I sat down a little bit ago to put together my thoughts on this weekend’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. While I was going through the event website I was struck by the fact that there will be no coverage of the Trials – no television, no internet streaming. I found that very disappointing. Especially given that there is a new sports channel that would seem to be perfect for running/track and field.

That’s because as of the beginning of this year the old “Versus” sports programming station is now owned by NBC and has been renamed NBC Sports Network. A perfect fit it would seem for track and field since NBC is the television “Home of the Olympics” and track and field is a primary sport of the Games – if not the centerpiece. One would think a perfect match for both the Network and USA Track and Field. After all we have a sport desperately in need of television coverage entering the year it is most televisable and a new network that could use all the high level programming it can get. After all, the rights to the NBA, MLB, NFL, Golf, and Hockey are already signed and locked up – so the competition shouldn’t be that fierce.

As a matter of fact, I took a quick look at the current programming on NBC Sports Network and found

• A 1986 movie about a hockey player
• A new sports talk show – repeated several times
• A poker tournament
• The Dakar Car Rally
• A surfing competition
• Several fishing shows
• And a lot of “Paid Programming” scheduled over the upcoming twelve hours

Similar programming blocks are scheduled as I scrolled through the upcoming week. So it would seem that there is opportunity there to televise events like the Marathon Trials or various domestic track meets leading up to the Olympic Trials and NBC’s big event for the year – the London Olympics.

I understand that USATF is without a CEO at the moment, but the organization is functioning and someone is in charge. This is an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often – basically a new network that is focused on sports with available programming slots. As a matter of fact, the last really viable sports network, ESPN, was launched way back in September of 1979! That’s a long time between networks that don’t already have all of their sports programming locked up.

So I would implore the staff at USATF to get with NBC and see what kind of deals can be worked out – because the time will never be better than NOW. And this is potentially a great opportunity for the sport to get some much needed “face time”. It’s too late for the Marathon Trials, but possibly not too late to get a few extra meets on between now and the Games. From there who knows what the possibilities are. I know that we won’t know unless someone gives it a shot, which brings me back to the Marathon Trials, because several athletes will be looking for their shot at a ticket to London. That’s what I’ll be looking at when I come back – my thoughts on the Marathon Trials.

Tags: NBC, Television, USATF