Why is there ZERO public interest in Track and Field and Marathons except for the Summer Olympics?

Distance racing is incredibly exciting if you know what is going on. There are multiple race strategies, moves made in the middle of the race, incredible comebacks. There is confidence, desperation, runners rising beyond their previous capabilities, runners falling like Icarus. You just need someone who can recognize those things and describe them to the viewers. There is a ton of drama in every distance race.

I've never found watching a distance race boring. I know some do but there are lots of sports that thrive even though some find them boring. I like tennis a lot and used to play quite a bit once. But I have a hard time watching a Grand Slam final where two guys spend three to five hours hitting a ball back and forth.

I used to enjoy watching distance running on TV when I ran in high school, but now that I don't follow the sport much I have no more interest. I don't know who the runners are. Most of the time it's a Kenyan or Ethiopian who wins, so it gets kinda old.

I also find baseball, golf, tennis, soccer, NASCAR, swimming, and most Olympics sports incredibly boring. The only sports I can watch casually are basketball (though rigged officiating and arbitrary fouls make it almost unwatchable now), football and MMA. I even find football boring because of all the commercials and stops. But I can see why the general public likes football and basketball the most.

People find watching cards interesting. People find watching other people play video games interesting. Why?? There is not necessarily any rationale behind any of this. It's just what people like. And what they don't like is watching running.

With respect to soccer, that's the number one sport in the world in terms of viewership. No surprise that it's slowly catching on in the USA.

NFL, NHL, MLB, Nascar, etc. are for profit and operated with the bottom line in mind, a.k.a. profits. T&F and Marathons are paid for by sponsors and the bid process which is not for profit. The sponsor and bid money covers the expenses of several thousands of federation dignitaries and volunteers in the case of T&F.

That's a poor parameter. 90,000 in a fun run and only 10 people competing for places, and 300 trying to run some respectable time.

It would be like football (soccer), way more popular , having everyone playing at the same time, without the thousands of other levels of the sport, juniors etc playing separate leagues and matches.

Most of the 90,000 are not competive, not interested in 'running' or athletics, just doing it because it is the simplest way to get aerobic fitness, they are respectfully called hobby joggers.

Your 'Little Athletics' (as it is here) is but a pimple on the structure of junior football, and yet Little A's is just a Friday night outing, not competive in a 'league' way, parents using it as an opportunity to meet their friends, have a beer and a pie, and get home to watch TV.

I could go on about the boredom of a marathon on TV to all of those supposed runners...

Poker is interesting because the players are betting huge sums of money.

Ball sports are interesting to viewers because they play to an annual championship . (Not biennial championships, every four years Olympics, indoor, outdoor, XC, relay...)

Video games move very quickly and the stars of the sport look like normal people (a bit chubby, sort of nerdy, and the like). That pulls in viewers.

Other sports have engaging announcers with good stories, pre-game shows, analysis, hype, etc. We have ex-pros, some of whom cannot speak well on camera, that have only two phrases - "She is working hard right now!" and "At some point, someone has to make a move!". Imagine if football announcers said equivalent things like, "Patrick Mahomes is working up a good sweat but if doesn't complete this pass, Kansas City will gain no yards on this play." Track needs analysts like Tony Romo that really know what to look for. I would love to hear something like, "Look! Kelati's head is starting to bob a bit. If that head bob gets worse in the next lap or so, Monson is going to win this very easily. Weini looks tired and that doesn't bode well this early in the race"

We are the only sport that prefaces 10-12 seconds of action with a 10 minute puff piece about a favorite's lifestyle followed by five replays of that short race in slow motion. If you are watching the NBA, they do not break away from live action to show a recorded piece about Kevin Durant's rare sneaker collection or James Harden's beard trimming tips.

I don't know where you came up with this take on track's popularity but TRACK is THE most popular high school (having the most participants) sport in the US. Track is more than running fast. In fact there's an event for everyone.

The most immediate thing they can do today to increase TV watchers if the open up all college, elite, and championship meets to any person, American or not, pro or student, that meets the standards.

I like running, I only watch probrunning for the hot chicks. As a spectator sport it is garbage. So I fast forward to the female middle distance enents and skip all the rest.

Because the rampant doping, whereabouts failures, diluted fields and athletes racing only for money hasn't already tainted it?

Open up the floodgates. It might draw some more national attention here in the states. There's money to be made off of vice

I thought it said “track and field marathons.”

Anyways, the same exists for almost every Olympic sport. Who watches gymnastics outside the Olympics? Or weight lifting? Or ping pong, rowing, and so on. Same for every winter Olympic sport.

Mods please sticky this topic at the top of the message board. We don’t need a new thread on this topic every week where the Alan’s can give the same opinion as to why track isn’t more popular.

Because it's not a great spectator sport. When watching a basketball or football game, for example, there is the sustained excitement throughout the game. Hopefully, you're team will catch up and win! With track and field, it's a bunch of short events that don't amount to sustained suspense like a nailbiter basketball game.

As seen on Run Ohio

Rod O'Donnell former Kent State is a regular column writer for Run Ohio

All the events are meaningless

It is unwatchable and it is so lacking in market potential that events like pro corn hole, poker, fishing, and drone racing attract more market interest from tv and sponsors. The governing body, the coaches and the athletes themselves all bear responsibility for the failure - a collective unwillingness to collaborate in making a marketable venture. DK Metcalf is the most famous American sprinter, followed by tyreek hill. WTF. Under current standardS, televising the mind numbing events, horrible presentation and pointless interviews actually diminishes the market potential. if I hadn’t participated a long time ago, or my kid didn’t participate, I wouldn’t even bother to sign on to this website. The sport will be dead in 15 years after colleges start bailing on it.

Next event on the track the boys 4x1 relay. Morse of San Diego leads the state with a 40.00 clocking but they were upset by Edison of Fresno last week in Fresno. McClymonds out of Oakland has ran a 40.03 and they have Elijah Hewritt on anchor, he is the state leader at 100m with a sizzlin' 10.06. And we can't forget Long Beach Poly with Edgar and Eulace Vontell twins, they are the defending state Champion. This will be fast. Can never count out Muir out of LA either.

Now unless you have that kind of knowledge about who is who and know some history the events can be a little boring, and who really knows what I just laid out above? Yep, the real fans like us but Joe Public no way, to them it's us just some kids handing off a baton.

Went to a track meet in Fresno some years ago. Next event on the track the JC 4x2 relay, standing out there getting ready to anchor the Cerritos team......Houston McTear. A world class sprinter getting no more attention than a JC guy. That is until he got the baton, yep he came from way back as the crowd....WOOOOOOOOOOO~~~~

To really enjoy the sport you have to be knowledgeable about it. I knew who McTear was, most there didn't.

But those kids don't watch and follow the sport.

High School athletes in other sports follow the pro/college version their sport.

If a kid watched a track meet on TV, their parents and siblings might be there watching.

Better announcers and meets that move along would increase interest.