Most of my critiques come from their social media presence on instagram and youtube.
It seems the company is EXTREMELY oriented towards michael johnson which makes sense as a commisioner role, not as an athlete. Unfortunately, many track fans were not alive when he was the best track athlete in the world. The younger generation will not buy into GST if they keep posting MJ interviews, MJ trading cards, MJ quotes, MJ pictures. This league needs to be about the athletes who just won olympic medals. The current faces of the sport.
They need to use their signed athletes more heavily and announce the new signings, not fill their followers' feeds with MJ content.
I think GST is a great idea, and they market themselves as taking a new approach to track, but they need to make it more about NOW, and a lot less about MJ trading cards or upcoming race analysis.
PS. Trading cards of Syd or Kerr or additional signed athletes would be a good idea. But MJ is not the face of track anymore and the power of GST is not in making youtube videos of race previews, its about creating a unique Athletics product.
Anyone feeling this way? Am I totally off base?
According to Kyle Merber they have a very spread out and lengthy marketing build up meaning despite having commitments and contracts in place for many athletes they can't/won't be promoting them or using them in place of Michael Johnson until that time comes.
Michael Johnson is just a placeholder. having Syd and Kerr are good and all, but you can't really make a meal out of it until you have their competitors, the field, and the rivalry.
Its their decision not to shoot all their shots now and be out of ammo come 2025.
This is my take, as well. OP, I’m guessing the marketing will change drastically once a large number of athletes have been signed. Brands will typically start with a soft marketing phase - to get traction going, social media algorithm centering them, establishing any ‘heritage’ foundation it can use to give itself credibility.
It’ll all likely evolve to the competing athletes in a few months.
This is all on the side of even the logistical stuff I don't get. 24 races across 3 days. No athletic endeavours in between track races (aka field events) which I don't think we will realize how much we miss them until they are gone. You want to presumably get large crowds into big venues for 3 straight days with an average of 4 mens and 4 womens races a day (there are 24 total events across mens and womens per "slam" right?).
Yes! How are we supposed to fill a three day schedule with only a few races? The perfect track meet is about 4 hours long and has less than two minutes between each race. Anything else has missed the mark.
Fire the gun, race, set up the blocks, fire the next gun. A track meet should not take three days. Sorry, I am a die-hard fan and the idea of sitting in the stands for hours and hours, day after day sounds boring. My wife and kids would for sure not be interested.
Most of my critiques come from their social media presence on instagram and youtube.
It seems the company is EXTREMELY oriented towards michael johnson which makes sense as a commisioner role, not as an athlete. Unfortunately, many track fans were not alive when he was the best track athlete in the world. The younger generation will not buy into GST if they keep posting MJ interviews, MJ trading cards, MJ quotes, MJ pictures. This league needs to be about the athletes who just won olympic medals. The current faces of the sport.
They need to use their signed athletes more heavily and announce the new signings, not fill their followers' feeds with MJ content.
I think GST is a great idea, and they market themselves as taking a new approach to track, but they need to make it more about NOW, and a lot less about MJ trading cards or upcoming race analysis.
PS. Trading cards of Syd or Kerr or additional signed athletes would be a good idea. But MJ is not the face of track anymore and the power of GST is not in making youtube videos of race previews, its about creating a unique Athletics product.
Anyone feeling this way? Am I totally off base?
That's the least of their problems. Their main problem is they are going to have a 3 day track meet and scoring everything on doubles most people don't care about. I'm supposed to care what Quincy Hall can run a 200 in?
Or if they get Gabby Thomas to sign up, and does 200/400 I'm supposed to be excited she'll never race Sha'Carri or Shericak if they are 100/200?
At least Kishane Thompson didn't win the Olympics as he doesn't run the 200 so I don't have to worry about him.
Too many small failed meets ruin the sport. I'm happy Flow Track didn't purchase the worst, low interest DL meet at Eugene. I heard Mexico City may be the next DL spot.
It is not too late to pivot Grand Slam to four Ekidens. This would be very fun and cool. The closest running can be to the Tour de France. Could do mass races too in order get some money. Look at marathon majors Abbot has a “grand slam” series of races with this model. It is a mass sport you can model it better than the marathon majors in order to shift focus on elite race
Too many small failed meets ruin the sport. I'm happy Flow Track didn't purchase the worst, low interest DL meet at Eugene. I heard Mexico City may be the next DL spot.
I assume you are joking about Eugene? It is one of the icons of the sport. The athletes love it, the facilities are amazing, and the weather is almost always perfect for great racing.
I saw a guy run 3:43 in the mile there and lose. Good luck finding that at many other American track meets. Pre is a great meet!
This is all on the side of even the logistical stuff I don't get. 24 races across 3 days. No athletic endeavours in between track races (aka field events) which I don't think we will realize how much we miss them until they are gone. You want to presumably get large crowds into big venues for 3 straight days with an average of 4 mens and 4 womens races a day (there are 24 total events across mens and womens per "slam" right?).
Yes! How are we supposed to fill a three day schedule with only a few races? The perfect track meet is about 4 hours long and has less than two minutes between each race. Anything else has missed the mark.
Fire the gun, race, set up the blocks, fire the next gun. A track meet should not take three days. Sorry, I am a die-hard fan and the idea of sitting in the stands for hours and hours, day after day sounds boring. My wife and kids would for sure not be interested.
From an execution standpoint this is the number one thing I don't get. I wrote about this before - for this to garner any return it's going to need a TV deal and sponsors. But sponsors and networks like the perception the product is valuable and the way that is judged is by people there in person watching it. Half filled stadiums excite nobody - so let's think about the meet in L.A. Who is coming to watch this 3 consecutive days?
Driving in traffic, paying for parking, paying for entrance and then sitting down in a stadium to watch 8 events go off in 3 hours with only "storytelling" filling the void? Okay so maybe you are hoping to get 50% new spectators for days 2 and 3 - I just don't know if we have that many track fans or even impending track fans here in the US.
I hate having this feeling but I do - it smells a little like something that is going to be very good and lucrative for a select few for a very short time (including "commissioner" Johnson and ultimately does nothing to genuinely enhance/grow/promote the sport in the long run.
Too many small failed meets ruin the sport. I'm happy Flow Track didn't purchase the worst, low interest DL meet at Eugene. I heard Mexico City may be the next DL spot.
Flotrack is trusted by the European track family dynasties. Flotrack dropped Pre Classic due to the numbers. It's business. Not personal.