I haven’t read much of the posts about the new series that are already on ST…so maybe this has been discussed.
But does anyone else think that the 101 races will pressure IM/70.3 (and other popular/competing races like wildflower) to start giving more prize money in order to attract the top professional athletes? I know that having a great professional field isn’t what makes or breaks an individual race (ex. IM Wisconsin), but it does help the entire series when most of the races in that series have a strong pro field.
Again if this has already been discussed I am sorry.
Good question. I doubt it will though. Prize money may not necessarily be the big determining factor in whether youo or I do these events. I think it boils down to other factors.
I mostly agree with you, but I think that prize money does translate into publicity for the event, which may result in greater levels of participation from the masses.
I think that prize money will help to further the sport. If pro’s can actually support themselves by racing they are more inclined to train full time and this leads to better pros and more competetive fields. hopefully this means more exciting racing and more coverage and more money.
I sure hope that it does. Don’t a lot of the european races already give lots of money in incentives and appearance fees? There was a thread a while back about McCormack getting quite a bit just to show up in Roth. A lot of the north american races seem more focused on AG/Charity (not that there is anything wrong with that).
friend in Halifax says he e-mailed the race director for info and that is part of what he gots back. So prob take it for what it is worth, pretty close to Hawaii for a tune up.
Interesting that you might have many of the top 10 in Kona do the all of the 101 races because they do not have to qualify. Hawaii is a must for the coverage and the sponsors, but I am just sayin…
Makes sense that the top Ironman guys would do it, they will have a better chance of winning than competing against the short course guys at 70.3 and they can still race the 101 series and have fresh legs for Hawaii. It’s a win-win. I don’t don’t care who says that pros don’t matter I think that if a lot of top pros show up in 07 the age groupers will follow in droves in 08 because the triathlon media outlets will be forced to cover it. Any time the top contenders in Kona race it’s news.
I wouldn’t downplay the significance of the media coverage that Triathlon One O One will generate. The real-time, internet coverage is the media of the future. It may surpass network TV in importance due to its timeliness.
WTC has great media coverage of Hawaii Ironman by traditional print/tv and then internet. The problem with “real time” media coverage by internet is two fold. One, very few people have handhelds which will allow for this (I own a Treo 700W from Verizon with EVDO high speed and even in NYC downloading anything streaming on the phone is next to impossible and required 3rd party software, simply said, it’s a total drag). Second, how many people are going to “gather” around their dekstop on race day with their familes/friends and watch the "real time coverage. Sure, some ST’s who are hard-core might/those at work with a T1 pipe might, but again the vast majority of people will not because of technical limitations, etc.
In regards to pro’s attracting ag’s, interesting point but never proven (at least IMNA/WTC has never comment to Triathlete/Inside Triathlon magazines on any marked correlation. Colloqually (sp), maybe, but agin RD’s never base their decisons on unproven stats like this, either do the MONEY suppliers like sponsors (Think Ford, Janus, Jeep, ING, Lasalle Bank).
Tom at least always declares his commercial interest with the “footer” on his post … one probably didn’t need to ask about his dog because it seems to hunt well. There have been lots of dogs hunting this week on this issue … that’s what makes ST fun. What will really happen next year … well, we will find out next year and hopefully it will be a well attended new event and the dogs will eat well.
Dave