Posted: June 25, 2005

Athletics: Notes from CEO Craig A. Masback's State of the Sport Address

June 25, 2005; Carson, Calif.; USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, presented by Visa

Performance:

• The World’s #1 Track & Field Team
• Veteran stars like Allen Johnson, Joanna Hayes, and Maurice Greene are backed by a rising young talent in Justin Gatlin, Kerron Clement, Wallace Spearmon, Lauryn Williams, Allyson Felix, and many others.
• 19 Medals at World Juniors (13 Gold)
• 25 Medals at 2004 Athens Olympic Games
• 2005 NCAA Championships saw several national and world-leading marks

• 23,000 attendance average per day at 2004 Olympic Trials
• 12,500 attendance average for 19 Visa Championship Series events in 2004 and 2005 (not including Olympic Trials)

• Average NBC rating (11 shows) in 2004 and 2005 is 2.1
• 2004 average broadcast ratings (2.5) higher than NBA’s regular season average (2.4), Major League Baseball’s 2004 regular-season average (2.2), and more than double NHL’s regular season average in 2004 (1.2)
• Average cable rating (16 shows on ESPN, ESPN2, USA Network) in 2004 and 2005 is .57
• On cable TV, USATF typically improved lead-in ratings by over 30% (college baseball and basketball and motor sports) and the programs that followed (typically the NHL) lost 20% of USATF’s ratings
• USATF has produced or arranged 43 programs in last two years on NBC and cable television networks, including the 2005 World Outdoor Championships (see attached release)

• Junior High/High School:
• #1 junior high school (12-14 year-olds) and high school (15-18 year-olds) participatory sport with more than 3.5 million participants
• NCAA:
• 25% of all NCAA participants are track and field or cross country athletes[i]
• Measured against 199-2000, the number of NCAA schools fielding track/cross country programs and the number of athletes participating in them have increased.
• Adults:
• 37 million adult runners, 10 million of whom run 100 times or more a year
• 9 percent increase in runners in 2004

• Since 1997 revenues have risen from $6.7 million to $16.3 million in 2004
• Sponsorship is up from less than $2 million in 1997 to more than $10 million in 2004
• New relationship with Hershey’s
• From 1998 to 2004 a $3 Million debt turned into a $2 million surplus
• Sanctions up 10-15% in 2005
• Membership up 5-10% in 2005

• Be A Champion—Partnership program with the American College of Sports Medicine to promote active, healthy, drug-free lifestyles
• Since October of 2004, 27 athletes have spoke to more than 5,300 students spanning across the United States from Miami, Florida to Portland, Oregon
• Most recently (Tuesday, June 21), Maurice Greene, Leonard Scott, Inger Miller, Nichole Denby, Angela Williams spoke to students at Bud Carson Middle School in Hawthorne, Calif.
• Fundraising
• In 2004, road runners and walkers raised $575 million for charity (a 10% increase over past two years)[ii]
• The USATF Foundation awarded its first two grants in 2004
• $25,000 to the City Sports youth track and field program at the New Balance Track and Field Center in New York City
• $10,000 to the “Be a Champion” initiative

[ii] “Fast Forward,” Summer 2005, pg. 6. USATF internal study conducted in partnership with George Washington University’s Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management.