WTC announced 5150 Series
Was somewhat suprised no topics on this yet this morning, unless I missed it, was blowing up the twitterverse last night. Tons of people called this last year but now it's official, WTC is buying your favorite Oly's. I'm personally not excited about this for the obvious reasons, but I'm not suprised either.
WTC Launches New Global Event Series
Oct. 5, 2010 (Tampa, Fla.) – Today, World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), best known for its worldwide Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races, announces the launch of a new global event series titled 5150. All events within the 5150 Triathlon Series include a 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run. Event information, including online registration details, will be available in the coming weeks on www.5150.com.
Starting in 2011, the 5150 Series will be the largest international distance triathlon series in the world and will be the first non-drafting international race series of its kind, offering a competitive platform for professional and age group athletes. The 2011 event schedule will offer 13 domestic events as well as a handful of international races. The Hy-Vee Triathlon will host the 5150 U.S. Championship, offering professional athletes the opportunity to compete for $1 million in prize money. Additional international race locations in Europe and Asia-Pacific will be announced soon.
Interesting note for us in the MidWest, Hy-Vee is now going to be the 5150 US National Championships with qualification guidelines to be announced soon. So it sounds like you may not be able to do Hyvee without qualifiying in the future, but the verbage makes it sound like they may stick to the 2-race format with the ITU race being replaced by the 5150 Pro and National Championship and the Sunday AG race remaining open for general entry.
Comments
Patrick and I saw it, have an email thread about it.
Pretty sure I called this over a year ago....yay me!!
The only missing peice now is a pyramid qualification scheme that keeps AG'ers in the brand from SC to LC races by "encouraging them" to race this race as a qualifier for that race as a qualifier for another race as a qualifier for Kona.
Move Kona/Clearwater to venues that accommodate 3k people and have the location of the championships up for bid by cities: you submit a bid to host the IM World Championships for 2-3yrs, then it moves to another location.
They have the worst possible names, evar, for races. 70.3 was dumb but this is a lot worse.
I wonder how long before they start to pressure... ummm, ask about getting Races like the Columbia (MD) Olympic and other well run Olympic races under the Van Halen umbrella?
Looking forward to never doing on of these races.
From there, of course it's only natural that a half iron should cost basically half of what an Ironman costs... perhaps it really does cost the WTC half as much per participant to run a half but I again get the feeling that they just said people will assume paying half of a full IM entry makes sense and not really question it further.
Now arriving at the Olympics, the venues they bought out all seem to be pretty high end races as it is, I'm trying to remember, but I believe Hy-vee was on the order of $120 register as it was before IM involvement. Somewhere in the low $100 range seems to be about the going rate for some of the nicer venue Olympics, so if we used the WTC's of scalng price and distance semi-linearly then I'd guess that the median price on these new 5150's are going to be $150 with some venues going higher or lower based off demand or actual cost, I'm sure its a lot more expensive to shut down parts of NYC for a day than Des Moines.
Is it me or is it shitty marketing? 5150? WTF? Why not Simply WTC International Distance? Or WTC Oly?
I am also tired of telling people what 70.3 and 140.6 are. Half and Full Ironman is sufficient. They don't call half and full marathons simply 13.1 and 26.2, right? It is half marathon and full marathon.
First off, though the HyVee amateur race has been a bit dull in its course the last couple of years... and the bike course was way too crowded... and the entry fee much higher than any other races in our neighborhood... no other race has done for triathlon what HyVee has in this neck of the woods. It is a huge positive. It has become a legit Cultural Event because of HyVee's promotion of the race and the events. (They are a grocery store chain.) In past years, when it was coupled with the ITU and a kids race, you could make a weekend of it as a family if you wanted. The hoopla around it was huge, and they made everyone feel welcome. You could grouse about some of the details (as I have), but there's no question that overall it was a Good Thing for triathlon.
The mid-June date turned out to be problematic. Since the mid-90s, our weather in June has been a bit crazy. We've had torrential rains and floods all too often. This year, the event had to be severely curtailed. (Kids race canceled. Age group race changed to a sprint at the last minute, and even that had competitors out during lightning) So, from that point of view, the change to ~Labor Day is a big plus. If the fee is raised a lot, that will be a big negative. It was already in the $150 range as I remember, which is quite high for around here. (Pigman half-iron is under $100!)
