Sports are entertaining, right? I mean that is the whole purpose of sport since it first came to be. Nothing is more entertaining than cheering for your favorite team go against their most heated rival. I am from Chicago, so getting into the Cubs v. Sox match-up is easy (GO CUBS!).
One thing I've noticed while out here in Eugene is the amazing crowd support for all athletes affiliated with Oregon. The men's 800m race will go in the books as one of the greatest races ever on U.S. soil and part of the reason was the deafening crowd noise, which in large part was due to the top three finishers all being part of the Oregon community.
Track fans in Eugene are intense. Being from out-of-state it's really easy to root for the other athletes. I mean rooting for the underdog is truly American is it not? For example, I was rooting strongly against Nick Symmonds and Galen Rupp in their respective races, and even found myself rooting against Kara Goucher, one of my favorite athletes, in the women's 5k because so many people were cheering for her.
I've had a few conversations with friends out here, who reside in states other than Oregon and they were feeling the same way. In our minds Oregon was the bad guy and everyone else was the good guy.
Rivalries are something our sport needs to build and we have a few handfuls of them that should create added interest heading towards the Olympics. However, the good guy versus bad guy scenario is something leaders in our industry need to really jump on over the coming years, especially with so much great talent floating around. Every athlete will have their fans and every athlete will have their critics...isn't this something our sport needs more of?
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
One Hour Until Showtime
Ok...there's less than an hour now until the women's 5k takes off and the ridiculous attention focused towards this race and the men's 10k race is simply outstanding. I can't get over the fact that so much attention over the last few days geared towards these two races.
One of the greatest aspects of the past week has been the growing online coverage community. You have the usual FloTrack, RunnerSpace, etc., but then you have Runner's World doing heaps of online video, TrackShark doing some amazing coverage and LetsRun.com upping their coverage to the best work they've ever done.
The traditional media talk about the online coverage all the time and how great it is. However, the new media guys rarely, if ever, talk about the traditional media and articles they write. There's a simple explanation for this...the new media gang gets exclusive information pieces nearly each and every time.
It's almost comical how different the two groups are. Traditional media will wait for their one guy they cover to come into the media tent, talk to him for a few minutes and then go write their story. The new media group interviews everyone, listens in to all the other reporters asking questions, soaking in all the information they can. New media understands how inter-connected this sport is. How one person's performance affects others.
With the 5k and 10k races about to take off, I am not only excited for these races, but also in regards to the great coverage our sport is receiving by creative individuals who love, and most of all understand, this sport.
One of the greatest aspects of the past week has been the growing online coverage community. You have the usual FloTrack, RunnerSpace, etc., but then you have Runner's World doing heaps of online video, TrackShark doing some amazing coverage and LetsRun.com upping their coverage to the best work they've ever done.
The traditional media talk about the online coverage all the time and how great it is. However, the new media guys rarely, if ever, talk about the traditional media and articles they write. There's a simple explanation for this...the new media gang gets exclusive information pieces nearly each and every time.
It's almost comical how different the two groups are. Traditional media will wait for their one guy they cover to come into the media tent, talk to him for a few minutes and then go write their story. The new media group interviews everyone, listens in to all the other reporters asking questions, soaking in all the information they can. New media understands how inter-connected this sport is. How one person's performance affects others.
With the 5k and 10k races about to take off, I am not only excited for these races, but also in regards to the great coverage our sport is receiving by creative individuals who love, and most of all understand, this sport.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
USATF News & Crowd Noise
I found two articles this morning that I thought many of you would enjoy reading. First is the press conference highlights with Bill Roe, USATF's president and temporary CEO. Second is from ESPN, in which John Caple writes about the crowd noise and how impressive it is.
In Roe's press conference he discusses many important and interesting issues, especially when it comes to who is picking the new CEO, how the board of directors is being restructured and USATF's goal of bringing the World Cross Country Championships to the United States. He also talked about the IAAF's desire to bring a IAAF World Series track race to the United States. How much you want to bet that Hayward Field is the spot the IAAF most desires?
