I have a concern about Elite Athletes

[rainbowgirl28]

For a lot of athletes, their best bet for sponsors is building relationships with businesses in their hometown. You are a lot more likely to get a number of small sponsors than a big one. Have a sponsor recognition page on your website, send them an autographed picture, send a quarterly newsletter with updates... etc.

[patchdoggydogg]

FYI, here is a link to the IAAF rules on advertising, which is very specific on what you can/can't do along with the size of the uniform logos:

www.iaaf.org/newsfiles/9601.pdf

If any of you saw the men's marathon trials last month, you'll notice that some of the Brooks-sponsored runners wore tape over their jerseys, as the Brooks logo was not the regulation size.

[rainbowgirl28]

FYI, here is a link to the IAAF rules on advertising, which is very specific on what you can/can't do along with the size of the uniform logos:

www.iaaf.org/newsfiles/9601.pdf

If any of you saw the men's marathon trials last month, you'll notice that some of the Brooks-sponsored runners wore tape over their jerseys, as the Brooks logo was not the regulation size.

Yeah, but that only applies to IAAF meets... on US soil that includes Olympic Trials, Prefontaine?, the big IAAF meet in NY... maybe 2 or 3 others?

[Barto]

In theory, it applies to all meets whose marks would be accepted by the IAAF. In practice this is rarely the case; however, they could potentially use it as a reason to not accept the competition as "official".

[powerplant42]

I think that if Track and Field was bigger, than the cheating issue wouldn't be nearly as big as it is portrayed. Think about it. Alot of football players are CONVICTED FELONS, DRUGGIES, JUICERS, etc. and still get sponsored by a thousand different companies. Either there needs to be absolutely no cheating for a year or two (not gonna happen by the way...) to get a few small sponsors for a large majority of T & F athletes, or, people need to help get as many sponsors as possible for a couple of the already big-time athletes, which can THEN help promote interest in other athletes, and so on. That's my opinion.

[achtungpv]

Unfortunately, T&F is a niche sport and always will be. Companies sponsor athletes solely to get a return on that investment through increased brand visibility and increased sales. There are only a handful of US meets and except for Prefontaine, there's no attendance, and if there's TV coverage there's a good chance their sponsored athlete will never appear on TV to get their logo some exposure. To sponsor a non-top tier T&F athlete is charity without the benefit of it being a tax write off. It does not make good business sense to sponsor the vast majority of track athletes. That's the reality of it. Happy Festivus.

[AVC Coach]

Until the governing bodies of track & field find a way to shorten the length of a track meet, at least at the high school and jr. high levels where it all begins, the number of fans will not increase. Nobody wants to sit in the stands for 4 hours or more. They'll show up just in time to watch their kid do their thing and then hit the road. (NOTE to HS coaches: Don't invite 20+ teams to your meets and run prelims!)

The media broadcasting every single lap of the 10,000m run and only a handful of attempts from the field events (combined) doesn't help. NO offense to distance runners. The average sports fan is accustomed to seeing big hits, diving catches, slam dunks and high speed crashes into a wall.

Here's a few questions to think about: Outside of an Olympic year, how many track & field athletes do you see in commercials? How many fans can blame the officials when their team loses a track meet? What's the total number of jersey replicas sold each year for a given track and field athlete? No Ocho Cinco's out there huh?

America doesn't have a clue who our great T&F athletes are. Why would they want to throw money at them?

[powerplant42]

Maybe that could change if meets were filmed, edited to fit all of the most interesting/important parts of the meet, THEN broadcasted. It would at LEAST be much shorter, and it might help to get the sport some exposure... thoughts?

[littlebigboy]

If TV covered it like they do golf, they could keep it from being so boring and cover many more events and attempts. Golf goes from hole to hole and shot to shot. Think of how many jumps could be covered if they went from PV to HJ to Lt etc. Seems like if they can do it for golf they could do it for track.

[UWvaulter]

http://www.iaaf.org/newsfiles/9601.pdf
2.3.2 Alcohol Products: Advertising of alcohol products with an alcohol content
of up to 20% by volume is permitted in respect of Competitions, except for
drink mixes or cocktails where the base alcohol is more than 20% by volume.
Advertising of any other alcohol products in respect of Competitions is
prohibited.
2.3.3 Tobacco Products: Advertising of tobacco products in respect of
Competitions is prohibited.
2.3.4 Food Supplements: Advertising of food supplements products in respect of
Competitions is prohibited.

I noticed that an athlete can wear a beer advertisement, but not a supplement advertisement on their uniform. Is this right, and what do you think about it?

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.iaaf.org/newsfiles/9601.pdf
2.3.2 Alcohol Products: Advertising of alcohol products with an alcohol content
of up to 20% by volume is permitted in respect of Competitions, except for
drink mixes or cocktails where the base alcohol is more than 20% by volume.
Advertising of any other alcohol products in respect of Competitions is
prohibited.
2.3.3 Tobacco Products: Advertising of tobacco products in respect of
Competitions is prohibited.
2.3.4 Food Supplements: Advertising of food supplements products in respect of
Competitions is prohibited.

I think that the beer companies sponsor a lot of track related things in Europe, so this is not surprising.

I noticed that an athlete can wear a beer advertisement, but not a supplement advertisement on their uniform. Is this right, and what do you think about it?

[UWvaulter]

Yeah you are right. I remember getting lots of beer and wine as prizes. I still am having a hard time believing that the IAAF is closing the door on potential supplement sponsors.