Just finished attending my 4th day at Sac State venue.
I have been to many meets at Hayward field, including the Olympic trials years past, as well as the last two. I also attended the last two here in 2000 & 2004.
A few thoughts from me, a long-time fan and coach of track and field(high school, in Oregon):
This time around seems to be less of a proper effort to make this a great experience for the fans.
The new turf field has forced meet directors to move all throwing events off the main field, w/ the exception of the discus.
Running races the opposite direction to get some wind-aided marks that look good in the moment, but don't really serve any useful purpose once the race is done. Fans who pay for seats near the finish line want to see the end of the sprint races, not the starts.
Watching on the video screen here is no comparison to Hayward Field.
Cheesy interviews with the funny guy don't improve the meet quality for a lot of us who come to watch the meet.
Playing music during the men's and women's 5K races last night was a distraction/annoyance.
Not having a program and updated heat sheets and results available each day is a big annoyance, since checking this info on a smartphone in blazing sun is not something I want to do.
Lack of an area to sit and eat or drink when you come down to the "amazing" Sacramento food carts is another minus.
Being unable to see all lanes from a majority of the seats and then everyone standing up when races finish is another minus.
When is Sac State going to invest in permanent public restrooms for their football stadium?