OK, everyone listen:
These threads are interesting and fun to participate and follow. But, there's ALWAYS someone who says- it's boring, it's a bad spectator sport, it'll never be popular, it needs a team aspect.
OK:
1. It WAS popular at one time- meets were on TV, marathons, even 10k/15k races on network TV and ESPN.
2. People knew the major athletes- Jim Ryan, Marty Liquari, BIll ROgers, Fran Shorter, Pre- and the list goes on.
3. Bottom line- if NASCAR can be marketed to be popular anything can. It's ALL in the marketing and presentation.
4. Tennis and golf are individual sports- they're popular.
5. We DO need better announcers to explain the nuances of a race in progress- when I watch an event with my GF I explain the minor details and she's interested.
The first time she ever really watch a meet on TV was the 2017 World Championships.
She now LOVES the 800- she thinks it's the perfect combination of length of race, strategy and speed. I commentated the race in that meet.
*** Every sport is boring if you don't understand it- listen to Bob Newhart explain baseball to someone who's never heard of it.
Football is absurd when you think what people will do to each other just to get an odd shaped ball across a line.