this old white guy thinks alternating nice/kona is a great idea. in fact, nice as the alternate to kona was my idea. i think IM should have stuck to that plan, although i understand the reasons it didn’t.
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Visitors, no loyalty to the cause!!!
Another old white guy here who thought the alternating Kona/Nice plan was a good idea. I don’t think they gave this enough time to really become a trend and to build up some momentum.
On the economics of it all - that they lost money on the WC’s is OK - they had lost money on the Kona WC Race for years up until about 10 years ago - it was all the other races, that were profitable!
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How long will that last though? The nostalgia thing
It grows deeper the long it goes and of course $$$.
7 years , no just kidding for ever it gets deeper and deeper as people get warm and fuzzy. Like how old people talk about sports back in there day. Like yeah guys were smoking and drinking daily, tough competition.
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I think it’s fading. When Kona was condensed and televised each year, it got some eyeballs but that just doesn’t happen now.
I suspect the nostalgia crowd will age out eventually.
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For sure. I don’t think Kona means much to the people 35 and under who are just now getting in to triathlon.
That would be an interesting survey. Unfortunately we don’t have many in that age cohort around here… 
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I agree. But I think the scary issue is if you take a year off Kona, does someone else try to move in?
Or does Kona just get tired altogether a say please don’t come back?
You’d think that wouldn’t happen because so much does depend on it, but if you stop doing business with one of your vendors for a year, don’t be surprised if they figure out another way to make ends meet and make your business irrelevant.
Some degree of mutual dependency is probably a good thing.
The off year non champs race idea is an option, but it might further erode the Kona dream. Still, I think that was probably a better route than the split venue/gender concept.
Our top demos, per GA:
And they’re a lot closer together than you might think. You combine 25-34 and 18-24 and it would be #2 on the list.
Also filed to: stupid GA4 not being nearly as granular as old Google Analytics…
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Has putting Nice on the calendar for a few years increased interest in Kona for a few extra years? I had stopped watching Kona but the last couple of years I have watched again. Kona had become same old, same old every year. Whatever they do they need to bring new life into the commentary. Welch and Lieto are so predictable and boring.
I think it will stay in Kona but local support will reduce. Will be interesting to see if T100 has an impact in 5 years if they can grow their support and take away from IM MD. That potentially could change the route from 70.3 to IM but not sure that will happen.
The current political and economic situation will potentially impact in the short term.
I’m one of the fellas in Nice this week. I’m based in Europe, and I have zero interest in traveling across the world to Hawaii for a WC. Maybe under different international conditions, but not with what’s going on right now. So, for me this is the last chance to do a WC (at least in the near future). Which means I’ll probably start checking out what Challenge has to offer …
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OK. Not a single disturbance to report from the grounds. But, yes, France is paralyzed. 
Interesting trends noticed this past weekend at the Barrelman Triathlon. A half-iron distance race organized by Multisport Canada that this year they added an Olympic Distance option to after nine years of being a stand-alone single distance half iron distance race only.
Without the IM hype and branding influence these may be actually reasonably interesting trends.
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Many “older” athletes who in years past would have raced the “full” Barrelman opted for the Olympic Distance. Most of them wearing their past Barrelman Finisher Hats in the Olympic Distance Race. This may have been about 25% of the race field. When I asked some of these people later - why the Olympic - “a half-iron is just too far to race”
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An informal asking of the whole of the Olympic Distance Race Field at the start over the PA when I was Announcing - of who was doing their first triathlon today - over 25%of the people put their hand up - most of these folks, appeared “younger”. When I asked some of these folks one-on-one later if they would ever race anything longer - few had any interest!
Where I’m going with this is - I sense longer racing, half-iron/70.3 and for sure full IM, is possibly on the wane already, buoyed up by the brand hype of IM. It will almost 100% for-sure, not be as big a deal as it is now, in say 15 to 20 years!
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99% of people doing their first tri think an Oly is crazy unachievable, of course the thought of a IM is out of question sheesh…Most people think 5k is a long run!
Ask them the same question a day or two afterwards though and see what the responses are…
Indeed - these days an Olympic Distance as a first Triathlon is a big ask.