Eugene fatigue is real but don't tell that USATF. This will be the fourth straight US championships at Hayward Field and the fifth straight US Olympic Trials. Eugene paid them at least $3 million for the last Trials and we al...
Youth nationals is currently scheduled for Hayward June 26-30. Can't imagine they'd try to cram in both at the same time. Anyone know if they're planning to move the youth meet?
Youth nationals is currently scheduled for Hayward June 26-30. Can't imagine they'd try to cram in both at the same time. Anyone know if they're planning to move the youth meet?
Why would they move it? They already combined USAs and the junior meet at Hayward Field this year. The theory is that the juniors will get to run in front of a larger crowd, and spectators get to watch 2 meets.
Not sure that's a great idea or not, but that is what USATF wants.
USATF needs to stop pretending and just make Eugene the permanent home for USATF track championships and Olympic trials. First, this will force the event organizers to fix all the problems with logistics (parking, food and drink vendors, etc.) instead of just pretending like everything is ok. Second, other venues will stop wasting time trying to bid for these events. We all know Eugene is going to get it every single time. Third, it is silly for all the money to have been sunk into the new venue and then just have USATF there once or twice. The fact of the matter is that Eugene is the best T&F stadium in the US (excluding all the logistical issue like parking, etc.). Let's just face the facts that Nike and USATF made a bad decision putting this stadium in Eugene and move on to make this work as best as possible. Finally, having a permanent home for USATF helps athletes in the long run because it is predictable and coaches and support personnel will know the town and the venue and there will be no surprises.
I get the Eugene fatigue, but I don't mind spending a week there and travel isn't that difficult from CO. People were excited in '08, '12, and '16, but for many the increased costs of getting and staying there has gotten out of hand. Home rentals were an incredible deal back then. Such a bargain and super close to the stadium. Things changed in '21. I guess the locals figured they could get a lot more.
Youth nationals is currently scheduled for Hayward June 26-30. Can't imagine they'd try to cram in both at the same time. Anyone know if they're planning to move the youth meet?
I think they've often done the youth events in the first portion of the day's program, and the senior events follow. So they would put both in the schedule at the same time.
Parking at Matthew Knight Arena and Mill Race Garage at reasonable prices. Street parking near campus for free - just need to be cognizant of time limits. Free parking at Autzen Stadium/PK Park complex with free shuttle buses to Hayward. Uber/Lyft rides from Springfield hotel cluster are less than $15 each way. Many Air BnB/VRBO hosts offered rides to and from the stadium during Worlds for their renters. Hotels shuttled athletes and fans in their vans.
I'm disappointed, less so because "it's Eugene", more so that it's the status quo. The popularity of the sport is really lacking in the US - the status quo is NOT the solution.
I don't think I have the right answer myself, but a different idea would have at least given me some excitement. Lacking any better permanent facility than we have now, a temporary track on the Chicago lakefront would be an awesome host location. If they can host a successful NASCAR race, the can do a successful olympic trials, right? Maybe partner with the swimming trials or other sports.
Am I going to go to Eugene 2024? Absolutely not. And especially not for a week long meet. It would have to be in a better location. If it were a 1-2 day meet, I could possible be convinced to go to Eugene for the trials someday. As it is, outdoor track meets on their own aren't particularly fan friendly. Fans are too far from the action, there is too much down/dead time. Indoor track meets are different though. Close to the action, can see the field events and whole track from everywhere Noisy environment. You can feel the speed and the energy. All of that is missing from outdoor track in the USA. If I were USATF, I'd probably pull as much funding as I could out of supporting outdoor track, into supporting indoor track. Put a product out there that brings excitement to the crowd. In outdoor track support the 1 or 2 meets that are newsworthy in big media markets. Let's move the needle! Eugene trials and the status quo doesn't move any needle.
Youth nationals is currently scheduled for Hayward June 26-30. Can't imagine they'd try to cram in both at the same time. Anyone know if they're planning to move the youth meet?
It would get more fans in the stands with a whole bunch of youth athletes and their families in town.
Eugene is such a bad location but Nike will always get what they want
It's also possible that no one else put in a bid to host.
This is what I want to know. We know Mt. SAC bid in 2020 because they initially were awarded the Trials before USATF yanked them away. I haven't heard of anyone else who bid in '24 apart from Eugene. Anyone know anything?
Why do we need a large facility for track and field when it will not even be full capacity? Lots of seats do no good when they are empty. Lots of other stadiums can host major track meets that have fewer seats than Hayward. Spreading this meet around will only do good things for the sport. If you want to make it a national sport or a national championships it should be in many different locations over the years. Basically every other national championship in this country moves around to a new location each year other than the CWS. MAKE IT NATIONAL!
It's also possible that no one else put in a bid to host.
This is what I want to know. We know Mt. SAC bid in 2020 because they initially were awarded the Trials before USATF yanked them away. I haven't heard of anyone else who bid in '24 apart from Eugene. Anyone know anything?
Why wouldn't USATF do more to encourage or support more bids? If USATF is just sitting around passively taking bids, that is unacceptable to me.
When is Nike Track Nationals? If the youth nationals are the 26-30, I'd put Nike Track Nationals early in the meet to gouge the families coming in for that event!
