ATHLOS Needs To Go The Distance

On the other side of uncomfortable situations is growth. – Dawn Staley, AFLAC ad

SHE RUNS NYC 09:26:24. Thursday night. Live stream: ESPN+, Fubo, YouTube, X.

I don’t watch whatever those are. Did see some marketing info. Could this be the event that sparks the future?

The world’s fastest women blaze a trail through the world’s greatest city for an electrifying night of grace, speed, and sound.

CLOSE THE GAP/10% GIVE BACK

10% of all revenues from ticketing, commercial sponsorship and broadcast will be re-distributed to all participating athletes, making this the biggest prize offering in the history of women’s track-only events.

SETTING THE PACE/BIB INNOVATION

ATHLOS is introducing bibs designed specifically to fit a woman’s frame. This innovation keeps our athletes at the forefront of every detail, enhancing both performance and comfort. We’ve opted for adhesive bibs instead of using the traditional, uncomfortable safety pins.

SETTING THE TONE/WALK OUT SONGS

Legendary DJ Derrick “D-Nice” Jones will curate a custom walk-out song for each athlete, bringing the energy to ATHLOS between races and setting the stage for an unforgettable competition. Expect an iconic mix of tracks designed to energize both athletes and the crowd.

Athlos held just six races – the 100-meter dash, 200, 400, 100-meter hurdles, 800 and 1,500 – with six women competing in each event. The star-studded field of athletes – think thirty Olympic medals – competed for a record-setting purse, totaling $110,000 per race with $60,000 awarded to the winner.

Didn’t miss a single Indiana Fever game this year, I could certainly watch a half dozen female dashes. If only I could find them.

No less a cultural observer than George Brose offered these insights a couple of days after the event.

N 14 N. 65 Thoughts and Musings About Promoting Track and Field

This week I was almost intrigued by the promotion of the meet called Athlos, in the old Randal’s Island stadium now called the Icahn Stadium in NYC.   However, I wasn’t intrigued enough to remember to watch it.  Gettin’ old, I guess.  But I did read about it and wondered how someone dreamed up this promotion.  Personally I’m on burn out after the Olympics and Diamond League wrap ups.  This concept of sharing a waning sportlight with Megan Thee Stallion or whomever to draw in the non-track fans reminds me of TV shows like Dancing With The Stars or The Masked Singer or America’s Got Talent.  Throw in some B celebrity, add a bit of  pizazz with fireworks and try to get athletes already well on the downward slope after a hard season of competition to race for money.  That’s probably the answer,  money.  If the sponsor had thrown in a million dollars or so for a world record performance and scheduled the meet a week or two before or after the Paris Olympics, it might have gotten some traction with me. 

Consider when some kids in college can do much better on the current NIL revenues than world class athletes could do at Athlos ($60,000 for a win). In comparison, players in the WNBA receive an average annual pay of $119,590 or   ($2,989.75/game in a forty-game season) with the highest-earning players in the WNBA receiving around $252,000 or $6,250/game.   Men in the NBA have a minimum salary of $1,157,153 for an 82-game season or an average of $14,111.62 per game.  The median NBA salary is a whopping $6,696,429.00.  You’re right, women’s sport pay sucks, but in track and field, men’s pay sucks equally.    

A noble effort by the Athlos organizers, but they were working with a tired product at a time when football, Major League Baseball, and even cross country might be of more interest to a lot of the the track and field public.  My mistake, they were going after people who had little or no knowledge in the sport by promoting it with Megan T S.  You’re right again, the Super Bowl at half time does that, too.  Maybe they could have gotten Snoop Dog going against Jay Zee in a pole vault competition or better still Sean Diddy Combs against R. Kelly both out on  recognizance bonds for a go at a broad jump. 

Track purists may not love it, a concert disguised as a track event. But track alone has clearly not been enough for America.

This also reminds me of some past attempts to promote the sport in a somewhat unconventional way linked to other activities.  In 1954 in Toronto, Canada, an organization supporting track and field for young athletes held a training camp and brought in some American coaching talent including Fred Wilt, Ken Doherty,  and Brutus Hamilton to conduct a clinic.  In conjunction a track meet was put on at the Canadian National Exposition grounds while a circus was camped in the infield for a performance later that evening.  

Several well known athletes were brought in to run some exhibition races.  Among them was Wes Santee there to race a mile.  Indeed it was special.  When the gun went off, several elephants got excited and bolted from their handlers.  As Wes was rounding the last turn of the race he found the elephants blocking his path and had to run around them.  He won the race in  a pedestrian 4:25. obviously not going all out, or perhaps he stepped in something.  After this elephantine performance Wes came back in an equally slow 880 in 1:58. Sort like the old saying of ‘all of a sudden there was a piano or an elephant on his back.’

George Brose goes on. How could he not. https://onceuponatimeinthevest.blogspot.com/2024/09/n-14-n-65-thoughts-and-musings-about.html

Meanwhile, this from a person who couldn’t love the sport more.

I hate bringing entertainers into sports events. In fact, I’d even get rid of cheerleaders with their silly pompoms. They really don’t lead cheers any more.  In my day, cheers like “Repel them, repel them; retain your status quo!” meant something and the whole crowd, well, at least half of us, yelled like hell.   But I digress. Wrong sporting events.  

