MAKING TRACK & FIELD A GLOBAL SPORTS INDUSTRY COMPETITOR

For all the raw talent in this sport, Track and Field continues to fade from relevance. Why? For too long the sport has relied on outdated formats, passive promotion, and Olympic nostalgia to carry the load and has failed to make Track & Field a living, breathing product. The structures leaned on for decades such as governing bodies, federations, and elite-only competition circuits, have proven ineffective at building lasting engagement or broad fan appeal. The result? A world-class sport with world-class athletes, largely invisible to the world.

Investing in the same broken ideas; pouring money into stadium events with no real media strategy. Propping up competitions that cater to purists but mean nothing to casual fans. Repackaging the same formats with new logos, hoping something sticks. We need to face it: the issue is not effort, it is direction. Track and Field doesn’t simply lack funding, it lacks vision, and vision produces product value. 

Here is the hard truth: there is no clear product in Track and Field. It is little more than a collection of events. It is not a unified product; a brand fans can rally behind. That does not exist. When there is no product, there is no story and no reason for a fan to show up, follow, or stay engaged. The sport’s greatest asset — its athletes — has never been properly highlighted, let alone packaged. If we do not define what we are, the market will not do it for us.

Track and Field sport is one of many facets. Sprinters do not follow throwers, jumpers do not know what is happening in distance, coaches guard their corners and athletes promote themselves, (as they should) but rarely see the bigger picture. Everyone is in their little silos, only looking out for themselves, not the product. The idea of building Track and Field as a whole, unified product is not just rare, it is non-existent, and this silo mentality is holding us back. It prevents us from pulling in the same direction, weakens our collective leverage, and unless we fix it, we will never move forward.

There is a quiet arrogance embedded in the culture of Track and Field, a belief that people should revere the sport simply because it is “Track and Field.” Like the prestige of the Olympics or the nostalgia of cinder tracks and amateur ideals should be enough to keep the world interested. But reverence does not build an audience. Legacy does not replace relevance. A lot of people in track & field expect the world to care about the sport without doing the work to earn that attention. That must change.

We are not here to patch up the old model. Essentials of Track & Field is building something different from the ground up. Our brand starts with a claim we believe in our core: Track and Field athletes are the best athletes in the world. This is our foundation, THIS is our product. Everything we build; competitions, coaching systems, content, storytelling, outreach comes from this point of certainty. We will not ask for attention. We will earn it. We will not lean on institutions. We will create momentum outside them. This is asymmetric branding, and it is long overdue.

We are not waiting for federations or networks to save the sport. This effort starts with us; coaches, athletes, and supporters who know what the sport can be and are tired of watching it under-achieve. If you believe Track and Field deserves better and you are willing to help define what that looks like, we want you in the room.