spiral.
As I already have written I agree with Stephen. I donât think the potential of T&F is any less than Golf or Nascar. However we need to have a long hard look in the mirror and recognize where we are now, and where we have been heading for the past 10 years. Things look very bleak. Big changes are called for.

David Torrence 2 years ago

Mathis: Interesting option of having the teams be simply "professional" and not nation-based. This could be a way to make teams more even, but I see several problems with this. #1, everyone wants to represent and live in their nation. It would be very difficult for top American athlete to just up and leave and go to France if he was drafted there, and vice versa. The only way this would work would be if we got EXTREMELY large sponsors, that would have enough money to entice athletes away from their homes and away from individual contracts. If there's not enough money, then these teams would be filled with B and C level athletes, and the excitement of the meets would be lessened. As for "college" teams, we already have this system sort of set up in the US. I mean, at the NCAA championships the Team Score is what is most focused. However, there is only ever 3-4 teams MAX that are in contention for it any given year, and in most of those teams have athletes that are not winning but are just scoring points in a variety of events, taking the focus away from the leaders of the race (which is not always a bad thing, but at a NCAA final I want to watch who is going to win the race). Perhaps this idea could be fleshed out some more, but I'm not sure that an international track league would work considering the amount of money that would be required to entice athletes.

David M: Excellent ideas. Meet promotion is basically non-existent in the US, and promos, coupons, exhibition comps, are all great ways to entice people to come out. I DO think elite athletes could do a better job of reaching out to the average runner, and not to toot our own horn, but that is something that the BATC is really working on...bridging that disconnect between elites and the recreational runner or casual fans. We really gotta work on filling the meets. Oregon is a great place, but the average age of those fans has gotta be 50+...we've gotta focus on the younger generations if we're going to be able to keep selling out stadiums. Thanks for your comment!

Pat Helgerman: Having the USATF work at the NCAA level to promote "team competition" is a good idea, but one that I'm not too sure is that feasible. NCAA does what it wants, and USATF does what it wants...I'm not confident in their ability to work together. HOWEVER, I think most if not all rivalry dual meets should be broadcasted as they are EXTREMELY exciting. Having competed in the Cal vs Stanford Dual Meets...it is something that could really generate interest if presented a little better.

Pandora Jewelry: Agreed, camera work can and should be done better.

Stephen S: Excellent comment. I agree almost entirely with everything you have said, and you clearly have thought a lot about this subject. However, one point that I disagree with is your view of television coverage. I think there should be at minimum 3 events that are covered between commercials. Having one event and then commercial and then one event and then back to commercial really prevents the viewer from getting into the flow of the meet. I feel that this is the current format, and it really kills me how little is seen of the events. 7-10min is a bit long for backstory and pertinent information....I'd rather watch races and events with intelligent commentary rather than a mini bio of tyson gay and his quest to be the fastest man in the world. However, I think there is potential in having the fans know who is competing, so if perhaps this time was used to introduce each athlete competing and their tendencies, tactics, etc that it would help the viewer enjoy the race? I don't know, but interesting view nonetheless. I love the idea of the USATF picking one meet to work on. Great idea, and something that I think USATF can do NOW. And thanks for your comments on Track & Field and Track Athletes as whole. Glad to hear that people still feel that way about the sport and us.

Stephen S. 2 years ago

After reading through all of the comments, it fills me with hope to know that there are so many great ideas out there. As much as anyone, I want to see our sport brought out of the cellar and into the public eye.

First off, let's give T&F some credit. Some have claimed that the sport is hopelessly boring, it doesn't have what it takes, etc. I think track has just as much potential to be a great sport as NASCAR, golf, soccer, i.e. boring (IMO) yet wildly popular sports. We're a bunch of sleek sexy dudes and hot mamas in peak fitness. I've never received anything but admiration when introduced as a runner, and when the track spikes come out, it's all that anyone in the room wants to see. My point is, we CAN do better.

There are two audiences for any telecasted sport: the attendees, who physically go to the event, and the viewers, who watch on television. And T&F isn't doing anything for either group right now.

Many good points have been made as to how we should spice up the meets for attendees. IMO, the most important are:
Jumbotrons, for instant results. These should also have a running points total displayed at all times. There's nothing more aggravating than trying to guess which team is winning.
Good concessions, and yes that means beer. Every meet I've ever been to, I go hungry. Hungry spectators won't be around long. Beer + outdoor spectator sports = pure magic. It just works.
Announcers, who can drum up excitement as the events get under way. The drone of a bad announcer can kill the atmosphere, while a good one will have everybody on their feet.
Promotion, in the form of discounts, local ads, and airtime on local stations. What good is a well-run meet if nobody comes?
Audience entertainment and music. The idea of an event producer, brought up by Doug, is simply smashing. Put someone in charge of creating exciting atmosphere.

Another concern, which leads me to the television viewers, is the meet schedule. I envision a cyclical schedule which could benefit all parties, advertisers included. From the TV viewer's perspective:
1.) Previous event recap/interview. Then, introduce the next event, with pertinent info, and introduce the competitors. Good place for some backstory. ~7-10 minutes
2.) Ad break, competitors finish warmup and go to the line.
3.) Run the event, and shortly thereafter to step 4:
4.) Ad break. Prepare for next event.
5.) Back to step 1.
The viewers are informed, the advertisers get their money's worth, and the meet moves at just the right pace.

