Let’s Talk Track & Field Fandom

I recently wrote about IAAF’s decision to shorten Diamond League meets in an effort to make meets more digestible and easier to broadcast. Ok, so why would IAAF do this? Why do they feel Track & Field needs revamping this way? What is the state of Track & Field fandom?

First a little background.

On March 11th it was revealed that IAAF had approved a new set of diamond league guidelines that would affect the 2020 season. These guidelines were:

1. The evaluation criteria introduced in 2018 will be used at the end of the season to assess the quality of each meeting with the aim of focusing the IAAF Diamond League on the very best 12 meetings going forward with one end-of-season final.

2. An agreed 24 disciplines (12 male / 12 female) will form the core disciplines at all 12 meetings with the longest distance being 3000m. A reduction from the 32 disciplines there are now.

3. Develop an enhanced single final event which features all core 24 disciplines (12 male and 12 female)

4. A focus on innovation around out-of-stadium / city centre…