Proposed US PV Tour

[Cooter Brown]

That's my concern too. Also are the vaulters willing to got through a season with no legitimate results? A whole season more or less deprived from competing against the world's top jumpers.
Will Jenn and other top US women stay away from the Golden League?

I have no idea what the money will be like but I'll guess that it's not (yet) comparable to what Top 10 vaulters can make in Europe. This tour may inadvertently turn into the Geriatric League - comprised of athletes pass their prime that can't get invites to major money opportunities overseas - if they can't get some top $ to roll in.

Also, I wonder if you have a Nike/Reebok/Adidas sponsorship if they may balk at you competing in this instead of in Europe since I would think their brand sponsorship of you is more geared to the European T&F audience than a disinterested American audience.

[polevaultpower]

The whole idea is worth trying, but I don't see why they make it a team event. When the athletes are assigned to the teams pretty much at random, will anyone in the audience care which team wins anyway?

That's my concern too. Also are the vaulters willing to got through a season with no legitimate results? A whole season more or less deprived from competing against the world's top jumpers.
Will Jenn and other top US women stay away from the Golden League?

This was discussed. The idea is that it won't conflict with any major US meets. You still have the whole indoor season to compete normally, and the early part of the outdoor season. The circuit is designed to replace competing at regular European meets, but not to conflict with Championship meets. There was discussion of holding a normal, sanctioned pole vault competition after the team competition for those vaulters who wish to get marks.

[polevaultpower]

Also, requiring people to have 4 clearances in 6 attempts is much more radical than the rule change that was introduced for the Euro Cup - and that one was thrashed by everyone here because it doesn't give the vaulters enough margin for error. I'm afraid most of the time they will simply be doing safety attempts at heights well below their potential.

The circuit is not designed to produce world record vaults. To the masses, 17' looks cool, 18' looks cool, etc. 20' doesn't look that much cooler than 17'.

I run two beach vaults every summer, and I think the crowd is nearly as impressed with the 70+ year old vaulter jumping 8' as they are with the elite vaulter jumping 18'.

[polevaultpower]

[quote=Cooter Brown]

That's my concern too. Also are the vaulters willing to got through a season with no legitimate results? A whole season more or less deprived from competing against the world's top jumpers.
Will Jenn and other top US women stay away from the Golden League?

I have no idea what the money will be like but I'll guess that it's not (yet) comparable to what Top 10 vaulters can make in Europe. This tour may inadvertently turn into the Geriatric League - comprised of athletes pass their prime that can't get invites to major money opportunities overseas - if they can't get some top $ to roll in.

Also, I wonder if you have a Nike/Reebok/Adidas sponsorship if they may balk at you competing in this instead of in Europe since I would think their brand sponsorship of you is more geared to the European T&F audience than a disinterested American audience.[/quote:2f7dp0l0]

They're not going to half-ass this. If it happens, the money will be good enough that Brad Walker and every other US vaulter will want to miss the bulk of the European tour. The money is not that good in Europe anymore for most of the US vaulters and it's fixin to get a lot worse.

It's not worth it to the sponsors to have only the second-tier vaulters. They want the big names to promote along with the team concept. They just don't want to put all of their eggs into one basket by promoting one vaulter and then having an injury keep him (or her) out.

As far as shoe company sponsorships go, I do not know what their contracts look like. Most of the vaulters think that Nike won't care since these aren't track meets. I think they're being naive and encouraged them to have a lawyer look over their contracts so they know what the potential conflicts are. I don't think Nike is going to like the idea of Brad Walker or Derek Miles wearing a uniform that looks like a NASCAR car. It's a moot point unless the sponsors come through and this thing gets off the ground, but one I raised at the meeting.

[Powell]

It's not worth it to the sponsors to have only the second-tier vaulters. They want the big names to promote along with the team concept.

Aren't you contradicting yourself now?

]They're trying to draw crowds of 4,000... these aren't going to be track and field fans in the seats. Most of them won't know who Brad Walker or Tim Mack are anyway.

[Cooter Brown]

Just curious, since I avoid going shopping, do retail stores have events in the parking lots on a regular basis (outside of grand openings)?