If our sport does not have enough intrinsic value to support itself without polluting it with leeches from Hollywood, let it die or change the rules to make it more “attrack-tive.” (see 15 sec rule for pitchers.)

If value has to be added to T&F, look at sports like golf or tennis, make the athletes compete for really Big$$$.  

But here in the USA, STOP reporting results in %$+=*) metrics.  English is the universal language, so make the Europeans et al learn inches, etc. etc.

“The way that they put this together,” one athlete said, still beaming, “I wasn’t expecting this, for sure. Especially the walk-in. That was insane. We need to have that every track meet.”

One more thing, let’s figure out how to get team competition back into every meet.  Let Megan Thee Stallion, on the Blue Team, see if she can beat Lady Ga Ga, on the Red Team, over 100 meters in high heels.

Sorry, forgive the hyperbole.  I got carried away.

Another thought, if speeding up the meets is one goal, use the Penn Relays SOP of getting the runners on and off the track faster.  

Sorry, not done.  Here’s another idea: all college athletes are now pros, so let’s have universities bring in the alumni pros to make the meets more attractive.  

And vice versa.

A superannuated running coach sent me that note first thing. Guessing neither he nor I is among the target demographic. But I’ll tell you who is – girls, young women, baby females. Like a two-hour recruitment film for the short races, 100-yards to the mile. Be the change, I always say.

As Athlos chief marketing officer Kayla Green said. “I mean, for us, success is someone who might not be a track fan, but they came with a friend. They might have come because they knew Meg was performing. And they look at this track event and they go, this is the most fun I’ve ever had. How have I not been following these girls? How have I not known about them? So for us it’s really broadening that fandom, broadening the reach. Exposing new fans to this incredible sport so that it doesn’t fade away in the next four years.”

Think school assemblies.

To me, bears repeating, ATHLOS looked like nothing other than a two-hour recruitment video for young girls, especially those of color. Who like hip-hop and tiaras by Tiffany. You can run fast, make money and still look pretty like a princess.

“Normally, track meets, they’re all about track, right? And they’re just about sitting in your seats and watching the race,” Gabby Thomas said. “And this is about celebrating track, celebrating the runners, celebrating what we’re experiencing. It’s an experience for the spectators. And I think track really needs that. Other sports have it, and I love going to other sporting events. I hope people can feel the same way about track.”

My favorite part of the whole show was the special feature on constructing those crowns. How they weaved athletic philosophy with quality jewelry. Love me some nuance.

I didn’t see the whole show.

Didn’t see the whole show because I record everything. I didn’t see the 1500m nor the 200, because a minor men’s sport – college lacrosse maybe – went overtime.

Who did watch ATHLOS? Besides a few grumpy old white scissor-kick fans still suspicious of the fiberglass pole. I solicited a female perspective from, you know, women. The response ranged from ‘didn’t see it’ to ‘never heard about it.’

In her typical greatness, Anne Audain did both.

Jack, I did not see this event, in fact never heard about it. I had to “ google” to read all about it. And there were many articles. As someone who finds the lack of prize money in track and field abysmal, I certainly understand media paying attention . If T &F is to survive in the years between Olympics, something needs to inspire the athletes to keep working hard. And fans to attend meets. I made that kind of money in 1980’s running road races (not marathons)  My scrapbooks show the immense media following of those races. Then the money dwindled in the non-marathon events. Many races I ran don’t exist and the prime ones have the same $$ or less. That situation doesn’t garner respect or support from media, so maybe this ATHLOS idea may cause a change. That said , we are a fractured sport, organization-wise. We have USATF, Running USA, Road Race Management, RRCA and ARRA.  There is no cohesiveness. So, Serena’s husband saw an opportunity. Fine with me!

Cheers, Annie.   I stood up for runners to be able to earn a decent living! 

She damn sure did.

Speaking of the 1980’s, maybe 1981 or 2, I remember Phil Knight and Rob Strasser sent me to Bristol, Connecticut, to convince ESPN to broadcast the upcoming Pre Meet in Eugene. Met with some honcho at his home, ’cause he was housebound with a broken foot. First thing he wants to know is how much Nike is going to pay them. Which was kinda the complete opposite of what I wanted to know.

We did not come to terms and I wanted to break his other foot. Have you seen the crap on ESPN’s numerous stations? And what has it gotten us – BREAKING at the Olympics. That’s what.

More from Marcus Thompson II in the New York Times.

Many hurdles exist for the sport to stick. The main one is whether it can get to where the masses are — on television. That requires a few things — chief among them is presenting the sport in a way that works for TV. That problem has not been solved despite the sport being wildly entertaining. The sport won’t procure a major TV deal until someone figures it out.

The alternative is a grassroots glow-up. Gradually grow the sport until its more universally familiar. Stack up the buzz-worthy moments. Keep putting these magnetic personalities on display. And hope eventually something happens to elevate it to a new level.

Why not both? Why not now? Soon at least.

Thinking maybe six events. Sprints, DISTANCES, field. Six different cities. (Definitely Gainesville.) Six different musical acts. Jelly Roll! Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats!! Make a deal with ESPN. Break a leg, if you have to.

Grassroots glow-up. Kids Miles. City leagues. Long Distance Relays. New Nike boss emphasizes the local specialty running stores. Travel teams. IMG for track & field. Free all-comers meets. Stroke the media.

And – of course – cheerleaders.

With pompoms.