By Kyle Merber
August 16, 2023
Last week I was asked by a reader to help write a pitch to convince impressionable friends to tune into the World Championships. Naturally, I had some fun with it. But my harshest and most attractive critic – who I happen to be married to – challenged me on what I wrote, saying it was a missed opportunity to truly express why I believe more fans should tune in. So let’s try again…
Well, it is basically the Olympics, except the athletes get paid. Minus sponsors on the bibs and some rings painted onto the track, every aspect of the nine-day competition would be virtually indistinguishable from the viewing experience of what will come in Paris. And in Budapest, the running IQ of an average fan in the stadium will be infinitely higher than those who will have to overpay for their seats next year. These are informed fans, not your Olympic year bandwagoners! (Though we want those too.)
As a quadrennial swimming fan, I understand the barrier to entry. No one told me that those world championships were even on until they were over. My very active Twitter timeline, which is meticulously curated specifically to the track world, makes no mention of such an event. Had I known our aqua-cousins were competing, then I would have loved to watch.
WIth that in mind, here is the broadcast schedule, and here is the event schedule.
In thinking deeply about what it is that I like about being a diehard track fan, I keep catching myself maybe overdoing it with the passion plea. But something that sticks out to me as a legitimate, approachable point of persuasion is this clip of Reddit’s founder (and Serena’s husband) Alex Ohanian and the arguments he makes for the growing importance of sports in society and entertainment.
“We need things in our lives that are not scripted, that are not controlled, that are fundamentally human… The value of sports is the fact that if you miss it, you miss it. There are real stakes in everything. There’s an unequivocal champion at the end of the day.”
Essentially, the algorithm has become so optimized that we are constantly being served exactly what we want at all times without even having to ask for it. There is no longer an act of exploring to find art or media or event coverage that rewards us for our efforts. We don’t have to wade through an entire newspaper just to find that one article worth cutting out for a friend – someone else already did it, and it’s gone viral. But as entertainment is served up to us on a platter, especially in a more condensed format, it lacks that element of surprise.
There is too much content and we are being asked to choose from a Cheesecake Factory menu of options to consume. And then everyone orders something different and eats at a different time. It all lacks that community element of a shared experience. Remember how much fun it was to know that everyone was watching Game of Thrones together and having that water cooler conversation on Monday morning? That’s sports!
And what is normally the problem with track and field is non-existent for nine days. It is no longer too difficult to follow, there are suddenly not too many meets, you know the (healthy) stars are going to show up, and everything is on the line!
There is no sport more accessible and universally competed in. There will be 202 countries represented at this World Championships, with athletes across all disciplines making up the full range of athletic bodies. And no individual sport has a lower barrier to entry for its competitors or barrier to understanding as a spectator. Rather than just one winner crowned there will be 49 and every single one matters. This is the Super Bowl… again and again and again!
Kyle Merber
After hanging up his spikes – but never his running shoes – Kyle pivoted to the media side of things, where he shares his enthusiasm, insights, and experiences with subscribers of The Lap Count newsletter, as well as viewers of CITIUS MAG live shows.
