Earlier this year, back when it was still called the IAAF, World Athletics announced that there would be several major changes to the Diamond League in 2020. The biggest change was that Diamond League broadcasts were being trimmed from two hours to 90 minutes and that several events would be dropped as a result. They also announced that no event longer than 3000 meters would be featured as a part of the Diamond League series, which obviously meant the 5000 would be one of the disciplines cut.
But the 5000 wasn't going to be alone. And the question of which other events were in danger loomed over most of the 2019 Diamond League season. In the end, they dropped the 200 and steeplechase (although a number of meets will still hold both of those events outside the TV window), as well as the discus and triple jump. The triple jump will be featured a grand total of twice in the Diamond League next season, once for the women and once for the men (at the Prefontaine Classic).
Christian Taylor, arguably the greatest triple jumper in history, is understandably upset about his event being relegated to, essentially, second-tier status. He's so upset, in fact, that he founded The Athletics Association, a union designed to give professional track & field athletes a voice in how the sport is run. The association, he says, will "fight for athletes' rights."
Taylor posted his full statement on his Twitter page. Not surprisingly, he's garnered a lot of support from other athletes, particularly those whose events will also be cut. I hope Taylor is successful. Because he's right that the athletes deserve to have a say. For many, it's their livelihood at stake. Not just because of the prize money, either. It's also about the exposure that the Diamond League brings.
To his credit, World Athletics President Seb Coe met with Taylor to discuss his concerns. I'm not sure what will come of that, but at least Coe recognizes the importance of listening to him. Because ignoring Taylor's concerns would only make matters worse. And, frankly, he has some legitimate points.
I have plenty of questions about the Diamond League changes myself. First and foremost, how did they come to the conclusion that a 90-minute broadcast was better than two hours? Most sporting events are two hours long. Now, the TV networks, who evidently were the ones clamoring for a shorter broadcast window, have to find a random half-hour program as filler either before or after the Diamond League broadcast. And I'm willing to bet a lot of them will still produce a two-hour broadcast and show the extra events that won't be part of the designated international TV window.
Another one of the reasons that they gave was wanting to create a more "action-packed" program. I'm a fan of the sport and even I'll admit that track meets can be very boring. There's a lot of dead time between track races. But the solution to that is reducing the amount of that dead time. Field events don't contribute to that dead time. In fact, that's often the only time they show the field events, which you can usually only see on the international feed (or NBC Sports Gold stream) while NBCSN is at commercial.
Frankly, there would've been a way to do this without cutting events from the Diamond League entirely. Meet organizers have had a lot of success with street pole vaults and shot puts in the city center. So much success, in fact, that they're encouraging more of that. At Prefontaine, they always have a distance carnival on Friday night before the Diamond League portion of the meet on Saturday.
No one wants to sit there for three and a half hours watching a track meet. That's one of the reasons why moving events out of the main stadium or adding an extra session works. That way you're making room for more events, not less. And you'll also eliminate athletes feeling (rightfully so) that their event has been relegated to second-tier status.
It would also be very easy to keep these events and still maintain the desired 90-minute TV window. The typical TV broadcast of a 5000-meter race is start, two laps, commercial, two laps in the middle of the race, commercial, final 600 meters. Since you only show a quarter of the race anyway, why not start the 5K shortly before the TV window starts and join it for the conclusion? And the 200 takes 25 seconds! You're telling me that you can't cut the dead time by five minutes to include the 200? As for the field events, they're sometimes over before the TV broadcast even starts. You can start the triple jump before you go on the air and still have plenty of time to do the long jump afterwards!
My biggest question, though, is the wisdom in making these changes in the Olympic year. Track & field is a niche sport for three years and 10 months that people suddenly care about at the Olympic Trials and Olympics themselves in that fourth year. World Athletics should be trying to create MORE stars heading into the Tokyo Games, not less.
Also, none of the events that have been dropped from the Diamond League are being dropped from the Olympics or World Championships. So, they're greatly reducing the number of opportunities that athletes who specialize in those events will have to take part in elite competitions. None of them will be in the Diamond League Final, which is the highest-profile annual meet on the international track & field calendar. What kind of exposure are they going to get then? And how are they supposed to prepare for those major global championships if their events aren't included in the top-level regular-season meets?
Along with the Diamond League changes, World Athletics also announced the creation of a "Continental Tour." This series of meets will prominently feature all four of the dropped Diamond League disciplines and offer the same wild card to the 2021 World Championships that the Diamond League winner will get, although the prize money will be slightly less. World Athletics thinks the Continental Tour will actually create more opportunities for these athletes, not less, but only time will tell.
The whole point of the Diamond League changes, at least according to World Athletics, was to create a "more attractive" product on television. But, as Christian Taylor correctly pointed out in his counterargument, it's on them to figure out how to do that. And I'm not sure cutting events out of your marquee circuit is the answer. Especially heading into an Olympic year.
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