ESPN, NYC Marathon and The Race Fee Debate
So yesterday maybe you heard or maybe not but ESPN, WABC and New York Road Runners, the group that puts together the ING NYC Marathon, agreed on a five year television rights deal. ESPN2 will have the television rights on race day and will produce a show from 9am to 12:30pm while WABC will carry the race from 9am to 2pm. Further, it will be streamed online at WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. Other shows leading up to race day are also included in this deal.
My first reaction is that this is fantastic news for the running community, the race was only locally televised by NBC and streamed online by NBC/Universal Sports. ESPN will do a fantastic job with promoting the sport of running and the details of race day, including the all important inside stories the we all love to hear about. For the first time since I can remember our sport of amateur distance running will be on the big stage for all to see.
This deal doesn’t surprise me, the NYC Marathon is the largest sporting event in the world. There certainly is an audience for this and advertisers will be ready to fork over big money to get their brands to the millions of television viewers that will watch. If I don’t run it, I certainly will be watching.
So that is all good news and seems like a win/win- I wonder how much money ESPN/WABC paid for these exclusive rights. I also wonder how NYRR President and CEO Mary Wittenberg will use the extra revenue to make the race better for everyone involved.
My fear is that the NYRR will use the money to pay for more professional athletes to show up for the race. Also, I am wondering if the purse will increase again attracting the top field, sort of an all-star game of runners. I say this is my fear because as NYRR spends more and more money on the elite/professional runners, the average runner (who the race was created for) is stuck paying the ever increasing race fees.
You would hope that in this economy NYRR would earmark some of the television rights revenue to help offset the race fee for the average Joe. Heck, it is the 40,000+ average Joe runners that have made this event so attractive for television- along with the allure of running in NYC. You would think that we would get some sort of consideration for our participation by capping fees for a period of 5 years and removing the ludicrous $11 processing fee just to enter the lottery- a lottery that you probably won’t even win.
It is great for the sport to have the marathon televised nationally, I love it! I just hope that the ever increasing race fees are evaluated by the major race organizers, especially the NYC Marathon who will have a windfall of television rights cash over the next 5 years.
As I have said in the past, running is free and is not a commodity.
What are your thoughts about this television rights deal with ESPN? What are your feelings about race fees and about increases each year? Would you not run a race due to their high fees? Does it make sense to cap fees for during the years television rights are being paid?
- Scott
I am aiming to run all the World Marathon Majors this year. I have qualified and been accepted for Boston but New York could be my stumbling block, having to go in the ballot and also pay almost $350 as an overseas entrant, on top of flights and accommodation.
I would expect that all the big city marathons have large police and logistical costs but as a UK based runner I had to pay £27 for London and Berlin was only 60 euros. To enter Chicago and Berlin is half that of New York. Its not as though the New York course is that great that you run past landmarks that need to be well policed. Apart from a few random patches in Brooklyn the first 13 miles really don’t have that many spectators that need to be held back with police and at the finish they are all contained in Central Park. London for example runs by many tourists attractions with the last 4 miles along the embankment, past the Houses of Parliament and finishes in front of Buckingham Palace so you could argue London has higher policing needs and costs.
I think the problem with New York is it tries to put on a race weekend experience, which is great if it is going to be your once in a lifetime running of a marathon. But for those of use who run a lot of races we just want a safe well marshalled course, drinks stations, first aid facilities, accurate timing and maybe a T shirt and medal at the end.
The added events of the Saturday international run or Sunday after party (Both of which Berlin do also for free) whilst are a nice touch aren’t really necessary. The pasta party has already gone but the entry fee never reduced to acknowledge this.
As much as I hate the $11 processing fee at least it might stop so many of the fun runners who get accepted to do London but don’t really want to do it applying. London application opens the day after the previous marathon. Everyone is hyped up after watching it on TV or supporting their friend so enters and then regrets it in October when the find out they have to train over winter in the cold wind and snow. Then they pull out but have taken a place from a runner who genuinely wants to run it. At $347 you have to think twice before you just enter for fun.