In the interest of brevity, I will simply list some of the more important aspects of the television coverage. I feel like the other posts nailed it, especially when it comes to:
Camera work. I would like to see more video carts, and fixed angle cams along the turns (think NASCAR gopher cam). It's all about making the athletes look FAST, like warp-speed fast.
Announcers. I think plenty has been said about this one. We need that Tour de France guy. British accents are preferable.
Backstory. I touched on this above, I think we really need to give the viewer more info about the history of the events, what it takes to perform them, how we train, how we put our souls in this. Knowledge is power, as are:
Stats. The more the merrier. Running points total, leaderboards, records, it's all good. NBA, NFL, and MLB are massively stat-based. We can grab a piece of that pie.
Packaging. Just watch Sunday or Monday night football and you'll see what I mean. Graphics, music, and voiceovers seal the deal.

To respond to David's original question, I'm not sure what USATF's first move should be. I would take stock of what resources the organization has, and choose one meet to promote heavily. Start with a pilot meet where these changes can be implemented, and get a big TV network to sign on. If it's successful, follow up on that format.

One last word for those who would claim track athletes are fame-starved glory hounds. Runners will always be runners, whether the money and attention is there or not. Our reward is our sport. Like any person, we want to earn enough to lead a comfortable life and pursue our passion, that's all. I want to see the day that track is elevated to the level of major league sport, not because I'm greedy but because I love it and want the best for it. I think we can all agree on that.

Mathis 2 years ago

I think your idea about trying this on the College level instead of at the Pro level is very very good. To try an untested concept like this on the Pro level would be extremely difficult to do. What about all the people who like it the way it is today a lot better... Who would want to put up the money to start the clubs etc...

One big problem with the Team competitions that exist in athletics today is that some teams are vastly superior to others. This is the final score of the Continental Cup 2010:

Europe 429
Americas 419.5
Africa 292
Asia-Pacific 286.5

Long before the competition started everybody knew that there were only two teams that had any chance of winning. This does obviously not make for an interesting competition...

In Europe we also have something called, the European team athletics championships. The 12 best nation teams in Europe compete. There are several flights, and the worst 3 teams in the top flight are relegated and the top three teams from division 2 are promoted and so forth. Anyway this is the results from the 2010 competition:

Russia 379.5
Great Britain 317
Germany 304.5
France 290
Ukraine 287
Poland 284
Italy 283.5
Belarus 235
Spain 218
Greece 187.5
Norway 175
Finland 150

As you can see the quality difference between the teams are too great to make the competition very interesting.

I dont know how equal/unequal the college teams would be in the US. However if they are very unequal it would most likely not make good TV... ;(

We need somebody smart to find a way to make these competitions competitive enough to keep it interesting all the way till the final event. Maybe we should also have a good look at how we score these events...

PatHelgerman 2 years ago

This has been a great conversation with lots of good ideas. The talk of a pro league has been interesting. It seems to me that one of the best places to start is at the college level. There is already a network of locally branded teams with strong followings out there and it's the NCAA. They already have TV networks starved for good programming. In many cases, you would draw non track fans because of school loyalty. Some of those would eventually become real fans. If the USATF would work at this level to build a base, fans could make attachments to the college athletes and follow them for their whole careers.

pandora jewelry 2 years ago

I want to see all runners as they are making their kick to the finish. Often on the back stretch someone makes a big move but we don't get to see it because they are only showing the first few runners.

David M. 2 years ago

I have been a track fan since the Rome Olympics 50 years ago. So it has been with great interest that I have been following this discussion. Here are several things that I think the USATF could do to help our sport grow. As a person who has been attending sold out Drake relays since the 70âs I was really disappointed that the 2010 USATF championships at Drake didnât have better attendance. It is really sad that the attendance numbers were considered âgoodâ for a non championship year. I think the USATF needs to be creative when hosting a national championship, especially in a year where there is no Olympics or World championship. Two months before the USATF meet Drake was sold out for the Relays and one month later Drake was almost full for the State high school meet. The USATF should have been a big presence at those meets selling tickets. They should have reduced ticket prices for any track and field athlete that participated at the Drake Relays or in the state meet. Promote it with something like â We know how hard you have worked to be one of the best high school athletes in the state â come and see the best in the nation and the world. Have some venue at the USATF meet for high school athletes to meet the professionals â to talk and get autographs. Maybe have some education sessions. For $5 high school shot putters not only get to watch the competition but have short Q and A with the best shot putters in the nation. Do this with several events. Think how great it would be to have the back stretch filled with crazy high school kids cheering.
A few weeks before the USATF meet Des Moines hosted a 20K race that had about 7,000 runners with another 3,000 running the 5K. Again USATF should be present at the expo the day before the race. Each bag for runners should have a $5 or $10 coupon off the price of any tickets â or especially to any distance races. Again promote with -We know how hard you have worked to run this race â come and see the best distance runners in the nation. Also, any type of chance for them to meet the elite runners or coaches would help increase the numbers. Doing something like this would help get the masses of high school athletes and recreational runner into following our sport. I donât know if it is possible for elite athletes to spend any time with âthe massesâ after their event is finished. Iâd be interested in your input on that.
Another thought is some kind of winter USATF tour to the host city with some top track and field athletes. Have a clinic for high school athletes. Have an autograph session in a local mall. The Drake Relays have had big success with an elite pole vault competition in a mall. Another year they had did the same with the womenâs high jump. The same thing could be done with the shot put. Do something that would get some local media coverage of the upcoming meet.
I know there has already been a lot of discussion of TV coverage of track meets. My main complaint is that so often the camera follows the lead runners and we canât see the positions of other runners. This is especially true in the home stretch. I donât need a close up of the winner crossing the finish line. I want to see all runners as they are making their kick to the finish. Often on the back stretch someone makes a big move but we don't get to see it because they are only showing the first few runners.