In Caple's piece he really brings about the subject of noise at the Trials. It is noisy, incredibly noisy! The finish of every race is deafening and every lap of every race people are cheering and know who's in what place. I've heard before that the fans in Eugene are the most knowledgeable track fans in the U.S., but I thought that was just Eugene hyping up Eugene. Well, it's true. I've never had the opportunity to talk so much track with people that simply love the sport.
I sat next to this old lady the other day and she rattled on about how Bernard Lagat was going to win double gold this year and how our shot putters were going to place 1-2-3 at the Olympics. She discussed stats, knew so many people by name, and if she didn't know someone asked if I knew and listened to the information I would spout out and then we'd talk about that. Incredible!
Just for noted interest...my buddy Tim and I have decided that for each distance race we are going to pick out one athlete and become the loudest supporters of them. For the men's 5k we chose Stephen Pifer, who finished second at NCAA's this year and just graduated from Colorado...and just signed with Nike. We chose Pifer because he's an Illinois guy and well, we're from Illinois.
This two day break is nice by the way. Eight straight days of awesome trackness would have tired me out way too quickly. But instead I've been able to drive up to Portland and enjoy it a little bit before heading back to Eugene and our campsite on the beach again tonight.
In Roe's press conference he discusses many important and interesting issues, especially when it comes to who is picking the new CEO, how the board of directors is being restructured and USATF's goal of bringing the World Cross Country Championships to the United States. He also talked about the IAAF's desire to bring a IAAF World Series track race to the United States. How much you want to bet that Hayward Field is the spot the IAAF most desires?
In Caple's piece he really brings about the subject of noise at the Trials. It is noisy, incredibly noisy! The finish of every race is deafening and every lap of every race people are cheering and know who's in what place. I've heard before that the fans in Eugene are the most knowledgeable track fans in the U.S., but I thought that was just Eugene hyping up Eugene. Well, it's true. I've never had the opportunity to talk so much track with people that simply love the sport.
I sat next to this old lady the other day and she rattled on about how Bernard Lagat was going to win double gold this year and how our shot putters were going to place 1-2-3 at the Olympics. She discussed stats, knew so many people by name, and if she didn't know someone asked if I knew and listened to the information I would spout out and then we'd talk about that. Incredible!
Just for noted interest...my buddy Tim and I have decided that for each distance race we are going to pick out one athlete and become the loudest supporters of them. For the men's 5k we chose Stephen Pifer, who finished second at NCAA's this year and just graduated from Colorado...and just signed with Nike. We chose Pifer because he's an Illinois guy and well, we're from Illinois.
This two day break is nice by the way. Eight straight days of awesome trackness would have tired me out way too quickly. But instead I've been able to drive up to Portland and enjoy it a little bit before heading back to Eugene and our campsite on the beach again tonight.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Olympic Trials Update
So the Olympic Trials are here and what a better time for me to start blogging again. Sorry for having been away for so long...this is a hectic time of year on many fronts.
A week ago today my friend Tim and I started our road trip out to Eugene. We stopped in ugly North Dakota, wonderfully outdoorsy Montana, always beautiful Idaho, eventually ending up in Florence, Oregon, camping near the beach at a great campsite.
The first four days of the Trials were amazing. I don't have a whole lot of time to post here, as I am going to the Nike campus this morning and then off to interview a high school star later today, but here are some quick observations worth noting:
- The fans at Hayward Field love Oregon athletes. They wildly applaud them every time they are announced. It really is awesome. It also brings out the sports fan in me that likes to see the hometown favorite get beaten...so therefore I've cheered for other athletes to overtake Oregon athletes.
- My new favorite athlete is Andrew Wheating (yes, I know he goes to Oregon). How can you not love this kid? This is his third track season ever and he already made the Olympic team. Wheating is the future of American 800m running and his personality is going to help promote our sport down the road as well. I for one hope he goes pro after this and gets coached by Jerry Schumacher and the OTC.
- Speaking of Schumacher...his entire pro-athlete Madison contingent are packing their bags and moving to Oregon. This whole Nike, Portland, Eugene, UO grouping is taking over our sport. I have mixed emotions.
- 15,000+ fans stayed the first night to watch the women's 10k. I've never seen more than 1,000 people watch a 10k. It was insane!
