Over the course of my life I've been to Indianapolis at least 20 times. I have family that lives in the suburbs of the city and I attended Ball State University, which lies 30 minutes from Indy, meaning we often times drove to the city for weekend adventures. The last time I was in Indianapolis was two years ago for the USATF T&F Championships, which I really enjoyed.
Indianapolis is a nice city. It's clean, small and the people that live there are friendly and enjoy sporting events. While it might not be the best city to have USATF headquarters and a national-class track and field facility, it has seemingly worked for years, as Indianapolis has taken great value in promoting Olympic sports. However, that movement is changing it seems, as the track and field complex at IUPUI is now up for demolition.
USATF reported that having USATF T&F Nationals in Indianapolis brought in a combined $10+ million for the city. The city obviously doesn't value what track and field brings to the community, as they are scheduled to demolish the stadium in the next few years in order to build up the valuable property with retail and upscale housing.
With such a slap in the face, USATF needs to pack its bags and move to a more relevant location to build a strong business. CEO Doug Logan stated that USATF would open up a communication & marketing headquarter in New York City in 2009, but what he should do is move the whole company there. Indianapolis has chosen not to support our sport, so why should we support it? Demolishing one of the best track facilities in the country to put retail space in is insulting. Say goodbye USATF to Indianapolis. They city isn't worth your time anymore.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
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As a resident of the state of Indiana, I can tell you that this truly saddens me. I cannot believe the city of Indy, which has enjoyed the reputation of a running city, would waste a resource like the USATF. I hope the city will realize it's error before it is too late. I will write the Mayor's office and the office of the Governor and express my disappointment and point out the short-sightedness of the city in doing this!
What do the following organizations have in common?
NBA
MLB
NFL
NHL
They all have their headquarters in NYC!!!
Coincindence? No, they know this is the media and financial capital of the country and are here for that reason. Even the USGA (Golf)has their main offices not far in NJ.
USATF needs to be here. We already have one of the premier marathons, a world class indoor facility (NB Armory), Millrose Games, and the Reebok Outdoor games.
It will be tough, a lot to distract the ones with disposable income, but necessity is the mother of invention.
Agreed that USATF should be in NYC. If not in NYC then they should try to move to Boston. USATF is struggling to get mainstream press to cover the sport, well if they can get their product in front of the major papers and media outlets more often by having their headquarters in a major media market then moving to a major city (NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA) is a move that only makes sense. Indianapolis has been good to the sport, but their latest move is greedy and shows how little they actually care about T&F.
Indianapolis doesn't and never did care about Track and Field. The people there have no clue about the sport. Move USATF to New York, or another major city, like LA or San Francisco. I remember when the radio signal for the loudspeakers at the stadium were being interfered with by an aerobics class that they apparently couldn't stop for a national championship event!
The track is not being torn down by the city. The track is owned by the university, iupui, that doesn't even have a track team.
Obviously all of you who want the office moved to NYC (or wherever) are committed to funding the move and paying the outrageously high costs associated with maintaining an office there. Right? Right?
You are delusional if you think the location of a national governing body office has ANY effect on the media coverage the sport receives.
Where USATF is located is important in terms of exposure to major media outlets. I was in Indy in April '07 and talked with Masback and he said it mattered where the company was located, but they just couldn't move their offices at that time (costs!!). CEO Logan is already starting up a communications/marketing office for the company starting in '09 in NYC.
Just move the communications and marketing office to NYC. Keep the rest in Indy, or wherever costs will be least. Most of the salaries paid by the national office are embarrasingly low. They don't have the funds to pay the salaries needed to support staff living in NYC -- they can barely fund the positions in Indy, who has some of the lowest housing costs in the US.
Why would you move only half of the staff? To me that doesn't make sense, especially if most of the higher-ups in the company stay in Indy. Shouldn't the best minds in the company be working hand in hand with the marketers and communication workers?
Moving to New York doesn't mean you have to live in and have offices in New York City. Many organizations move their headquarters near the city (within 30 minutes) simply because of convenience and having all the resources of the city so close.
USATF needs to improve their pay as well, but that is for another time.
This just shows another major city that doesn't care about minor sports. Is this an Indy decision or IUPUI?
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