A three night stay in New York with a travel company to run the race is over £1000 for me, So yes I do think that the race fees are too high. If they make the experience better such as providing shelter or marquees to sit in for the 4 hours you shiver waiting at Staten Island, having a better finish area so that the first wave runners don’t have to walk a mile to their luggage bags, or having adequate refuelling food in the goody bags instead of plain water, a nutty cereal bar and meat snacks when it takes almost an hour to get to your own food ( I’m a veggie allergic to nuts). Then I might be more accepting of them keeping the TV sponsorship fees and keeping the entry fees high, but personally I would prefer them to announce they are giving us all a $20 entry discount, but I can’t see it happening. They have to be careful though or else they could see themselves pricing themselves out of most runners racing calendar.
Interesting. There was an article in the NY Times last year that talked about how the NYC Marathon does not pay for police presence and that they were looking to start charging them. NYRR was crying about it.
This NY Times article suggests it is the police costs to blame with entry fees rising between 24-39% depending on entrant.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/sports/new-york-city-marathon-raises-entry-fee.html
Unfortunately, they can do pretty much whatever they want (like Boston.) I think it would be great to lower the average Joe’s entry fee if they’re making “big bank” on TV rights.
At least cap it for the next five years.
I would absolutely love to NYC Marathon, but I figure by the time I am able to fit it in the price will be way more expensive! Didn’t the registration fee jump up $50 from last year? That is a HUGE price increase in one year – what will it be next year? It sounds like they are making this race harder for the average Joe to participate in! Will definitely be interested to see how it all plays out, but really look forward to watching it on tv!
Hmmm, sounds about right. Feels like we are paying to get the elite athletes to run it when they should WANT to due to the challenging course and vibe.
I would love to run New York but the cost is a definite consideration. $350 for international runners is a big hit to take.
That is a huge amount!
I will be running both Boston and NYC this year (I qualified for both). I entered the lottery for NYC the last two years, so I was determined to qualify so they couldn’t keep me out again! I can not believe how much more expensive NYC ($255.00) is than Boston ($150.00). I understand that these events require a lot of logistical support, but I can’t see how NYRR can justify their exorbitant fees. Someone above commented that they can do what they want, as can Boston. But the fact is that I don’t feel gouged by Boston, even though they could get away with it (The BAA still charges less than RnR!). The NYCM is one of a kind, like Boston, but the NYRR seems to be taking advantage of it beyond what’s justified. The NYCM is becoming a race for the rich and only the rich. Considering the history of community support for this race, I find this very unfortunate. It will taint the reputation of one of the finest races in the world.
Well said and I agree with just about everything you said in your comment.
I definitely do a cost-benefit analysis for races, looking at the distance, fees, course, etc. Maybe this is their way to keep people who aren’t “real” runners from doing these marathons, although the qualifying times should cover that.
What is a “real” runner anyway? Every year hundreds of thousands of people who have never run before take on the marathon. That is how I started!
i am a member of nyrr and qualified for the NYCM this past year through its 9+1 program…i am very thankful that i was able to qualify in this way and did not have to chance it on the lottery but the fact that i had to pay between $18-40 (9x) for each race and then pay $158 for the race seems ludicrous to me! and then i hear that they raised it to $218 this year, even for members of nyrr?! it was a great marathon to do once but i really don’t feel like i need to pay an exorbitant amount to do it again, there are SO MANY other amazing marathons out there for a fraction of the cost
I did the same calculations last year after I did the 9+1, it really starts to add up. Being a member of NYRR really doesn’t give you any benefit, still trying to figure out why I am even a member.
Four years ago I defered from NY marathon with an injury and thought it wasn’t worth risking for what I remember being about $100 entry fee. Now with my entry being $347 I will think I might as well attempt to get round instead of losing all that money if I am injured and have my flight booked.
I can see a lot of other people thinking the same which may lead to some dangerous situations on race day with people who might not have trained enough or have just recovered from an illness close to the race day but can’t afford to waste money on entry fees for a race they don’t run.
Interesting point, I never thought of it that way; people running when they shouldn’t just to not loose the money.
Scott, just as an FYI, I’ve watched the NYC marathon on T.V. for the last several years (NOT online and not on cable).
Maybe I’m just in a big enough market, but here in Colorado NBC Universal is broadcast just like any other local channel (CBS, NBC, Fox, etc). So maybe it hasn’t been *nationally* televised, but it’s been televised outside of N.Y. (at least in one market).
Mary Wittenburg, President of NYRR (NON-PROFIT ORG), made $509,555 in 2009 (475k in regular compensation). Other officers made $334,860, 265,500, 209,160, 186,280, 177,940, 175,357, … SOURCE: NYRR’s 2009 Form 990 for the public