Mathis 2 years ago

Regarding the teams:

I did not think of it as nation teams (would be far to east to predict the winners). I was thinking of professional teams hiring athletes from all over the world ( with some sort of salary cap based system). The fact that I mentioned 2 based in the US and 4 in Europe, was just to highlight that the teams need to have a home ground and base and that the places I mentioned I think would be good places to host such teams.

I was thinking that most of the athletes income should come from a professional contract with the pro team they run/throw/jump for. Just the same way it works for most professional team sport athletes (there would obviously be the chance of private endorsement deals in addition to the contract with the pro team).

As there is no room to have a worldwide pro-league running side by side with what we have today, the Diamond League would have to be downsized substantially from the 14 yearly meets. I also think that countries that have a team in this pro league should not be allowed to host a Diamond League event. The Diamond League events should be reserved for countries that never get to host the pro league events.

This would change T&F in many ways. Instead of signing a private deal with a shoe company, the athletes would sign a deal with a pro team (who are sponsored by a shoe company etc).

I think the Continental Cup was ok, I agree 110% it was not marketed well at all. This is usually the case with most of the stuff the IAAF do.

Another big problem with the Continental Cup is that the teams are uneven. This year only the Americas and Europe had any chance at all. Africa and Asia/Pacific did not have any shot at all at winning it, which makes the entertainment value less.

If there ever will be a pro league we must make sure to make it as competitive as we can manage. You are good at this in the states, your bigger leagues are much less predictable than the top european soccer leagues.

Regarding the gambling, in house gambling in the arenas would be awesome. It would however be a very cost in-efficient way to arrange the gambling. You would need either;

machines to place bets and calculate pools, odds and winnings and people to operate these machines. As it would be different venues all the time, this would be a very costly process and a lot of turnover would be required to cover the costs.

or

Odds Compilers/Traders acting as bookmakers accepting bets some place in the arena. To compile odds (decide what chance the different athletes have of winning) is not an easy feat. If the odds is not calculated properly there is a good chance that the bookmakers will not be able to cover the costs of operating.

Furthermore in house odds, even though it could increase attendance at the track, it would not do much to increase the interest from people not in the audience (watching on TV etc).

The beauty of betting on the internet is that people from all over the world could take part. People in NY could have bet on meets in California. People in the states could bet on meets in europe and vice versa...

Internet betting is also a much more efficient way of arranging the betting. Catering to a wider market for roughly the same expenses.

Very likely my idea of having a pro league will not work for this or that reason. That said I am confident that if we could have teams compete, with one of those teams competing in their home arena, instead of individual athletes competing in a circuit such as the Diamond League the interest for T&F would increase.

David Torrence 2 years ago

Mathis: Sorry for the delay in getting back to you! Thanks for your comments! Even though you may not have as much experience with USA track and field, your perspective from Europe is valued and much appreciated. Your suggestion on making "teams" and a league has been mentioned before, and if done properly and fairly, could be a good way to improve the marketability of the sport. However, I can foresee tons of problems with the best athletes skipping any sort of team battles and just focusing on the pre-existing individual events. Also, smaller countries with great individuals but not a good team would probably feel short-changed as they'd be unable to compete in those dual meets. I think the continental cup was an interesting team meet, and side steps the nation-team problem by making the teams on a bigger continental scale, but it was not marketed well at ALL. As for gambling, I think on the internet it would be a cool way to get people involved, but I think where the real draw is in-house bets, such as at racetracks and such. Bottom line, we need a drastic change whether it be a turn to gambling, pro teams/league, or completely overhauling the current coverage. Thanks again for your insights.

Mathis 2 years ago

Sorry for butting in on your discussion on T&F in the US, with non US perspectives again. It is just that I feel this discussion is much too important not to take part, even though my knowledge of T&F in the US is very limited.
I completely agree that Gambling could give a boost. In my opinion there are sports that would get less significantly less attention than they currently get if there had not been for gambling. Horse racing would be the most obvious example, but it is not the only one.

Nate wrote:

1.) Gambling already exists in Europe around track, so let's market it and allow fans to bet on runners here in the US. What laws exist that prevent this from happening?

The straight forward answer to this is:

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (That was attached to the Safe Ports Act) of 2006

For details:

Just google Safe Ports Act and/or uigea

Nate is correct, gambling on T&F do exist in Europe. At least 99% of it takes place on the internet. Some of the bigger companies involved are:

Ladbrokes

Unibet

Bwin

For the World Championships in Daegu next year, I guess about 12-15 companies will offer odds on their websites. Almost all these companies will have licenses from EU (European Union) member states. They are serious companies who will adhere to strict licensing rules (ringfencing of customer funds, severe limits on what kind of marketing they are allowed to do, very strict rules for age verification of the customers, all customers must be at least 18 years of age etc). However I would be surprised if any of them will accept clients from the US, because of the aforementioned law.

For the London Olympics I suspect that the number of bookmakers with odds will reach 50-100â¦.
However the turnover for T&F is miniscule compared to the more popular betting sports in Europe (Soccer and Tennis). The turnover on T&F for 2010 will be less than 0.1% of the turnover for soccer, most likely less than 0.01% as well.

I have read several people complain about the marketability of the US athletes and that they could do a better job while being interviewed on the networks. I do not watch any US network so I have no way of saying if this is right or wrong. However several of the US athletes do a superb job (much better than most of the European athletes) when they are interviewed on the TV-Channels I do have access to.

