The World Championships were amazing this season as the USA dominated the medal count. Stories of redemption, heartbreak and amazing accomplishments pushed viewership on the NBC Sports YouTube digital platform to groundbreaking levels lending credence to recent comments by Noah Lyles about why Track and Field is truly representative of the world and the NBA isn’t. Lyle’s comments come from a place of frustration about the treatment of track and field in the U.S. The sport isn’t supported in nearly the same manner as the U.S.’s more popular sports. There are varying reasons why track and field isn’t highlighted as much:
and as NBA players snipe back at Lyles, it’s hard to argue either side without some form of data to support Lyles’ point of view. The NFL and NBA have television contracts which contribute to massive amounts of revenue and wealth for the athletes. Track and Field athletes often struggle when they turn pro. They also have to travel to other parts of the world to feel the love from fans. This makes it obvious why the title of “World Champions” can rub athletes in track and field the wrong way. The NFL doesn’t have the problem that the title of World Champions brings because it’s a sport primarily played in North America.
The NBA does consist of what many consider the greatest basketball talent in the world and when you consider the last five MVPs are international players. Noah’s comment could be seen as tough to validate, but here is a set of data to consider and contemplate when looking at the World Championship of Track and Field vs other sports leagues with championship games.
Note: It’s not difficult to compare the week-long event to other sports contests. The World Cup would be a solid comparison, but the World Championships of Track and Field is a spectacle that has to be compared against the sport Noah Lyles directly targeted. Here a few numbers from segmented, important moments for the NBA and NFL using their YouTube channels:
NFL: YouTube Videos for the NFL 2022-23 Playoffs and Super Bowl (not including the halftime show which would blow any sporting event out of the water): 36,010,000 views
NBA: The NBA is more difficult to break down into a segment because of the sheer volume of games played during the playoffs and finals. The comp here has to be with the 2023 NBA Finals Playlist on YouTube with 84 videos, including shorts, interviews and highlight reels: 26,365,710 views
WACTF: The World Athletics Championships were aired on NBC Sports. There is a website for the World Athletics Championships and a YouTube channel, but in the U.S. the majority of viewership is owned by NBC Sports: 42,411,300 views
Track and Field athletes have long touted the importance of the sport and bemoaned the disrespect by sports media, but there hasn’t been a true method of testing if viewership would be viable. Digital platforms offer an almost immediate confirmation of just how vital track and field is. There is an argument that the WACTF is more important because it takes place once over two years, but that point would be refuted because the NBA and NFL Playoffs and Championship games are the pinnacle of sports viewership in the United States every year. Viewership of track and field for these 8 days almost doubles that of the NBA Championship. Track and Field offers a variety of events across the spectrum of the sport and the NFL and NBA are singular games. How can this really be compared? Noah Lyles is a passionate and accomplished athlete looking to elevate his sport. While this data does offer an argument, the best comp would have to be Noah’s event vs a World Championship basketball game. In this case the Tokyo Olympics YouTube data is probably the most beneficial comparison. The World Championship Gold Medal game has 5.3 Million views and Noah Lyles’ Silver Medal 200M video has 4 Million views… maybe Noah has a point. What do you think?