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It's not triathlon, but could lessons be learned?
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At the risk of getting flamed here, and in the interest of conversation... Taking one of the seemingly hated topics in this forum and throwing it on the fire with the Grid League popping up. Can it survive?

I'm not a Crossfit person, but in my time in the Navy, I did quite a bit of it in the early days of the phenomenon, and I can understand the addictive/ positive nature of that type of workout/ environment.

Either way, I'm very interested to see how this "niche" "sport" is received by the public. (can they sell tickets) Obviously Crossfit already has a huge audience to pitch too, but I don't believe these two entities are working together to further the sport.

Finally, my point. Can triathlon learn some lessons from how to take the sport at a spectator friendly level and take it to a bigger stage? (ie Televised events, paid athletes, larger audiences etc...) This would mean more money poured into the sport by non endemic corporate sponsors.. Something that I would consider a major missing puzzle piece to triathlon would be large corporate, non endemic sponsors..

Something along the lines of the ITU's Team Triathlon? Super Sprint (GP, F1)? Marc Lees seems to be headed along this track.. Smart dude.

Any thoughts?

Jake

Get outside!
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Re: It's not triathlon, but could lessons be learned? [jakers] [ In reply to ]
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XC ski racing is a better comparison.

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Re: It's not triathlon, but could lessons be learned? [jakers] [ In reply to ]
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Triathlon is a participation-driven, individual sport that takes place outdoors - the model for it to follow isn't Grid League or any other stadium sport, but the big city road races such as Chicago, London, Boston, Berlin or New York marathons. These attract big audiences, TV/press coverage and big money for the top competitors. Trying to turn triathlon into a team format, or a format that fits into a small enough space for live spectators to watch a whole race unfold, changes the sport so much I'm not sure it would even have any connection to the sport we know. Events like the mixed relay are interesting, but I don't think they will ever be anything but a sideshow to the individual races.

ITU have already followed the marathon model with a reasonable amount of success - races in and around big cities, live TV coverage (where I live anyway), a race series to attract interest throughout the season, reasonable prize money. The challenge for triathlon is that for many in the sport, this style of racing isn't the pinnacle of the sport - it's a stepping stone to Ironman. IM racing is never going to be a spectator or TV-friendly sport - it's simply far too long, the races are too much of a procession, and it takes so much out of you that the athletes race too infrequently. But from an athletic perspective, it is still a huge draw for participants, and the top racers can credibly claim to be the best triathletes in the sport.

I wonder whether ITU will struggle to grow beyond a certain point as long as there is ambiguity over what the pinnacle of the sport is. Or whether ITU and WTC simply adopt different business models, with the former going after TV money and spectator-friendliness, and the latter being largely participation-driven.
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Re: It's not triathlon, but could lessons be learned? [realAlbertan] [ In reply to ]
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Fair enough on both accounts.

I was looking at the sponsorship and audience side of the "niche sport" . A relatively new sport popping up that may attract a large audience and bigger sponsorships. What could an established sport bring in with the right format?

jake

Get outside!
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Re: It's not triathlon, but could lessons be learned? [jakers] [ In reply to ]
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jakers wrote:
Fair enough on both accounts.

I was looking at the sponsorship and audience side of the "niche sport" . A relatively new sport popping up that may attract a large audience and bigger sponsorships. What could an established sport bring in with the right format?

jake

how is the grid league doing tv wise? I dont have cable, just HD attenna ... it seems the show "american ninja warrior" has already grabbed prime tv spot on NBC ... Usually the course is consistent , so people at home can try some of the stunts (and pretend they are one of the athletes to compare), while crossfit is always random
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