I mentioned Sanya Richards Ross in my previous post. She has an interesting story, overcoming A TON of hardships to become the World Champ in Berlin last year. I think she has a lot of reasons for feeling hard done by, being by far the best female 400 meter runner in the world for several seasons, but not qualifying for the Osaka World Championships (only placed 4th in the US Trials, due to her illness). Winning an individual bronze medal as a huge favorite for the gold (and relay gold) in the Beijing Olympics, most likely again because of illness. The illness she has been fighting could easily have made a less resourceful person give up. Even so, she has never whined about a thing when being interviewed in any of the interviews I have seen of her. It must have been awfully hard to watch the other 400 meter girls run in the Diamond League meets this year, while she was injured, knowing that most likely Allyson Felix is the only one who could have given her a run for her money, and still smile for the cameras and do a sâ¦load of interviews for TV-stations from small European countries while attending the DL meets.
Honestly I would think that such a fighter would be appreciated in the states (I guess the fact that she was born in Jamaica does not help, but still), anyways what do I knowâ¦.
Being married to her college boyfriend Aaron Ross of the NY Giants, should not hurt her marketability.

Allyson Felix who I mentioned above, always conducts herself well while on the TV-channels I watch. I think she has one of the most winning smiles in all of sport. She is most definitely not bad looking. She is a true winner! Seven (three individual) times world champion and an Olympic champion at only 24 years of age. Submitting to more extensive doping tests (Project Believe). A member of the President's Council on Physical Fitnessâ¦.
How can she not be a super valuable assert for our sport if put in front of a camera??

Lolo Jones who tripped over the penultimate hurdle in Beijing while clear of the field, actually did an outstanding job while working as a presenter on the PAN- European TV-channel Eurosport, during the Berlin World Championships. She has made some memorable quotes :

"Happy to win today. The race came down to who wears a bigger bra size. Perdita beats me on 'that' so I had to lean extra hard at the finish."

"Super hero Lolo once again defeated evil villain Mr.vomit in a town called practice"

I know that you hate losers in the states, and Lolo lost the 100 hurdles final in Beijing. However she has rebounded, becoming a world indoor champ (guess it does not make the cut). Anyways she is just fabulous while on TV over here and the fact that she tripped that hurdle and handles talking about it should make for some good TVâ¦

Honestly I think you have more T&F athletes in the states that would do well while doing interviews than we have over here.

The problems our sport is facing is in my opinion unfortunately too big that it is realistic that better productions from meets and a little more TV-Time on the networks would turn the tide (T&F have TV-time in Europe and things are heading down the drain). Donât get me wrong, it can most definitely not hurt and the potential for improvements regarding the productions are huge on both sides of the Atlantic. As David T wrote the meets have been broadcasted the exact same way for an extremely long time. This is not the case for any other sport I can think of, obviously T&F have lost out here. That said I think we need to have a long good look in the mirror and face up to some unpleasant truths.

1) T&F in its current form, does not make good TV-entertainment. We are not being shortchanged by the networks. I strongly suspect that better productions would not solve this, though it would obviously not hurt us. I think the meets are moving at a too slow pace to make good TV. We need to speed things up as much as logistically possible and maybe run the most popular events within one hour and try to get live TV-coverage of that 1 hour and learn to live with that the whole meet did not get broadcasted.
Donât get me wrong guys, I personally think T&F makes brilliant entertainment. I am just saying that the regular guy disagree and most likely will keep on disagreeing until we implement some changes.

2) It is great that many kids are involved with T&F. However there are reasons why they do not feel a strong connection with our sport (many do it to get and/or keep in shape to enable them to become better at another) and why they do not have any profound interest in following it. I suspect that we trick ourselves if we think that we can have great success with tapping into this source.

3) The competition in the sports world of today is freaking tough. The NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL offer great entertainment and we need to find ways to significantly improve our product before we can think about making significant inroads.

4) T&F are in dire straits. This does not only hold true for the states, but also for Europe where the popularity of the sports dwindles rapidly. We need to consider drastic measures to turn the tide.

I think we should experiment with making it a team sport and a pro league. For example we could make a league with a couple of teams from the state one based in Oregon (with legendary Hayward Field as the home ground) and the other in a major City on the eastern seaboard (for example NY), some European teams (say one based in the UK, one in France, one in Germany and one in Russia), 1-2 teams from Asia/Africa and 1 team from Australia (obviously also covering New Zealand). These 8-10 teams competing in a league with the 4 best going to a playoff with the best going up against number 4 at home and number 2 at home against number 3. The final to be hosted by the highest ranked team to make it to the finalâ¦

We would need to find a way to score it so that the competition would remain somewhat open untill the final event and also have a mechanism (like a salary cap) to make sure that no team is much much better than all the others.

It would obviously be wise to do the experimenting on a smaller scale. Anyway I think we should somehow start to experiment with ways to make athletics a team sport as well as an individual sport as soon as possible.

I think that USTAF should work hard at getting the World Championships to the States. The US have not hosted a major T&F championships (WC or Olympics) for almost 15 years and will not for the next 5â¦ Hopefully a Championship in the States could help get us some interest? How much press did T&F get in the USA during Atlanta 1996, with the incredible performances of Michael Johnson?

I apologize for once again writing an extremely long post!!

David Torrence 2 years ago

SwedishBasteve: It does seem that a lot of parents are afraid that their kids will be over-worked, or develop permanent injuries from jogging a mile on a grass field. However, I DO think this culture can change simply by having intelligent and fun camps or clinics (like the one BATC put on today), that targets the youth to take part and enjoy the simplicities of running.

