Tough Choices - IAAF and Their Increasing Commercial Stance

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I can understand that it can be a chore to watch a bunch of unknown professional athletes go round the track for more than 25 minutes for the 10000m race if you are a newbie viewer, I once struggled with this myself.

The IAAF, the Worlds governing body on athletics made a decision in 2019 to cut some disciplines from the 2020 Diamond Diamond league, in a bid to make the show "fast paced and attractive" to viewers. An average diamond league meeting that coverage lasted 180 minutes would be reduced to 90 minutes. The basic idea was to keep only what was deemed 'as 'popular events' in the fold to keep viewers watching and (maybe) sponsors happy. This was already in addition to the removal of both the 5000m and 10000m races from the circuit earlier.

As a result of Covid, the entire 2020 season was altered and did not feature the normal diamond league calendar, so we couldn't properly access the effects of the move last year. Still, there were more than a few concerns voiced from stakeholders and supporters alike.

It does sound like a revolutionary commercial decision on the surface, being one that may popularize athletics and bring more status to the sport. However, a critical look at this move may further pick out some flags even among supporters of capitalism like myself.

The first is that the cut may propagate a gradual decline of participants from these events, leading to a scenario where elite level athletes are scarce. It is worth noting that while these disciplines continue to be competed at other athletics events, the Diamond league remains the highest paying by far. A few Athletes have raised concerns about their inability to live off their profession with this decision.

Furthermore, relegating the competitions considered less popular may have an adverse effect on more hardcore athletic fans. Will the likelihood of gaining more support outweigh the prospect of losing a hardcore base? It begs a fundamental question on if at all Athletics needs saving, seeing as it only just came from its golden days of popularity when Usain Bolt still performed. Surely only time will tell.

Needless to say commercialization isn't such a bad thing, and if it works out may be very good for the surviving disciplines and athletes. Still, the Jury remains out on Sebastian Coe and his management team on their ability to actualize their vision for the sport.



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