If active is ditched, all other similar registration processing sites tack on the stupid processing fees. Has something to do with credit card companies. Now I’m not sure, but I think papal avoids this exorbitant fee.
As for USAt, with decline in partipants you need to cut staff and salaries as well. Lean out more… that stupid magazine with repetitive info every year, it’s as if they have an AI bot printing it
What value is there to the athletes? I would expect bike/run distances as advertised to be on point, if not more for margin of error
I came in second in my age group at NYC Triathlon this weekend. I went to the Awards Ceremony where they made a big deal about being able to sign up on the spot for the “Championship†next year. I talked to a few other people and it didn’t seem to me like they were going to have a single taker across any of the age groups. Do they really think they are going to turn the NYC Triathlon into the Kona of Olympic distance? That people are going to fork over $300+ on the spot for a race 12 months away. It’s ridiculous. I think this is going to be an abysmal failure. I won’t even take my chances and sign up through the lottery for next year, and I’ve done it 3 years in a row. Like USAT said, if I can’t get a USAT score that will help me make All American, then I just as soon find a different local Olympic distance race where I can.
I came in second in my age group at NYC Triathlon this weekend. I went to the Awards Ceremony where they made a big deal about being able to sign up on the spot for the “Championship†next year. I talked to a few other people and it didn’t seem to me like they were going to have a single taker across any of the age groups. Do they really think they are going to turn the NYC Triathlon into the Kona of Olympic distance? That people are going to fork over $300+ on the spot for a race 12 months away. It’s ridiculous. I think this is going to be an abysmal failure. I won’t even take my chances and sign up through the lottery for next year, and I’ve done it 3 years in a row. Like USAT said, if I can’t get a USAT score that will help me make All American, then I just as soon find a different local Olympic distance race where I can.
+1 on USAT stepping up to handle registration without having additional fees. That would be exactly the kind of value that people could see right away.
i would love to see USAT and races end their relationship with them and have USAT add their own registration process that is included in their membership or one day fee.
Love this idea! If USAT came up with a race registration vehicle to offer their RDs and subsequent athletes, that could be a real game changer!
the quickest way for USAT to lose support of every strategic partner they have is to get into the various businesses of the rest of the industry. USAT started down this path about 7 years ago and it got an earful (i was in the room) from every major stakeholder.
everybody - registration companies, race directors, media, and others - honors USAT’s place as the once national governing body deserving of shelter from competition. but that’s only as good as USAT’s performance of its job, and its reciprocal decision not to compete with the industry that does not compete with it. one USAT decides its going to get into every bit of business it wants, then its open season on the revenue stream USAT enjoys.
USAT’s letter is incredibly defensive… that doesn’t convince athletes that they are adding value. What would resonate with athletes is USAT stepping up and saying,
“Hey, we hear you and we hear Life Time and we’re going to do better. Here are the changes we are going to make that we think could appease the discontent, and continue to appease Dave over on ST (thanks Dave for your endless support! even if every one of your post says the same thing; thanks!). We’re going to make sure the price you see at the beginning of registration is the price you pay. We’re going to do work closer with WTC to see if they have suggestions for change. And yes, we’ll do away with age groups and begin merit-based categories like they have with cycling, and listen to a panel of cyclists to see if we can avoid the pitfalls with that category based system. We’re listening, evolving and we want to provide you with value you can identify when asked, ‘what value does USAT add?’ (other than end-of-the-year rankings - we can do better than that if that’s the only value you think we’re adding. sorry Dave - but thanks, too!). Yours, USAT.”
That people are going to fork over $300+ on the spot for a race 12 months away. It’s ridiculous.
Well, people do it for Kona (but triple the money) and 70.3 WC (but another 50% more money)…
So yea, it’s a solid model.
Perhaps a solid model. But the reality of what happened at Awards says that people aren’t interested in a LTF Championship. Like I said, I didn’t see a single person go over to the sign up table. The materials they gave us though said we had until Oct 27 to decide. So maybe folks will do it after they think about it once they get home. But I’m officially done with the NYC Tri for the other reasons I stated.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s a fantastic event and I would encourage you to signup for it though the lottery, or podium at one of the qualifying events since it’s on your bucket list. But for me, having done it 3 times already and not getting a USAT Score for it, I am not interested for next year.
It seems to me that might be short-term pain for long-term gain for USAT. Right now it looks as if the sport is dying. Probably because people are sick of being bled dry to go racing. If USAT can come in and provide services to race directors at lower prices, they can drive up participation, which would be to the benefit of their overall mission–more high caliber olympic athletes. Sure they’ll piss off active.com in the interim, but I personally don’t believe the sport needs a rent-seeking parasite like active.
If USAT can come in and provide services to race directors at lower prices, they can drive up participation, which would be to the benefit of their overall mission.
are you also okay with somebody else coming in and providing sanctioning/membership/insurance services to RDs at lower prices?
It seems to me that might be short-term pain for long-term gain for USAT. Right now it looks as if the sport is dying. Probably because people are sick of being bled dry to go racing. If USAT can come in and provide services to race directors at lower prices, they can drive up participation, which would be to the benefit of their overall mission–more high caliber olympic athletes. Sure they’ll piss off active.com in the interim, but I personally don’t believe the sport needs a rent-seeking parasite like active.
Ignoring the fact that triathlon is exploding in other parts of the world, don’t you think that statement is hyperbole even for North America? Certainly there has been a retraction from its high point, but ‘dying’?!! How many years do you think the patient has left before USAT pulls down the flag, triathlon is no longer an olympic sport, and there isn’t a single triathlon left in the United States?
It seems to me that might be short-term pain for long-term gain for USAT. Right now it looks as if the sport is dying. Probably because people are sick of being bled dry to go racing. If USAT can come in and provide services to race directors at lower prices, they can drive up participation, which would be to the benefit of their overall mission–more high caliber olympic athletes. Sure they’ll piss off active.com in the interim, but I personally don’t believe the sport needs a rent-seeking parasite like active.
Ignoring the fact that triathlon is exploding in other parts of the world, don’t you think that statement is hyperbole even for North America? Certainly there has been a retraction from its high point, but ‘dying’?!! How many years do you think the patient has left before USAT pulls down the flag, triathlon is no longer an olympic sport, and there isn’t a single triathlon left in the United States?
we had a much bigger retraction than this, on a percentage basis, in the 1990s.
Yeah, it’s probably hyperbole. But if I were in charge of USAT I’d certainly be worried about general trends. Shrinking participation numbers, consolidation of races (my perception is that participation has been changing from racing 6-10 times a year at smaller locally run races, to 1-3 branded destination races), big promoters looking elsewhere for sanctioning. All that would definitely concern me if I were USAT.
USAT’s letter is incredibly defensive… that doesn’t convince athletes that they are adding value. What would resonate with athletes is USAT stepping up and saying,
“Hey, we hear you and we hear Life Time and we’re going to do better. Here are the changes we are going to make that we think could appease the discontent, and continue to appease Dave over on ST (thanks Dave for your endless support! even if every one of your post says the same thing; thanks!). We’re going to make sure the price you see at the beginning of registration is the price you pay. We’re going to do work closer with WTC to see if they have suggestions for change. And yes, we’ll do away with age groups and begin merit-based categories like they have with cycling, and listen to a panel of cyclists to see if we can avoid the pitfalls with that category based system. We’re listening, evolving and we want to provide you with value you can identify when asked, ‘what value does USAT add?’ (other than end-of-the-year rankings - we can do better than that if that’s the only value you think we’re adding. sorry Dave - but thanks, too!). Yours, USAT.”
