Flashes of Panic

I’ve had critical words to say about the Boston Globe’s coverage of track in the past, but last Friday they ran a story about the changes to the indoor track circuit in the last 20 years which is absolutely stellar and should be read—carefully—by anyone who cares about the sport.

The thesis is, roughly, that in the “old days” when there was a vibrant indoor track circuit in the northeast and the B.A.A. and Knights of Columbus meets were held in Boston Garden, there were dozens of events, many happening at once, and meets lasted ten hours. This is where track got its cherished “three ring circus” reputation, and with the exception of the Millrose Games, all those meets are now gone. But there is once again a successful indoor track circuit, going from Boston to Millrose to Tyson (in Arkansas, of all places, but if you’ve been reading here for a few years you know why that works) and back to Boston for Nationals.

But excepting the two-day Nationals, all the meets are now “showcases,” a very limited slate of events, stage managed to allow the spectators to concentrate on one event at a time. The article quotes, extensively, the team which puts on both the Boston Indoor Games and now Millrose, and they point out, “The spectators only have one set of eyes.”

What’s behind the resurgence? Well-packaged and promoted meets held during a monthlong window in compact buildings, featuring top names in marquee events and points-based bonus cash at the end. “Indoor track has completely changed over the last 12 years,” says Mark Wetmore, president of Global Athletics & Marketing, which created the Reebok meet and now organizes the Millrose Games.

The trend now is “boutique” meets such as the Boston Indoor Games, which offer a fast-paced program built around several events designed to produce world records. “It’s bright-lights-big-city-in-your-face entertainment for three hours,” says Rich Kenah, the former 800-meter world medalist who handles Global’s marketing.

Nationals isn’t like that at all. I was sitting at the track yesterday wondering why I was so unexcited about anything I had seen so far, or anything coming up; I was wondering why the NCAA meet, the other two-day championship meet, is so much more exciting than USATFs. This article provides the answer: it’s because USATFs is a throwback to the old days, before track became truly professional. They’re struggling to figure out how to make track more appealing, but the answer is already there: it’s been done indoors, and it requires steps USATF can’t take. It requires severe constraints on the number of events. It requires competitive fields; I don’t think the five-woman 800m field yesterday really cuts it.

Maybe USATFs will stay unchanged as our “what not to do” example?

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