2022 World Athletics Championships: A day-by-day guide to the biggest women’s events at Oregon22 and details on how to watch (TV and streaming). Runs July 15th to 24th.
Source: Overall Event Schedule
Source: 2022 World Track and Field Championships: Women’s Events
Niche sports are no longer niche. As traditional television ratings slide, the idea that the next generation isn’t as engaged in sport appears to be true. The reality is much more complex and should be considered by sports brands, who in many instances, allow niche sports to exist. Here are a couple of comparisons to consider, looking at sporting events and the highlights associated with the events taking place at approximately the same time, shows that digital viewership of niche sports often dominates traditional sports although niche events aren’t covered as well:
US Track and Field Team Trials
| Event | Date | YouTube | Views |
| 400 Hurdles | June 25th 2022 | 400 hurdles national title | 915,234 |
| Warriors Championship Highlight | June 18th 2022 | NBA FINALS GAME 6 – YouTube | 694,228 |
| Royals vs Angels MLB | June 23 2022 | Royals vs. Angels Game Highlights | 315,510 |
| U.S. Open Victory PGA | June 19 2022 | U.S. Open victory | 10,576 |
A few important aspects to note, the World Championships and NBA Championships are the most comparable, but what’s important here is that the idea of niche has to shift because viewership habits of sports fans aren’t able to be captured in one location. Sports viewership is handheld and, on the go, on demand and on replay whenever fans want to rewatch their favorite moments. Here is what’s incredible about the list above, it’s only one moment from 3 weeks ago. There are almost 30 other events all with comparable numbers making track and field one of the most watched sporting events on YouTube. The upcoming World Championships are almost as important as the Olympics. Unlike the Olympics, brands have the opportunity to utilize the event as fertile ground for marketing strategies. This isn’t happening. There haven’t been any major releases leading up to the event and the athletes appear to be carrying the weight of their brands, instead of brands building dialogue around their performance products being used by the athletes.
All brands are media companies. A quick glance at redesigns of Nike News and the detailed content captured in adidas’ news section on those sites shows that an internal shift is occurring with sports brands and marketing. That brands haven’t really built segues into discussing the upcoming World Track and Field Championships being held in the U.S. for the first time is a missed opportunity, but it could have something to do with women’s sports being more dominant than men’s track and field. Without the hype around Shacari Richardson in the 100-meter race 2 weeks ago, viewership of the 100 barely trailed the men’s event. 307K to 276K views. Nike remains consistent in utilizing every aspect of social, including the video platform with more sports content, YouTube, to begin highlighting their athletes. Other brands haven’t followed suit and it will be interesting to see if content rolls out as track and field content is sticky on YouTube.
Nike’s Cloud
Outside of the arrival of collegiate athlete Abby Steiner, and the Jamaican women sprinters, the biggest story is Allyson Felix running in her last Worlds event. Her story is the most compelling, but it casts a long shadow over Hayward Field and Nike. In 2019 an expose was delivered sharing Felix’s story on her maternity: Opinion | Allyson Felix: My Own Nike Pregnancy Story – The New York Times (nytimes.com) and how Nike reduced her pay when she became pregnant, basically creating a situation where she competed in events while she was pregnant. Felix’s pregnancy had severe complications. She experienced Pre-eclampsia. She overcame her difficulties, delivered early and her baby girl has been at every event during this last hurrah for the greatest athlete in track and field. The Times article discussed other women and how many brands had to revise maternity policies in favor of women. The expose began a deterioration of Nike’s claims of always being for the athlete and for sport. Stories began to emerge of abuse in Nike’s own sports programs.
Nike is Bulletproof for this Reason Although Allyson Felix and Mary Cain Have Horrifying Stories
Marketing in the Cloud
The World Track and Field Championships will be the last moment for Allyson Felix as she begins her foray into her post sport career. The producers will undoubtedly build the narrative of how the first Worlds in the U.S. arrives as Felix walks into the sunset. Will they discuss the battle with Nike? Will NBC Sports be willing to truly dive into the storm and juxtapose Allyson’s story with Nike’s need to adjust policies that shouldn’t have been in place from the beginning? It might be unavoidable as Felix is aligned with a star of the sport who chose to become a mother at the height of her powers, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price. The Jamaican sprint queen had a child and has returned to form in a major way. Shelly-Ann remains a Nike athlete. Felix walked away from Nike to form Saysh. By:Saysh (bysaysh.com) On IG Saysh has begun to build the narrative for Felix’s last event, but the brand is underutilizing YouTube. They should be bold in crafting a narrative for her start up brand Saysh, which she wore in the 2021 Olympics to become the most decorated track and field athlete in U.S. history. A documentary of this time could contribute to her legacy. How will the week of events playout? Will you be watching?