- Every lap of every race fans in every section clap rhythmically as athletes pass by. On the last lap of every race everyone leaps to their feet and cheers frantically as the athletes pass by. This is by far the most knowledgeable track crowd in the country...perhaps the world.
- Bryan Clay, who won the men's decathlon, summed up exactly how I feel about the Trials thus far, "I've never been to a meet like this in the U.S." I've been to meets in Europe and they were awesome, but the Trials are 100x better than any high school meet I've ever been too.
I have a lot more to write about but I'll save that until tomorrow. Until then.
A week ago today my friend Tim and I started our road trip out to Eugene. We stopped in ugly North Dakota, wonderfully outdoorsy Montana, always beautiful Idaho, eventually ending up in Florence, Oregon, camping near the beach at a great campsite.
The first four days of the Trials were amazing. I don't have a whole lot of time to post here, as I am going to the Nike campus this morning and then off to interview a high school star later today, but here are some quick observations worth noting:
- The fans at Hayward Field love Oregon athletes. They wildly applaud them every time they are announced. It really is awesome. It also brings out the sports fan in me that likes to see the hometown favorite get beaten...so therefore I've cheered for other athletes to overtake Oregon athletes.
- My new favorite athlete is Andrew Wheating (yes, I know he goes to Oregon). How can you not love this kid? This is his third track season ever and he already made the Olympic team. Wheating is the future of American 800m running and his personality is going to help promote our sport down the road as well. I for one hope he goes pro after this and gets coached by Jerry Schumacher and the OTC.
- Speaking of Schumacher...his entire pro-athlete Madison contingent are packing their bags and moving to Oregon. This whole Nike, Portland, Eugene, UO grouping is taking over our sport. I have mixed emotions.
- 15,000+ fans stayed the first night to watch the women's 10k. I've never seen more than 1,000 people watch a 10k. It was insane!
- Every lap of every race fans in every section clap rhythmically as athletes pass by. On the last lap of every race everyone leaps to their feet and cheers frantically as the athletes pass by. This is by far the most knowledgeable track crowd in the country...perhaps the world.
- Bryan Clay, who won the men's decathlon, summed up exactly how I feel about the Trials thus far, "I've never been to a meet like this in the U.S." I've been to meets in Europe and they were awesome, but the Trials are 100x better than any high school meet I've ever been too.
I have a lot more to write about but I'll save that until tomorrow. Until then.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wittenberg Speaks Out
I read an editorial piece by the NYRR's Mary Wittenberg. In the piece Wittenberg talks in depth about the growing state of the sport, but what it's missing from it as well. The four points Wittenberg touches on are:
1. The scarcity of national TV coverage for our major events.
2. The absence of a mainstream superstar like Danica Patrick or Tiger Woods.
3. The lack of a true national or international major league of running.
4. The continuing misery of seeing too many obese children sitting in front of TV and computer screens.
If anyone in our sport has been a proponent for change over the past decade it's been Wittenberg. Her natural leadership abilities are second to none and she has the support of a strong organization at her back that fully supports her. It is nice to see a major figurehead of our sport come out and state what exactly the problems are with our sport.
While Wittenberg offers little in the ways of how these problems get fixed, she does remain positive that our sport is headed in the right direction and the hard work of everyone involved is starting to build something much stronger and popular that originally thought of.
1. The scarcity of national TV coverage for our major events.
2. The absence of a mainstream superstar like Danica Patrick or Tiger Woods.
3. The lack of a true national or international major league of running.
4. The continuing misery of seeing too many obese children sitting in front of TV and computer screens.
If anyone in our sport has been a proponent for change over the past decade it's been Wittenberg. Her natural leadership abilities are second to none and she has the support of a strong organization at her back that fully supports her. It is nice to see a major figurehead of our sport come out and state what exactly the problems are with our sport.
While Wittenberg offers little in the ways of how these problems get fixed, she does remain positive that our sport is headed in the right direction and the hard work of everyone involved is starting to build something much stronger and popular that originally thought of.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Track Meet Entertainment
Every year for the past four I've put on an elite level high school competition called the Midwest Distance Gala. Each year my fellow meet coordinators and I have made improvement after improvement, every time trying to make the meet more entertaining for the fans and athletes.
