Outdoor Track and Field on Flotrack 2013May 15, 2013 by Mitch Kastoff
T&F Wants Exposure? Let's Just Put the Most Charismatic Athletes on TV
T&F Wants Exposure? Let's Just Put the Most Charismatic Athletes on TV
Critics of the sport are always talking about marketing. Marketing the meets, marketing the matchups, but most importantly, marketing the athletes.
Exposure is key to growth. The more fans are able to see an athlete, the more they can come to like (or detest) him or her. Whether likability is positive or negative, exposure still absolute.
So how does track and field reach a larger audience to expand outside of this niche community? Put more high quality meets on TV? Maybe, but it won’t stop people from instinctively switching the station when they see people running. Build storylines throughout the year so people can know what to watch? You’re asking a lot from everyone. What about starting a mass Twitter hashtag campaign to get someone’s run on ESPN’s Top 10? Doubtful.
What about just giving more face time to our biggest personalities? Winner, winner, reality TV dinner.
The sport has been going about this wrong for a while. If we trick people to watch track meets because they accidentally turned on ESPN2 to try and catch a rerun of Stump the Schwab, they’re never going to become fans. We need to go viral.
Those were better days
Last week, two of the most personable and interesting stars (okay, good looking too) made one more step towards the spotlight beyond an Olympic medal and a four minute spot
Guys want to be him, girls want him; he’s dated Paris Hilton, went nude in a Nike commercial, and we’d never went to go up against him in a beer mile. He’s fought for sponsorship in the sport, has lead the charge for U.S. middle-distance running on the international level, and if anyone has that picture from the ’08 Trials, please send it to us because we want to see it (for science). If you don’t know what we’re talking about, then disregard the last statement.
Nick Symmonds might be slated to be the next star of ABC’s “The Bachelor.” Can he find true love?
My only concern is that runners don’t have a good track record (running puns) on reality TV love shows. So far, the success rate has been a whopping 0% after Josh Cox was eliminated (what’s the right terminology here) during season three of The Bachelorette. Even if Symmonds doesn’t find his future wife (or appear on the show), one thing they have in common is they’re both really, really good at marketing themselves.
Especially when you’re fast and every time someone looks into your eyes, it’s like the first time they heard The Beatles
But Symmonds isn’t the only Olympian in the reality TV spotlight. Sanya Richards-Ross will make her summer debut in a new reality show called “Glam and Gold” on We TV. The show will premiere on July 25th. We TV provided a statement of what to expect from the new series HERE.
Plus, Richard-Ross is married to on-again-off-again-on-again Giants cornerback Aaron Ross. No, they were never divorced; Ross signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and now he’s back with the Giants. It’s not everyday that a cornerback’s wife can outrun him.
Exposure is key to growth. The more fans are able to see an athlete, the more they can come to like (or detest) him or her. Whether likability is positive or negative, exposure still absolute.
So how does track and field reach a larger audience to expand outside of this niche community? Put more high quality meets on TV? Maybe, but it won’t stop people from instinctively switching the station when they see people running. Build storylines throughout the year so people can know what to watch? You’re asking a lot from everyone. What about starting a mass Twitter hashtag campaign to get someone’s run on ESPN’s Top 10? Doubtful.
What about just giving more face time to our biggest personalities? Winner, winner, reality TV dinner.
The sport has been going about this wrong for a while. If we trick people to watch track meets because they accidentally turned on ESPN2 to try and catch a rerun of Stump the Schwab, they’re never going to become fans. We need to go viral.
Those were better days
Last week, two of the most personable and interesting stars (okay, good looking too) made one more step towards the spotlight beyond an Olympic medal and a four minute spot
Guys want to be him, girls want him; he’s dated Paris Hilton, went nude in a Nike commercial, and we’d never went to go up against him in a beer mile. He’s fought for sponsorship in the sport, has lead the charge for U.S. middle-distance running on the international level, and if anyone has that picture from the ’08 Trials, please send it to us because we want to see it (for science). If you don’t know what we’re talking about, then disregard the last statement.
Nick Symmonds might be slated to be the next star of ABC’s “The Bachelor.” Can he find true love?
My only concern is that runners don’t have a good track record (running puns) on reality TV love shows. So far, the success rate has been a whopping 0% after Josh Cox was eliminated (what’s the right terminology here) during season three of The Bachelorette. Even if Symmonds doesn’t find his future wife (or appear on the show), one thing they have in common is they’re both really, really good at marketing themselves.
Especially when you’re fast and every time someone looks into your eyes, it’s like the first time they heard The Beatles
But Symmonds isn’t the only Olympian in the reality TV spotlight. Sanya Richards-Ross will make her summer debut in a new reality show called “Glam and Gold” on We TV. The show will premiere on July 25th. We TV provided a statement of what to expect from the new series HERE.
Plus, Richard-Ross is married to on-again-off-again-on-again Giants cornerback Aaron Ross. No, they were never divorced; Ross signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and now he’s back with the Giants. It’s not everyday that a cornerback’s wife can outrun him.
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