Orrin: I'm not necessarily sure that the focus on "sprinters" is a problem. After all, they ARE the ones that are winning medals and breaking records. They should get respect and recognition for what they have done. Perhaps you mean you think the coverage shouldn't be as skewed? Such as, a televised meet showing 10 replays of the 100m dash, and then the first and last 200m of a 5k? Inequalities like this are a problem, but I haven't spent much time focusing on them, because as a whole, all coverage is pretty bad it seems. As for Hall's elite mile at halftime...I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, it could be a way to show the public something cool...but then on the other it seems that it would be putting our sport on the same level as the YMCA B-Ball kids that play a quick game at halftime as well.

Go_Ahead_And_Flame_Me: Thank you for your comments. I have to disagree with your points though. I don't think that runners really want a whole lot of fame or recognition, this discussion is more about the sport as a whole. The athletes that would benefit from a rise in popularity in T&F is just an extra bonus. Also, I think track IS extremely exciting. Much more so than horse-racing, NASCAR, Golf, darts, etc. And yet these sports get constant coverage. And why? Because they packaged and presented it so well. Lastly, my main focus is my ATHLETIC career. If trying to improve the sport gets in the way of that, then I will always choose my running, because I want to reach the pinnacle of my potential, and then fly on past that as well. But in the meantime, when I'm just recovering anyway, why not try to think about, and create things that could possibly make a difference?

Wags: Tom Feur is indeed a GREAT announcer. The broadcast of the CA State Meet is equal to the best European meets, and that is no exaggeration. I've been saying this for years, he needs to be put on a major network broadcast. Hopefully someone will listen.

Rando: Thank you for your input, I agree wholeheartedly. However, I'd like to add that this discussion is not JUST about distance running, but track and field as a whole. We are all brothers and sisters in the sport, and the more we work together, the better off we will be.

Rando 2 years ago

To Go_ahead_and_flame_me..

It makes me happy when people share my interests or at least understand my interests and have some background of comprehension of my sport. I don't want the sport to become popular so I can be more famous, and I think hardly anyone feels this way. I want it to become more popular because I think it is the epitome of what true sport is, and as I've said before, more national interest there is the the sport can do nothing but help the sport advance. By this I mean more marketing means more funding, which will allow our athletes better resources with which to improve their performances. Also, greater exposure of the sport means more people will try it out, and we all know there is undiscovered talent all over the country. Anything we can do to make this talent crawl out of the woodworks will only increase the depth of our country. Any fan of American distance running would love to see more people participate and more people succeed at it.

Wags 2 years ago

My second comment ( after firing the entire Board of Directors at USATF ) would be to have TV coverage of our beloved sport broadcast and produced by someone that actually knows something about our sport, like TOM FEUER of FOX SPORTS down in Los Angeles that knows a thing or two about producing a Track & Field meet on LIVE television!

Go_ahead_and_flame_me 2 years ago

Why do runners need recognition? Is it so important to be recognized? I don't see why a deep passion into anything will actually deserves recognition. Many people do things not to be recognized, for simply because they love what they do.

And isn't it obvious why running isn't really recognized? Nobody wants to watch anyone run for a couple of hours, because well, it's boring. Everyone prefer to see the exciting match of a basketball game, something which they can see the interplay of agility, speed, endurance and so forth. Is there any surprise why marketers couldn't be bothered about promoting running as a sports? Nope.

Don't be mistaken. I'm a runner too, but I don't run because I want to win others. I run because I'm trying to win myself over. I don't run because I want to be recognize as the best athlete; I run because I want to be the best of myself. So unlike you runners who, of course, train with all your hearts and souls, I do not embrace the superficial need to be famous.

Is it really that important to win others' recognition, than it is to constantly improve and refine your sports, and be the best damn athlete you can be for yourself?

Do you even have a running philosophy anymore?

Orrin 2 years ago

There's way too much focus on sprinting and the 400. Occasionally, there's hurdling but that's about it. I read an article in the Washington Post that was talking about how Usain Bolt was dominating the Penn Relays and was creating a lot of buzz about track and field but there were no Americans who were doing the same. The article mentioned Tyson Gay's poor Athens showing, but didn't even mention Solinsky, Tegenkamp and Ritzenheim all going under 13 minutes in the 5K. I told my sister who recreationally runs 5Ks in the 27-30 minute range, that an American just broke a record by going under 13 minutes and she found it mind-boggling.

The press should get people invested in the search for the next American-born athlete (not Lagat) who will win a medal in distance or the next great American miler. The Alan Webb hype back in the day was sufficiently pumped up by the press and made our sport a blip on the sports radar for a while. Stories like that are great.

Who were the stars of the last few olympics? Usain Bolt (deservedly so), Maurice Greene, Shawn Crawford, Justin Gaitlin, and Allen Johnson.
If Justin Gaitlin and Shawn Crawford are famous, Yuri Borizhavny should be a household name as far as I'm concerned. His 800 win over the world record holder at the biggest stage of sport was amazing.

They usually gear the ESPN broadcasts of track events towards sprinters. They have Ato Bolden or someone like that announcing or Michael Johnson covering foot locker nationals. Put some distance running commentators on the distance events, show more than the top three results, and be more detailed about splits and graphics.

Also, Ryan Hall had an idea I read once in Sports Illustrated that he thinks they should do an elite mile race at half time during a football game or combine it with other sporting events like that

Swedishbasteve 2 years ago

The coddling of children created this problem. Children are encouraged to participate in any other sport at the earliest of ages, but not allowed to do the most natural. It is too hard. When kids become adults, and see someone running, they cannot relate. This culture will never change.

