when i talk to people inside USAT who have specific knowledge of the financials, san diego had some pretty big red ink associated with it, largely i suspect because the age group race had okay numbers but not nearly enough to fund the pro purse.

the reason the numbers in san diego were not better is because san diego is only on the edge of being a first tier triathlon market. add to that the fact that there were a fair number of races competing with that race for registrations.

chicago is a first tier triathlon market. san francisco, los angeles, new york city, houston, wash dc. i think san diego might be just a step below, sitting with seattle, boston, denver, twin cities.

i think chicago needed another big race, and life time was far enough away not to rob the WTS age group race from registrations. i don't know that the city of san diego really welcomed this race as much as chicago did. chicago's mayor is a triathlete. i don't know that san diego has the support in the city to really get behind the event in a big way.

san diego is an important triathlon market but it's overserved in every way relative to other markets its size.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I love endurance sports. I have actually driven my car 5 hours from Seattle to Eugene to watch people running 5,000 and 10,000 meters. I have been out in the snow for hours watching cross country skiers race when I lived in Norway. I still remember my dad took me and my brother to Holmenkollen to watch Oddvar Braa became world champion in 15k in 1982. Of course it is easier to be a fan of endurance sport (winter and summer) in Europe, but you can be it in the USA by being creative and by buying the ITU pass, following streams, flotrack etc.

Now back to triathlon since I am the 19,000 guy ;-) What I think is missing in the discussion about prize money is everything outside of the money. ITU pays money, but more important they give athletes a platform to perform. When it is an ITU WTC event you know the best people are racing. Just like with biathlon and cross country skiing. It is not 10 elite athletes, it is 50+. Being an "ITU athlete" has other benefits also (depending on the country), your travel, food and hotel can be covered, equipment etc. And of course you will have access to be on live TV/streaming. But most of all, it is easy to follow ITU racing as a fan of elite triathlon. The same way it is to follow other structured endurance sports with a world cup system.

Structure is a win win for both the athlete and the fan. So what about long distance triathlon? I am a fan, I follow races when I can and when it is possible. Many times twitter is the best way to follow and that is kind of ironic. As a fan of the sport I want to see the best race against each other more often, I want the best to be rested and ready to battle at the important events - not tired after qualifying, I want the sport to understand that it is 2014 and equality is the norm. I want the elite athletes that dedicate their time to be as fast as possible to have a platform to perform on.
Do I think this will happen, no. Long distance triathlon is fragmented, that is the reality. Do I think many has the same view as I do, no, I think most people in and around the long distance triathlon are happy with status quo. Will I keep following the long distance triathlon, yes.

I think though we have to look at both the ITU and the LC triathlon (let's say WTC because that's the big boy LC race production) as 2 different sports and how they are ran.

Did I read that ITU loses $2mil a year and is basically forgiven for that? Take USA Triathlon and it's WTS races in San Diego, it lost a boat load of money having those races, but does anyone bat an eye? Not really

So I think it's a bit unfair to say LC triathlon needs to be run like ITU, when they are ran completely separate. ITU is run as it is because of the Olympic funding, IOC. LC triathlon is essentially an private sport.


Which to my greater point, in order to fix this, we don't need to bag on WTC. We need to bag on LC racing itself and figure out ways to make it more marketable or the races more intense favorable for advertising. I've asked you and others who have said LC triathlon is marketable, but I've gotten no concrete answer on how to actual change the sport to get it to make more money. The answer seems to be "oh well they train and race hard and fast for so long, they deserve money"...that's not how real world businesses work, and that's what LC is in. It's not in the protected ITU market.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Cameras on bikes would help, live video feeds, leaderboards that update etc. Make it more interesting than just sit around and wait 8 hours to see them 5 minutes.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

I'd love to see a "tour de france tracker" that has gps tracking on every person and had a map that had dots showing their speed/place/hr/power (doenst have to show all of them) along with the video feed.

I don't know how much this all costs either though, and I don't know if people would be willing to spend $15 on a 1 day kona telecast.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

It's rather cheap. A simple cellular chip with GPS on it will provide all you need. Hardest part would be the software.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Camera on bike is limited by battery, unless a way to charge them? A gopro uses what 2-3 hour battery life, if on full on vid mode?

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

http://gopro.com/...s/hero3-battery-life

Definitely not long enough for any Tour or Kona ride

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

from the collection of age grouper remarks here in san diego:

year 1: terrible bike course of potholes, and hills - many didnt want to come back thinking it would be same.
year 2: better bike course, price was too high (can do a 70.3 for same cost)

during the time frame there where no major triathlons around, although there were some half marathons and marathons that could have detracted people.

Bingo. Between March and October a resident of San Diego county can wake up in his own bed and race 6 different olympic/international distance triathlons. All at least decently run with fields ranging from somewhat to highly competitive. The ITU race made 7.

Throw in Oceanside 70.3, another half ironman, 10+ sprint distance races, plus the dozen+ races the tri club of san diego hosts...yes, there's a lot of racing opportunity.

The first year costs were probably huge because of the number of intersections closed. The second year (different bike course) it became a question of, "pay ~$200 for another race around Fiesta Island?" No thanks, we have other options.