Branding

From local legacy events  to international series' there have been many ideas for improving the visibility of track & field.  The latest comes from Nike brand president Charlie Denson.  He suggests what is essentially a team competition where the best athletes would be on select teams that compete for an overall series title.

You can read more of Denson's comments HERE. In essence it would create a team competition akin to the US professional sports leagues.  Denson uses the IPL cricket league in India as an example of how the concept would work, but in many ways Denson's idea is not too different from ideas in the US of having  similar team centric leagues--teams from different states, regions.  The US Olympic Festival, that was hosted in the Twin Cities in 1990, was one such idea, but it was more of a mini Olympics with a lot of sports, not just track.

The IPL was used as a format for popularizing shortest cricket and has turned into a billion dollar industry despite some issues with betting/match fixing scandals.  What this demonstrates, as do Mike Reneau's ideas in the legacy article below, is that people are trying to do innovative/different things to raise the profile of the sport, help it compete in the sports/entertainment marketplace.

Each of these concepts face significant challenges, but also present great opportunities to enhance the sport.  They are a reflection that people care about the issue, the key question being if they can translate that interest into action, and if that action pays dividends.