David Torrence 2 years ago

Voice of Reason: I don't think anybody is complaining that the American public "just doesn't get it", or that the current situation is anybody's fault. Rather, the discussion is about HOW we can improve the presentation of the sport, and have a show that people can appreciate and love as much as we do. Prefontaine this year was an amazing meet to watch in person, but it clearly did not translate well to TV coverage. This disconnect is one of the problems that we are discussing. As for me complaining about making money or being famous, I think you may have misread my post. I am complaining that the sport of T&F is not well recognized, and it's is a shame because there is so much potential there. I could care less if I am famous. Did I ever say that I was mad people didn't know who I was? Or that I deserved more money? I appreciate you taking the time to look at my blog and read some comments, but instead of making baseless attacks on me perhaps you could chime in on how the sport can be made better.Â

Nicko: Great ideas with keeping fan interaction a priority. Dead time between events should be seen as an opportunity not a burden. Tailgating like at Oly Trials was a huge success. I think before we really market more big meets we should improve the current ones as much as we can. Thanks for your comment!

Rando 2 years ago

Voice of Reason: I don't believe and I hope no one does believe that David or any other professional/semi-professional runner who blogs about the lack of attention our sport receives is doing so out of resentment for not being famous enough for their work. Though some may feel disgruntled by their monetary compensation (and perhaps rightly so) I think the primary concern is the desire to share the passion of the sport with the public. I agree athletics is not the only sport that is shafted by shoddy media coverage and the likes. However, I do not know the situation behind other sports, so I cannot comment in that regard.

I do think it would help to have coverage of events commentated by people who were more competent at relating the sport to the audience. They have no choice but to assume that not everyone watching understands in depth the sport, and that if those people with a lack of understanding are not quickly filled in, they will lose interest. Basic information such as the history of a particular event, the significance of a victory in terms of money and awards, explaining the tactics and strategies of the runners, and pronouncing names properly can go a long way. Also, not cutting the middle of a 5k for a commercial only to come back after someone has taken a commanding lead. I know they have to make their money somehow but soccer matches manage to broadcast for a full 45 minutes plus stoppage time with just one 20 minute ad break in the middle, and they do okay.

If there is more general interest in the sport and a better understanding of it, it can only result in improvement in American Track and Field. In Eastern African states, great runners are nationals heroes; here, hardly anyone can name them. Hardly any athletes in America are considered national heroes, as they typically represent a franchise, but our runners run to represent our country, and it wouldn't hurt to have our country get behind them a little more.

Nicko 2 years ago

There are a few things that could make track appealing to the public in the US:
1. Have promotional days at track meets (i.e. nickel beer meets. Do they even sell beer at meets in the US? How about Europe? Just wondering. Free T-shirts, contests on the infield/track in between races to win prizes, mascots, fireworks, a flyover after the national anthem, go-go dancers?)
2. Turn the atmosphere outside the track into a tailgating/party arena. Remember how Eugene was like during the 2008 Olympic trials? Something to that effect.
3. Have exhibition races during meets (so what if we have to watch lebron and kobe compete in the long jump or if tony romo and tom brady compete in the javelin. Itâs funny! and it will get attention of non-track people)
4. We need to have more big meets in the US. We have Oregon and New York and the Penn Relays. Big whoop. Good meets but we need more.
5. And sportscenter could at least cover the weekly diamond league meets on the show. They could even show the point standings just like in NASCAR ;).
6. On the announcer side we need funny, witty and excitable announcers. (Ato and Dwight are pretty good) but how about someone like the guy who announced the Chicago marathon this year. He was great!
And Dave I can really appreciate the work you put in as an athlete. Track is a pretty crazy sport and I always laugh when I see you guys working out on flotrack on a 4 lane track with kids, dogs and a rec league soccer game going on in the back. I do not think that any other professional athletes work in environments as diverse or as crazy as you guys sometimes do. Keep up the good fight my friend.

Voice of Reason 2 years ago

Take a deep breath, all. I think that it's somewhat interesting to discuss why Track and Field as a business is a non-entity in the U.S. What I find laughable is how it's someone's fault - or the American public "just doesn't get it."
Look at it this way - how many swim meets did you go to this year? It's essentially the same thing as distance running. People on this board just happen to be runners, so they're sure that their sport is the most exciting. (I also think that elite running is exciting, by the way) I just find it distasteful that David can complain about not being famous or exceedingly well paid for "putting his HEART and his SOUL" into running around a track. Plenty of ER doctors work just as hard and actually save lives, but don't make as much as an elite track runner. Don't compare yourself to people in the NBA who are overpaid to calculate injustice, compare yourself to so many who contribute more to society than you and make less than you. I thought that a Berkeley grad would understand this.

David Torrence 2 years ago

RANDO! - Agreed that length of the event is not necessarily a problem. The problem is keeping the fans interested and entertained. This is done with some of the tactics you mentioned: improve the frame of reference for viewers. A 53 sec lap at the end of the race seems trivial when watching on TV, but we all know how amazing that can be. Money is a big factor in keeping people interested as well. Why do people watch and cheer for that guy at halftime to sink the halfcourt shot? The million dollar prize. People need to know how much we are making, and what is at stake to understand the pressure and enormity of certain moments in races. As for the characters, agreed that T&F could use more. However, I feel it is difficult when all of our funding comes from ONE source, and if that one source doesn't like it, then our support is gone. Tough to push the limits when it can really come back to hurt you.

David Torrence 2 years ago

The comments are just getting better and BETTER! GREAT stuff people...this is exactly what I was thinking about when I said "lets talk this out". If you keep posting, I'll keep responding. Thanks again everybody.