This year we've changed venues to the best track stadium in Illinois and have a few smaller changes that should add to the excitement. However, my mind still constantly churns year round wondering what we could do next to take our meet that next step.
I've had numerous discussions with numerous individuals about track meets and how they need to become more entertaining to the fans. Here are a few suggestions:
- Have a tailgaiting zone before the meet starts. Make it an interactive, fun area where sponsors can show off their newest products, have great food and beverages and crank the music up.
- Let fans get close to the track. One of our ideas for the Distance Gala next year is to have seating on the infield, right up on the edge of the track at the 50 meters to go mark. You can make tickets a little bit more and provide those that buy in that section free programs, food and beverage. Make it like a VIP section that the casual fan can obtain for under $20.
- Keep the meet to under two hours. I know that might be hard to do with some bigger, invitational track competitions, but fans get bored after two hours. Most professional meets these days do not offer every event, rather they pick ten or so and run them with an up tempo feel. Putting even five minutes between events loses the concentration and adrenaline the crowd runs on.
- Put the meet under the lights on a Saturday night. Treat it like a huge event, not some "feel free to come if you aren't busy" event. Play loud music between races, have great announcers, have programs that educate the casual fan, don't make tickets too expensive and try to have some post-race celebration where fans can meet the athletes, interact with them, and maybe get a few free handouts.
I'll offer up more suggestions when I have time but for now this should get some conversation rolling. Feel free to add any suggestions you might have.
This year we've changed venues to the best track stadium in Illinois and have a few smaller changes that should add to the excitement. However, my mind still constantly churns year round wondering what we could do next to take our meet that next step.
I've had numerous discussions with numerous individuals about track meets and how they need to become more entertaining to the fans. Here are a few suggestions:
- Have a tailgaiting zone before the meet starts. Make it an interactive, fun area where sponsors can show off their newest products, have great food and beverages and crank the music up.
- Let fans get close to the track. One of our ideas for the Distance Gala next year is to have seating on the infield, right up on the edge of the track at the 50 meters to go mark. You can make tickets a little bit more and provide those that buy in that section free programs, food and beverage. Make it like a VIP section that the casual fan can obtain for under $20.
- Keep the meet to under two hours. I know that might be hard to do with some bigger, invitational track competitions, but fans get bored after two hours. Most professional meets these days do not offer every event, rather they pick ten or so and run them with an up tempo feel. Putting even five minutes between events loses the concentration and adrenaline the crowd runs on.
- Put the meet under the lights on a Saturday night. Treat it like a huge event, not some "feel free to come if you aren't busy" event. Play loud music between races, have great announcers, have programs that educate the casual fan, don't make tickets too expensive and try to have some post-race celebration where fans can meet the athletes, interact with them, and maybe get a few free handouts.
I'll offer up more suggestions when I have time but for now this should get some conversation rolling. Feel free to add any suggestions you might have.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Another Chasing Series
Another Chasing ________ is upon us. On the RunnerSpace.com episode RunnerSpace Live today, the hosts of the show asked Matt Taylor what was up next for him at PUMA and Matt stated that he has been working with Usain Bolt on a Chasing series unofficially called Chasing Bolt. This is big news, as Matt's Chasing series' have never followed a world record holder before. Good luck to Matt as this feature comes out leading up to the Olympics.
The Faces of Our Sport
I don't normally read ESPN Magazine, in fact I detest ESPN for only covering the drug aspect of our sport, but I found myself reading it as I waited at the local Jiffy Lube for my car to get an oil change. On the cover was the face of Kimbo Slice, the newest MMA star. The article went into depth on Slice's life and how he's become such a big star in the sport despite accomplishing so little.
While the article was entertaining, it also got me thinking that one of the reasons MMA has become so big is because UFC and the other organizations in the sport have done a phenomenal job at putting a face on the sport.
In the article the author stated, "Truth is, a star and some buzz are good for any sport; MMA should welcome Kimbo's charisma, personality and ability to attract the uninitiated." What Kimbo seems to be doing is a smaller version of what Lance Armstrong did for cycling and what Tiger Woods has done for golf. Those sports found their one poster boy, the one guy who could take their sport to the next level in terms of popularity and marketed that person to the extreme.
