>... Just like in other pro sports like basketball and footbal, stars get
>paid big bucks because they have name recognition and people want to wear
>what they wear ...
Exactly. And how is it that track stars have name recognition? Because
people actually follow the sport, that's why.
>And that was the point the Prince was trying to make ... MO gets the big
>bucks becasue he is the WR holder and has won 2 WCs (3 counting the 200)and
>an Olympic gold) ... Not becasue you or I bought a single ticket to any
>competition or sat our butts in the stands .. MO gets compensated based on
>his high level of performance ... Period ...
Yeah, and the Modern Pentathlon guys perform at a high level too. They have
Olympic gold medallists and WR holders in their sport too, but since they
lack they key ingredient of paying fans, there is no money forthcoming from
sjoe companies or anyone else.
And I said in my original post that it is more than track meet tickets that
the fans buy. It's the sport drinks, the power bars, the shoes, the
clothes, etc. Track ties in with the huge fitness/jogging crowd for much of
its merchandise marketing power. If those people didn't care about track
stars and pay to be like them, we'd be in Modern Pentathlon-Land. So
anything we can do to keep all those people interested in track, such as put
on fan-friendly track meets, will be to the economic benefit of the sport.
Kurt Bray
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