Mike: Good points about presenting ourselves to the public, whether it's street meets (which was hugely popular this year), or letting the public know how much money we are making. By not making information about contracts public, it makes our sport look not as legitimate. Everybody knows how much Lebron, Kobe, etc make. When deals are made it is huge news. If people knew about Wheating, or Barringer, or Koll's contract, maybe kids would look up more. Money is power right?

Jack Wickens: Thank you VERY MUCH for taking time out of your day to comment on here. I really appreciate your feedback and willingness to interact with the public. I am glad to hear that those in leadership positions feel the same way we do, and that you are taking active steps to improve this sport. It just seems to the general public though that nothing is really getting done. Lots of questionable actions are made in USATF, and I wish there was more transparency in regards to how and who makes these decisions. Thank you again for your step towards THAT direction, and for the time and energy that you and other members VOLUNTEER.

Nate - Gambling is certainly an option that should be researched and explored, no disagreements here.
- I agree that outside the Olympics (and at a smaller level, the WC's) there is NO one big event that is our Superbowl, Tour de France, etc. The USA championships need to be styled in that manner. Interesting idea about the big stage-type race, but we have to remember we are talking about Track and Field as a whole, and not just distance running. Good ideas nonetheless.
- Lack of sponsorship diversity seems to me to be a huge part of the problem. With more companies (and in turn, money) invested in athletes and races, the more THEY will want to push their athletes and teams to the forefront.

EWU Runner: Stories and drama always make for an exciting event. Remember Maurice Green and Michael Johnson in the 200m Oly Trials? That was one for the ages. Although both runners pulled up lame, the fanfare and excitement around that one final was amazing. I think one of the problems with having runners be more of a personality is the fact that they don't have sponsorship diversity. If that one company doesn't like their attitude or what they say, then their contract is terminated. Since we're talking about their livelihood here, athletes would rather play it safe rather than start any fires they can't put out.

Carl Rose: Interesting points about the corruption in USATF. I personally don't have any knowledge about the inner workings of the organization, so I would prefer not to comment on it, but if this were true it would be a sad day indeed.

Eddie G: Good point in remembering sports that have "leapfrogged" track and field. BMX, snowboarding, etc weren't as big as track 15-20 years ago, but now there are by far more popular. It would be a good exercise to learn and understand what those sports did to get to the level they are at now.

8hun: Agree wholeheartedly with the comparison made between an NBA game and a track meet. CLEARLY there is more work that is being done to keep the fans interested and entertained during the down moments of a game, compared to a track meet which seems to be constantly at a low level of energy besides the occasional exciting finishes. A League/dual meet type setup would be difficult to achieve, but would definitely be a big enough change to create some waves and attract new attention. A great point was mentioned earlier... fans may not always know who is ON the team, but they always know the TEAM...and will root for their hometeam no matter what,

Doug Allan: Amazing analysis. Thank you for that comment, and it brings up a great point. We HAVE to improve the product BEFORE we market it. If we put all our energy into marketing, but the product is poor, then people still won't care. We have to start at the MEETS, and go from there. Great idea about the Event Producer. It seems there is nobody in charge of keeping fans entertained, and that would be a great way to improve that.
P.S. Are you in the bay area by any chance? We might be able to use some of your expertise if you are willing to help!

Rando 2 years ago

Long comment thread.. read about half of them so I hope I'm not repeating anything. But it fascinates me that baseball continues to be in the limelight of professional sport in America. A typical baseball game takes much more time than a marathon, or roughly the time of an entire broadcast European track meet, and I don't see how anyone could argue that baseball is more exciting or eventful than running. Baseball is about as exciting as watching a breeze blow a leaf back and forth. Maybe we should sell outrageously unhealthy food at the venues? (Penn Relays does this and we all know how successful that event is).

The fact is, though, that people have no frame of reference when it comes to running. Even someone who does not watch soccer knows if someone wins 5-1, that is a significant victory. In contrast, a 20 second victory in the 10k may not seem like a large margin to some people; a 53 second lap at the end of a 5k, an incredibly exciting and inspiring thing to witness, would probably leave little to no impression on someone who never participated in the sport.

The other, more disheartening reality is that the world of track and field has very few "characters." The NFL has Ochocinco, TO, Big Ben, (Brett Favre?) creating drama and talk off the field, increasing the attention the sport gets. Drug abuse in the MLB.. contract and conduct drama in the NBA... in America any attention is good attention; bad attention may even be the best (Jersey Shore sure is successful).

The last thing I will say (and I'm sure this has been touched on) is that the relatively small money on the line sadly detracts from the excitement for many viewers. Golf, (an aside, not to take anything from golfers, which certainly takes incredible commitment to excel at, but they don't put their bodies through what we do) is undoubtedly less exciting, but because there is always a chance there will be a $5 million putt at the end of the competition, it seems to appeal to the masses. There's no doubt that major marathons profit enormously, pulling in over 40,000 participants, not to mention the sponsorships they garner, and though $500,000 is more than pocket change, to award that amount to the best marathoner in the world each year, is kind of a slap in the face. That's about the salary of a "poor" Yankee who might not have to step onto the field once all season. If you're the best in the world at what you do, whatever it is (except teaching?) you're going to earn more than $500,000. Now, no doubt they get sponsorship bonuses for such victories, but that isn't advertised by the media. So, it escapes the public's interest.

Just my thoughts. I'd love to see our sport explode, especially considering America's recent rise to distance success globally. In high school I did a lot to bring attention to what our team was doing, especially in the fall, and got a very large crowd of people and our cheerleading squad to attend our Cross Country State Meet. It felt good to know that I was doing something for the sport besides just trying to run fast, although when it comes down to it that's the main reason I do it, and as long as I feel I can do that, I'll be content with our sport.