I truly believe every sport has a Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods. That one person that has a story, shares their personality with the world a bit and comes out on top 9 times out of ten. But who are the athletes in our sport that have that charisma and personality, who win a bunch and can attract both old and new fans alike? I'd love to hear all of your thoughts on this.
While the article was entertaining, it also got me thinking that one of the reasons MMA has become so big is because UFC and the other organizations in the sport have done a phenomenal job at putting a face on the sport.
In the article the author stated, "Truth is, a star and some buzz are good for any sport; MMA should welcome Kimbo's charisma, personality and ability to attract the uninitiated." What Kimbo seems to be doing is a smaller version of what Lance Armstrong did for cycling and what Tiger Woods has done for golf. Those sports found their one poster boy, the one guy who could take their sport to the next level in terms of popularity and marketed that person to the extreme.
I truly believe every sport has a Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods. That one person that has a story, shares their personality with the world a bit and comes out on top 9 times out of ten. But who are the athletes in our sport that have that charisma and personality, who win a bunch and can attract both old and new fans alike? I'd love to hear all of your thoughts on this.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Promoting Athletes
The KIMbia group is at it again. Out of all the management/agent groups out there the KIMbia squad seems to know best how to promote their athletes and show just who they are. Matt Taylor did two full seasons of ChasingKIMbia, and while that may be over, the group seems far from content to just sit back and relax.
Starting this week the KIMbia website will have daily video features on Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky, showing their build-up to the Trials. This is exactly what management groups should be doing. What better way to promote your athlete than to show them in every light leading up to their most important event of their careers thus far.
Kudos to KIMbia for using new media forms to promote their athletes.
Starting this week the KIMbia website will have daily video features on Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky, showing their build-up to the Trials. This is exactly what management groups should be doing. What better way to promote your athlete than to show them in every light leading up to their most important event of their careers thus far.
Kudos to KIMbia for using new media forms to promote their athletes.
Friday, May 30, 2008
TV Alert
The Reebok Grand Prix will be on TV twice this weekend:
Saturday, May 31: 8-10 p.m. on ESPN2
Sunday: June 1: 1:30-2:30 p.m. on CBS
(All times are EST)
Saturday, May 31: 8-10 p.m. on ESPN2
Sunday: June 1: 1:30-2:30 p.m. on CBS
(All times are EST)
Homework Lesson for the Day
Compare and Contrast these two American track and field meet websites:
Pre Classic: http://www.preclassic.com/
Reebok Grand Prix: http://www.reebokgrandprix.com/
Pre Classic: http://www.preclassic.com/
Reebok Grand Prix: http://www.reebokgrandprix.com/
The Perfect Marketing Model
While I've preached better marketing for our sport since I first started this blog, I think I've found the perfect marketing model. While numerous things can be done to help the sport succeed at many levels at the end of the day it all comes down to the top U.S. athletes getting it done against the world's best and showing some personality.
I found a quote today from Ric Clarson, VP of brand marketing for the PGA Tour. Clarson states, "We can do a lot to promote the players, but the best promotion is success on the golf course and having some personality to go with it."
Every major superstar in any sport gets it done on the playing field and has an incredible personality both on and off it. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, Tom Brady, etc. They are American sporting heroes. Michael Johnson was known by millions because he won every race he ran and he showed his personality both on and off the track.
Marketing the sport has to be a unified effort between USATF, agents, athletes and meet directors. I truly think this is starting to be understood. However, I believe more so now than ever before, that the best way to market any sport is to have hyper-successful athletes with strong personalities being shown in all forms of media.
I found a quote today from Ric Clarson, VP of brand marketing for the PGA Tour. Clarson states, "We can do a lot to promote the players, but the best promotion is success on the golf course and having some personality to go with it."
Every major superstar in any sport gets it done on the playing field and has an incredible personality both on and off it. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, Tom Brady, etc. They are American sporting heroes. Michael Johnson was known by millions because he won every race he ran and he showed his personality both on and off the track.
Marketing the sport has to be a unified effort between USATF, agents, athletes and meet directors. I truly think this is starting to be understood. However, I believe more so now than ever before, that the best way to market any sport is to have hyper-successful athletes with strong personalities being shown in all forms of media.
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