The purpose of this thread is after weeks of reading about the pro purse issues and how to make pro triathlon better, I'm curious how do we actually make it better. Halvard always references the northern euro ski programs that have made tv sport programs etc, and I'm trying to understand how to relate it to LC triathlon. Is the best way for IM triathlon, to go the ITU circuit style of racing (15 mile bike loops racing in front of crowds every 45 mins, etc)? Can LC triathlon actually be marketed for more TV/media exposure? And I actually like what WTC is doing with their pro purse, in terms of making it a "pro series" (of course the losers in this will be the "developing" pros side of the sport). Paying pros shouldn't be WTC/Rev3's deal alone, they need big time sponsors (Pepsi, Nike, Johnson & Johnson) to actually cough up the money. WTC just paying pros out of basically the AG pot, is always going to be limiting. But of course big time sponsors come in when the exposure for said sponsor is there. Every time I watch a broadcast on triathlon, it's always the same 6 tri industry sponsors it seems (some gu sponsor, some endurolyte sponsor, and some random one). So is there anything the sport can do to further enhance it's marketability? Am I "reaching" in thinking it can improve substantially?
Are we just "hoping" and not being realistic, that LC triathlon (and triathlon in general) is just stuck in this cute niche environment that will forever be pro prize purse limited. I'm certainly not trying to elevate it to NFL levels, just trying to see if we are missing something. Is the sport so AG focused because that pays the bills, and the pros are just as Slowman puts it, "a check list" part of the race.
Take for instance today at Hy-Vee, apparently they had what 15 paid deep, and what coverage was there? According to those on twitter, the updates were coming from guy tweeting from his phone? Hy-Vee and ITU World's (the best Olympic athletes in the world) taking place on the same day. I get that one is DL and the other is non-draft, but I sorta face palm when I see races of that magnitude racing on the same day. And I'm not saying 1 is better/worse than the other, just seems like a fail for the sport overall when this happens.
So am I ultimately reaching here? Have I missed something, not being from the "old school" part of the sport. Monty and others can chime in and tell us how good/bad it was back in the day, and even locally here I speak to guys who said 15 years ago, the local races here in NC had some *good* prize money worth chasing. So is there anything that the sport can do OR is it going to take something drastic to actually get some serious marketing considerations (IE, changes like going from non-draft to DL)? Obviously with the way IM/70.3 races play out, they never race on their own, so if you went to a 15 mile loop, the safety of athletes becomes an bigger issue. I cant see them going to 5 20 mile loops, etc because of the congestion that can occur, so is there anyting innovative that I'm missing? I kinda feel like it's a wall there stopping the development of the sport, and more or less we are what we are.
-GPS tracking seems to be worth the investment for good interactive online viewing.
**And yes I know there is a segment of triathletes that don't give a flip about the pros.
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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com
Are we just "hoping" and not being realistic, that LC triathlon (and triathlon in general) is just stuck in this cute niche environment that will forever be pro prize purse limited. I'm certainly not trying to elevate it to NFL levels, just trying to see if we are missing something. Is the sport so AG focused because that pays the bills, and the pros are just as Slowman puts it, "a check list" part of the race.
Take for instance today at Hy-Vee, apparently they had what 15 paid deep, and what coverage was there? According to those on twitter, the updates were coming from guy tweeting from his phone? Hy-Vee and ITU World's (the best Olympic athletes in the world) taking place on the same day. I get that one is DL and the other is non-draft, but I sorta face palm when I see races of that magnitude racing on the same day. And I'm not saying 1 is better/worse than the other, just seems like a fail for the sport overall when this happens.
So am I ultimately reaching here? Have I missed something, not being from the "old school" part of the sport. Monty and others can chime in and tell us how good/bad it was back in the day, and even locally here I speak to guys who said 15 years ago, the local races here in NC had some *good* prize money worth chasing. So is there anything that the sport can do OR is it going to take something drastic to actually get some serious marketing considerations (IE, changes like going from non-draft to DL)? Obviously with the way IM/70.3 races play out, they never race on their own, so if you went to a 15 mile loop, the safety of athletes becomes an bigger issue. I cant see them going to 5 20 mile loops, etc because of the congestion that can occur, so is there anyting innovative that I'm missing? I kinda feel like it's a wall there stopping the development of the sport, and more or less we are what we are.
-GPS tracking seems to be worth the investment for good interactive online viewing.
**And yes I know there is a segment of triathletes that don't give a flip about the pros.
------------------
@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com