Doug Allan 2 years ago

Dave,

Kudos to you (already) for throwing your words out there and getting this body of ideas going. I just read every one of these comments and what a bunch of terrific solid ideas already!!

What does it all boil down to, MARKETING & THE PRODUCT (THE SHOW). If the product (the meet/race)doesn't have that powerful entertainment value, marketing is for naught. I've been to every national champs for the last 30 yrs, yet sat in the stadium in Des Moines this past June and watched (just about the most dreary meet ever...sorry Des Moines). As a hard core track fan, I enjoy all meets,at all levels, because I know all the 'players', therefore am looking at the meet differently than the average fan 'marketed' into checking out their first elite level meet.
I'm a former Broadway performer and recently retired after 25 years as a Show Producer for Anheuser Busch Entertainment. I've produced over 800 national talent big name concert events, many US Soviet boxing & wrestling matches, good gosh, even a George Forman boxing match at the various AB Theme Parks. Whatever the event, my main goal was THE SHOW, the quality of the artist's performance (or presentation of the athlete's performance) as it affected the paying guest. Every event needs a dynamic... a beginning, a middle portion of interest, and a slam dunk finale. Good gosh, could it be that simple....YES.

I want to cry at USA Track nationals when I hear the announcers performances. Their power, the power of the mic, can change the total experience of a track meet for the fan, especially the new fan. 90% of the dynamic of our current nationals, for example, is lost because of lack of performance in the booth, translating down to the track and fields. And this is at the biggest meet of the year, every year, in the United States of America..WHAT.....

Every national caliber track meet needs an Event Producer, not just meet director (with all due respect, a lot of respect really). I'm talking about an entertainment trained event producer. As the smallest of examples, how often did I wish I could get one of AB's (now Seaworld Parks & Entertainment)professional announcers 'calling' the meet. The stadium would be exploding time and again.

With the great product, Marketing can then do it's thing, have something to be excited about, sink their teeth into, and promote.

The details of the actual entertainment components of a succesfull sporting event, i.e., track meet are for later, once the creative production team has been put in place. FYI, Marketing is also a member of that team, in on every detail from the get go.

Well the boy do go on.... Guess what I'm trying to say is, "Let's produce a SMASH HIT". The simplicity of 'run/jump/throw' sport of track & field has all the inate components to fill the bill, it's a gold mine. I'm afraid the 'right' people just haven't quite seen it that way yet.

Thanks again Dave...nice season by the way!!!
Doug Allan

8hun 2 years ago

one of the problems with track is that the focus for so many years was chasing records. Records are hard to come by. It needs to be about more than breaking world records. Instead the focus should be head to head competitions, team competitions, etc... If you have to see a record go down for there to be interest in the sport, then it's a dead end because those will be few and far between.

8hun 2 years ago

1. Track meets need to be more entertaining. I went to a basketball game recently. much of the excitment is the atmosphere. Beer, wine, food, socializing with friends stadium neighbors. Europe has this. why can't the US.
2. most popular sports are team sports. teams have records, stats, rankings. The year culminates with a superbowl, world series, etc... We need to create some type of golden league here which culminates with USA Nationals. Should be able to access runners profiles, stats, rankings w/in the series.
3. More team competitions early in the season. Have the Bay area team compete against OTC, etc..
4. Get Nike and the other shoe, apparel, corporate sponsors (Intel, Microsoft, etc..) to support more teams. Create a post collegiate draft where teams can draft the lastest grads, make trades, etc...

Eddie G 2 years ago

As you read through a number of comments that have been posted, many fresh ideas are presented to kickstart t&f . The bottom line to me is that track is not dying ------- it has been dead for a number of years. Clean the slat and start from scratch. Look at the models of new sports that have flooded the media and not compare track to the MLB,NFL or NASCAR.

Carl Rose 2 years ago

Sorry I was so over the top with my assessment of USATF. I was stirring it up a little bit. There are some excellent people in USATF but they are doomed to be de-clawed. Those on the top of the stratified USATF foodchain have corrupted the organization.

Any individual working for USATF in some capacity, who is below them (which is virtually everyone), no matter how well-intentioned, will be stifled or silenced. See Brooks Johnson's implication in his infamous blog where he said Doug Logan was a "marked man." They can basically override anyone they want over time, including their own CEO.

It is impossible to accomplish anything you may want to accomplish which would clash with or compromise their personal agendas with the way the current administration has the final say in everything. Couple that with the voting process, in which they can vote themselves in year after year with no checks and balances (you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours), and you have a parochial, corrupt and unaccountable administration peddling a flawed product which is a great disservice to the sport's athletes such as yourself.

I think USATF needs to be retrofitted from the top, but there are a lot of wonderful people who work for that organization and without them we would be beyond repair so many thanks to these good people.

EWUrunner 2 years ago

Nice article, we definitely need more people with this mind set to expand and produce our sport. I haven't read the rest of these posts so I don't if anyone else has said this but...

I think one thing that could get more people interested is to get some stories out there. I hate drama, but "people" love drama. drama gets "people" excited and interested. The show "jersey shore" is terrible but its just straight drama and people eat it up. I don't know if our runners need to talk some s**t or what but we need to build up rivalries amongst U.S. runners as well as country to country. When Track was big in the 70's we were having huge dual meets against the USSR and other countries and people got into it!

It would take some help from some serious sports networks such as ESPN but i think there is potential. "People" don't understand what U.S. runners are doing right now. If "people" knew our runners were running 4:08 pace for 5k I think we might have their attention, or that an American is now the fastest caucasian runner at 10,000 meters in the world.

Amazing things are happening people just need to know about it...