How many "dedicated" athletics fans are there in the World ?

[eldrick]

i was just wondering, how many "dedicated" fans there would be in USA,Europe,Asia,Australasia etc. ?

i know it sounds it's a slightly ridiculous question, but how many fans are regular subscribers ( or buy ) magazines such as T&F, Runner's World,etc. or regularly go to meets ?

on a separate issue, how many "dedicated" runners would there be worldwide ?

i mention that as i was amazed to read 35,000 people ran the london M !

in USA, how many people run new york, chicago & boston Ms ?

is there a significant "crossover" of athletes who run all 3 each year, or are they usually distinct, separate populations in each ?

[bad hammy]

Re: How many

Count me as one on the fan side. I'd be one of the dedicated runners too if it wasn't, you know, for that 'bad hammy' thing.

[tafnut]

Re: How many

Buying 'Runners World' does not a track & field fan make. I (tafnut that I am) quit after one year, and I know many people who get RW that wouldn't know a shot from a hammer.

Track & Field News' puny subscribership, compared to RW and the ilk, shows true fandom to be a very exclusive club in the USA. I gather that Europeans are much more likely to be knowledgeable than we are.

[MJD]

Re: How many

on a
>separate issue, how many "dedicated" runners would there be worldwide ?

i
>mention that as i was amazed to read 35,000 people ran the london M !

You're free associating there eldrick.

[marknhj]

Re: How many

Europeans are much more likely to be knowledgeable than we are.

>>>

You got it tafnut...

[paulthefan]

Re: How many

I guess that the number of diehard trackandfield fans to be approx. 400,000 depending on how "die-hard" we make the cut-off... Compared to the number of diehard football fans: closer to 10-20million we are way behind.

[trig]

Re: How many

What are the requirements to be a "dedicated"-"diehard" track fan?

[Ford Prefect]

Re: How many dedicated fans in the world?

42

[trig]

Re: How many dedicated fans in the world?

42 what?
fans?

[tafnut]

Re: How many dedicated fans in the world?

>42 what?
fans?

no - towels.

[Powell]

Re: How many

>I guess that the number of diehard trackandfield fans to be approx. 400,000
>depending on how "die-hard" we make the cut-off...

400,000 in the US or worldwide?

[paulthefan]

Re: How many

That 400K is a guess for the US only... now that I have had time to sleep on it I may have over estimated.. need more feedback from other diehards..

[bad hammy]

Re: How many

One barometer for the US dedicated fan count: how many domestic (US) subscribers and newstand sales does T&FN have? Then we can discuss whether this number should be augmented for sales to places such as high schools where multiple readers will use one copy.

This kind of follows my opinion is that, at least in the US, anyone reading T&FN is a dedicated fan. If you are not reading it you are not dedicated.

[Daisy]

Re: How many

> If you are not reading it you are not dedicated.

I'm not sure I buy this. With internet access there is good reason not to subscribe. For example, I bet there are people who post on this message board who do not subcribe to the magazine. I would still classify these non-subscribers as dedicated.

[bad hammy]

Re: How many

> For example, I bet there are people who post on this message board who do not subcribe to the magazine.

I am sure there are, but I bet the number is quite small in comparison to T&FN's subscriber/newstand sales base.

I stand by the idea that using the sales number as a base for quantifying the number of dedicated fans is a good place to start. You are never going to get the real answer because there are very few centralized places where almost all dedicated fans make an appearance. T&FN's sales list is one of the few.