The Death of Millrose Games (and elite indoor track)

[rainbowgirl28]

Photo of Toby via the link

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/sport ... .html?_r=1


Millrose Games Expected to Leave Garden for Armory

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
The Millrose Games, once a marquee event, could lose financing from USA Track and Field if they are moved from the Garden.
By KEN BELSON
Published: May 12, 2011

The Millrose Games, the most famous indoor track meet in the world, are expected to leave Madison Square Garden, where they have been held since 1914.
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The Armory Foundation, which owns the rights to the event, is likely to formally announce next week that it is relocating the 104-year-old meet to the much smaller Armory Track and Field Center in Upper Manhattan next year. In doing so, the foundation would risk losing financing for the event from USA Track and Field, the sport’s governing body in the United States, which opposes the move.

Attendance at the Millrose Games has fallen in recent years as interest in track and field has waned and competition from other sports has increased. The Garden is expensive to rent and may become more expensive once renovations now under way are completed.

The Armory, which was given a second life after being refurbished in the 1990s, has turned into a national hub for indoor track, hosting some of the top high school and collegiate races each winter on a world-class 200-meter track.

The decision to move is fraught with risk. Only about 9,000 fans attended this year’s Millrose Games, one of the smallest crowds in years and more than 7,000 below the Garden’s capacity for track meets. But the Armory holds only about 4,000 spectators, and it might not have the same allure for the world’s top athletes or be as attractive to sponsors as an arena in the heart of Manhattan.

USA Track and Field, which pays for the meet, spends about $1 million a year to produce it, leading some track observers to suggest that the money could be better spent elsewhere. But officials for the organization said that though they supported the Armory and its activities, the Millrose Games, despite their cost, should remain at the Garden because of its high-profile address and long history as host.

“The Millrose Games and Madison Square Garden are inextricably linked,” said Jill Geer, a spokeswoman for USA Track and Field. “If Millrose goes to the Armory, it will go without USA Track and Field.”

But Michael P. Frankfurt, the chairman of the Armory Foundation, said in a statement: “Moving the Millrose Games would be based primarily on enhancing the experience and performance of the athletes, and only in the best interests of the sport. Although no decision has been finalized, it would be our hope that USA Track and Field would want to continue their participation.”

Discussions between Madison Square Garden and its “various partners” are continuing and private, according to Stacey Escudero, a spokeswoman for the Madison Square Garden Company.

But several people with knowledge of the negotiations said the meet could be expanded to include more high school and collegiate races. There are also discussions about adding a separate Wanamaker Mile for women, to mirror the meet’s longstanding centerpiece, the men’s Wanamaker Mile.

Should USA Track and Field withhold its support, the New York Road Runners, which runs the New York City Marathon and the Fifth Avenue Mile, could be brought in to help find sponsors for the race, the people with knowledge of the negotiations said.

Richard Finn, a spokesman for the Road Runners, said his group wanted “the Millrose Games to succeed and if there’s a role for us to help it succeed, then we’ll look at it.”

Moving the Millrose Games to the Armory would complete a circle of sorts. The oldest invitational track and field event in the country, the Millrose Games were organized by Rodman Wanamaker, the son of a retail magnate, who was concerned about the health of the workers at the Wanamaker department stores.

The Millrose Athletic Association of John Wanamaker Employees was formed in 1908, the year the first Millrose Games were held in an armory before moving to the second Madison Square Garden in 1914.

The event was a must-see well into the 1990s, with runners like Eamonn Coghlan, Marcus O’Sullivan and other champions navigating the Garden’s steeply banked 180-yard track. The meet was regularly televised and the highlight of the indoor track season.

But the event has lost much of its luster. The best athletes do not need to run during the indoor season because they now earn so much from endorsements. The number of cities holding major indoor meets in the United States has also declined sharply, shrinking the winter season. And hosting the event has become expensive. USA Track and Field pays broadcasters to televise the event, pays rent to the Garden and provides prize money to athletes.

[tsorenson]

This is unfortunate news. However, I was taught to always turn lemons into lemonade, so here goes:

Maybe the $ could be better spent organizing a series of elite meets throughout the country at less pricey venues, rather than one meet at a very pricey venue. Rather than paying networks to televise track meets (we all know they do a crappy job anyway), USATF should work on their webcasting technology. If somebody gets the webcasting thing dialed, there could be some revenue in it from advertising. Then USATF could get paid instead of paying, and we could have a series of USA professional indoor meets (spread nationwide to grow fan base). It would be awesome to watch track meets with the advantages of digital media (like frame-by-frame instant replay, results & interviews on-demand, etc). Just an idea, seems like Universal Sports is heading this direction

Tom

[achtungpv]

Tom, you better be quiet before you get hit by USATF with the logic stick. Logic ain't allowed around them at anytime, anywhere.

[rainbowgirl28]

Well, clearly indoor track is not engaging the general public. I'd say put aside a little money to pay FloTrack or RunnerSpace (or both!) to put on high quality webcasts of the major indoor meets. One feed for running events and separate feeds for each field event.

And for the love of all that is holy in track and field, either demand that FlashResults post live field event updates, or get a new timing company that will. IT'S NOT HARD

That would cost a fraction of the cost of putting a meet on TV and would make Track and Field fans happy as clams. Use the rest of the money to add a major televised elite meet in May, or otherwise improve the outdoor elite circuit.

[Bruce Caldwell]

Good Idea, most can view the meet on the internet right!

[LHSpolevault]

Good Idea, most can view the meet on the internet right!

Now on our phones too!