by Larry Eder
This is a fascinating article from our friends at Athletics Weekly.
British Athletics has suffered from mismanagement of one of the world’s most attentive fans bases for track & field. Under the leadership of one Niels de Vos, yes, the same guy who was a big whig at World Champs in Eugene, British Athletics dumped a great sports marketing agency (Fast Track), ignored a major sponsor (AVIVA), and moved footwear sponsorship to a company giving them less money (moving from adidas to NIKE), British Athletics began to lose money and then, had leadership that had no clue about the sport. Thank God that has changed.
It’s taken almost five years to clean those messes up, and Jack Buckner, the new CEO, is working diligently to repair the damage done to the sport. Buckner has brought in an agency, Two Circles, to help him understand the fans of the sport and how to make the sport more relevant in the UK.
Truth is, we could sure use that in the U.S. NIKE is spending $22 million a year with USATF, and this writer wonders how the federation is growing the sport. Eugene is relying on the stalwarts of track & field and not attracting new fans.
It could, but most did not even know they could get tickets for the World Champs last July. Surprised? I stayed in Springfield, Oregon for six weeks, and my neighbors, runners, wanted to see Hayward Field and go to the World Champs. I had to tell them that they could get tickets most days. In the stadium, my daily inquiries of fans on how they could watch the World on TV were met with, “What is Peacock?” Want to know how to kill our sport? It was being done all last summer. No one knows about an event if it is not promoted. NBC needs to promote their broadcasts, they do it for other sports!
How do we build the US audience for LA 2028? That is the big question. Major US meets, highly promoted, with great TV and guaranteed fields are just a few of the answers. Unlike other sports, USATF does very little to support the sport’s local running media or national digital media. unlike NASCAR, NFL, NBA, and MLB.
We have to start somewhere.
Take a look at this article by Jason Henderson, the editor of Athletics Weekly. He has some great points.
Why athletics is in danger of going down the “road to irrelevance”, post by Jason Henderson/Athletics Weekly, https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/why-athletics-is-in-danger-of-going-down-the-road-to-irrelevance-1039961288/?fbclid=IwAR3xu2xibFCPjjIEQLGoxErGswludcgOX_Obo-ZuLtdltPI1DuWUqo5ppkI, #athleticsweekly, #twocircles, #jackbuckner, #britishathletics, #jasonbaulch,
