Here in the US top tier Triathlon and endurance athletes are not paid as much the top tier ‘ball’ sports athletes.
Mission Impossible … find a new way to showcase Triathlon to get it into the money or design a new combination of endurance events to create a sport that generates the big money of the ‘ball’ sports.
(Is the answer ‘RollerBall’?) Nah … something more civil … maybe with national states/mulitnational corporations as sponsers.
It is not an easy task, seeing the slow start for professional soccer in the US with it’s world wide base of fans.
Would it be necessary to modify the Triathlon race or just promote it differently? Or will Triathlon eventually evolve into the money as it continues to grow?
Is it even possible to build a new race, competition, or sport that captures the long term interest of the public at large?
Would it include age groupers or just elites? Does it need some kind of celebrity to keep it newsworthy?
Should it to include a stadium or can it be a virtual stadium on the Internet or some other presentation?
Is Triatholon and sport in general to be ‘pure’ and primarily for amateurs only with money regarded as corrupting influence as in the ‘old’ Olympics?
Money comes with popularity. Popularity of sport comes, particularly in the U.S., with having participated in the sport in high school.
So until triathlon is part of the mainstream high school sports system, it will remain small.
Besides, is it really a problem that it is not “mainstream” and high dollar? Personally, I like that after a race I can walk up to someone like Natascha, and say “great race!”, and have someone who is not so overwhelmed by media and frenzy that she will actually stop for a short exchange.
Besides, is it really a problem that it is not “mainstream” and high dollar?
Exactly. I’ve always failed to see how it’s important that a “GAME” become a high paying career. People in the sport trying to make a living at it know full well in advance the income associated with it. If they want to live well then go get some other job that pays well.
Call me an oddball, but it wouldn’t hurt my feelings in the least if all professional sports went away.
Besides, the rumor is that basketball is on track to be the biggest sport in the world. (That would be OK as it was invented by a native of the 51st State who moved to the 6th State to do the inventing.)
every saturday and sunday, millions of british people sit down to watch soccer on TV. i imagine the same true across europe, and likely in many parts of south america as well as other parts of the world. claiming that its inherently “not TV friendly” is really a little myopic. it doesn’t contain the explosive action of US football, basketball or baseball, but it works, on TV and live, for many, many more people worldwide than any of those 3 sports.
disclaimer: i have never been interested in any team sports, including soccer, and i do not watch them on TV or live.
'rumor is that basketball is on track to be the biggest sport in the world"
That must be a rumor only within the NBA. I’ll believe that when I see it. Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever watched an NBA game.
Soccer is by far the biggest sport world wide. I’m now a huge Toronto FC fan and have been watching the FISA under 20 world championship as much as possible. Glad it’s finally coming to North America.
The problem in the US is NIH (Not invented here) Syndrome. The biggest spectator sports in the USA are largely domestic (football, baseball, etc.) and not played anywhere else. The rest of the world watches Formula One, Americans watch NASCAR.
Nothing wrong with any of those domestic sports, but it’s really bizzare that soccer, the world’s most popular sport doesn’t have a better following in the USA. In a sense, it only further demonstrates how insular from the rest of the world the USA is.
As for tri becoming a popular TV sport. Get real. Could you imagine all the obese drinkers down at the local sports bar changing channels from the NFL game to watch triathlon. Just ain’t ever gonna happen.
Soccer is also not popular here because there are no American star players. We only noticed the Tour de France when an American was leading otherwise we really didn’t care about it.
I was talking to friends of mine the other day and they were of the mind that Beckham was coming to the US to make more money than in Europe. I politely told them that Beckham is making peanuts here and that soccer salaries in Europe make our highest paid football players in the US look underpaid.
But in the US, endorsements is where the money is at. That probably is the problem with triathlons. When was the last time an American won Kona? I bet you now if an American would win, they could get tons of money from endorsements.
Respectfully, I honestly don’t know about that. Aside from the annual Al Trauwig sufferfest on ABC, TRiathlons are so misunderstood and really (sorry folks) a bit a fringe sport, albeit one of the fastest growing. I was telling my friends (The smae group) about the HyVee World Cup in Iowa and that the women’s winner got $200K and a Hummer. They were shocked, but Ok, so was I.
In Europe soccer isn’t a sport, it’s a religion, and people pay derly to worship their teams. While that may sound a bit hyperbolic, when was the last time fans in the US were so distraught over a loss that they rioted?
And, with regard to endorsements, I would say that Europe and Asia can hang with the US.
Soccer is the #1 sport in the world and its payers (Even the benchwarmers) among the highest paid athletes. I’m not complaining at all; it is what it is.