With how tight profit margins are in retail, I wonder if they'll be willing to give up a significant portion of their parking lot for 2+ days. Plus, a lot of Target, Wal Mart, etc. stores don't own the parking lot grounds since they are usually in a larger shopping complex. You'd have to work it out with the actual property owner and have to deal with other tenants as a result.

I'd love to hear more about the logistics of it all.

[gh]

[...

Their denial of some of the best athletes in the world into the World Championships (and don't lay it on the bloc voting of the minor nations of the federation. They could make a AA-standard or something to get ALL the good Keniopian distance runners or USAmaicans into the sprints).

You continue just not to get it. Perhaps this news snippet from the world of rowing will help put it into perspective for you:

<<...The world governing body of rowing, FISA, will vote in February on a Swiss-backed proposal to prevent countries from entering boats in more than 10 of the 14 Olympic classes at the next Games. The motivation is to give smaller countries a greater chance to qualify...>>

[Vince]

It's not worth it to the sponsors to have only the second-tier vaulters. They want the big names to promote along with the team concept.

Aren't you contradicting yourself now?

]They're trying to draw crowds of 4,000... these aren't going to be track and field fans in the seats. Most of them won't know who Brad Walker or Tim Mack are anyway.

I don't speak for PVP, but it's not a contradiction at all. Sponsors always want the big names, who will still be competing in big events plus these. As for the crowd size and name recognition, that's just a statement of reality.

[Cooter Brown]

I wonder why holding these comps at public festivals like the Clovis Street Vault is was rejected. Seems like it'd be a lot easier to coordinate and guarantee a captive audience for potential sponsors. Hold it in a parking lot and you have to draw the audience to you, just for you.

[polevaultpower]

I wonder why holding these comps at public festivals like the Clovis Street Vault is was rejected. Seems like it'd be a lot easier to coordinate and guarantee a captive audience for potential sponsors. Hold it in a parking lot and you have to draw the audience to you, just for you.

If you are a major retailer, it's more appealing to have a crowd in your store parking lot.

[Dave]

Do the sponsors of the European street vaults charge money to attend?

I am guessing that at some level, those events are the model for what these guys are trying to do.

[polevaultpower]

Do the sponsors of the European street vaults charge money to attend?

I am guessing that at some level, those events are the model for what these guys are trying to do.

Those events are not the model.

I would guess something more like this: http://web.avp.com/index.jsp

[Dave]

I hope it works. Track is cursed with absolute standards. Most athletic endeavors don't suffer from that so the athleticism is interesting on its own.

Every performance is going to be measured against last week, last year, and 6.15...

The polevault is interesting to watch because of the event. Unfortunately, there may be a problem trying to promote it because sooner or later, the question of records always comes up.

I agree with polevaultpower's earlier comment that most people can't visually differentiate between a 5.50, a 5.80, or a 6.10 vault. But they will read that X failed to break the record last week and isn't likely to break it this week either.

Some years ago, I saw Billy Olson break the indoor world record in Albuquerque and it really didn't look as good as some of Gary Hunter vaulting 16' in high school.

[polevaultpower]

I agree with polevaultpower's earlier comment that most people can't visually differentiate between a 5.50, a 5.80, or a 6.10 vault. But they will read that X failed to break the record last week and isn't likely to break it this week either.

I get the impression that they will try to take the focus away from records. These events wouldn't count for records anyway, even if someone jumped high enough to break one.

The trick is to refocus the attention. How high is 17 feet? A two story building? X number of basketball hoops? That makes what's happening a lot more relatable to the audience than comparing it to world records. What if the crossbar was on fire? (OK that one is probably a bad idea considering how flammable pits are).

Imagine a pole vaulting pit with the Target logo in the middle. What if each athlete got a $100 bonus for landing right in the middle?

Imagine video screens that are constantly updating the team standings. After each jump, the crowd will know where each team stands. How many people were watching an NFL playoff game tonight, even though you had no stake in either team? I know my dad was, and I got roped into watching the end of it.

The key is to stop thinking of it in track and field terms. I made up half of those ideas, but they are along the lines of what the event promoters have in mind.

[polevaultpower]

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