The way this reads, the amateur event will remain a normal amateur event, although under WTC ownership. I am with others that say this this will probably be a "rising tide" thing at the Oly distance (unlike 70.3, where it scares me a bit). If Hy Vee gets too big, it will push business to other races. Other races will be able to sell themselves as tune ups for Hy Vee, etc etc. So I am not concerned about the Gorilla Footprint of the WTC on the central Iowa Oly distance race market.
On the Pro side, I really don't know what to make of it. WTC has surely tried to strong-arm IM athletes into doing more or less only their races with the new Kona rules. But here, they are dealing with a sponsor who is putting up the big bucks. The prize money in past years has been $700,000 or so, and now it's up to $1,000,000. Maybe you have to win more than just this race to collect the highest prize; I suspect we'll hear more about that soon. They used to pay $200,000 to each winner, but now it says $100,000. Maybe the prizes run deeper. Not sure. But in any case, the prize money is much more than even Kona. So maybe that's not a bad thing for WTC to be saddled with...high expectations on the pro side.
I do have one area of concern, which is the IronKids Championship race. Previously (although, again there were some nit-picky issues I could complain about), the youth event was open entry. It's not entirely clear that the "IronKids Championship" will be open to all from the press release. USAT's National Championship race is open entry for the non-draft legal race, but had some restrictions for the draft-legal race. I would hope WTC also keep the non-drafting race open to all. I don't think they even have a draft-legal race.
Finally, I am a bit concerned over what they will do for teenagers. The old youth race ended at age 13 I believe. (They have had a USAT-ITU youth/junior race in some years, but not the last couple.) The race director started invoking a "must be 18" rule for the Oly race, but it turned out that he would make case by case exceptions if you were in the know. My son was the youngest Individual Olympic distance competitor in 2009 at age 14, and did a 2:25 or so. Next year, he will compete as 16. For all the "event for the whole family" talk that HyVee has done, unless WTC lightens up on their usual "You Must Be 18" rule (which is appropriate for super-long races) or has a decent youth race for teenagers, that segment will be lost...which is a huge shame if we are trying to grow the sport. Most 15-16 year old triathletes that I know don't want to do an event that's much shorter than a normal sprint, so a too-short event will not be good for the older ones either.
Anyway, I see this as an opportunity that I hope they get right, at least for central Iowa. I don't have the wisdom to know if it's a good thing for all of Triathlon.
I think the 70.3 marketing has been very successful; it gives an instant identification to the races they franchise/own. They don't use 140.6 very much... It's "Ironman", "Ironman 70.3" and now will be "5150" or "Ironman 5150". If they get their trade name over a common race distance (e.g., "Ironman") that gives them a lot of control. As has been discussed elsewhere, people will sign up for a WTC brand race like they will go to McDonalds or Holiday Inn...they have pretty fixed expectations based on the brand name.
You and I probably think it's pretty irritating, but I think it's probably not a bad idea from their perspective.
CapTex, Austin TX, Memorial Day Mondays, ~$140.
Toyota US Open, (capstone to the Lifetime Fitness Series, including Chicago, NYC, LA, Minneapolis), Dallas TX, ~$150.
There's a tipping point. Above that price point, and you'll turn people off. It's almost like a $/mile calculation, if you ask me.
loud sucking sounds as WTC swallows the world of tri....
I agree with all of you who think that is the dumbest, stupidest, most incomprehensible name ever. Guess they just talk in a bubble to each other coming up with that garbage.
Think people will feel extra special doing a 5150? Like it's an Ironman or something? Doubt it. Way to dilute the brand WTC! Awesome!
But their market for these races (in terms of expansion) is probably the bejillions of people out there doing 5Ks, 10Ks, and half marathons, don't you think? It's just a moniker like "Lifetime Fitness" to them I imagine.
Geez, I can't believe I'm sort of defending WTC....
Lincoln, NE
Omaha, NE
Sioux City, IA
Sioux Falls, SD
Rochester, MN
Madison, WI
Dubuque, IA
Waterloo, IA
Quad Cities
Columbia, MO
Kansas City, MO
West Des Moines, IA
Cedar Rapids, IA
(All of these will also bear the HyVee name.)
In 2010, there were regular youth triathlons at least at :
HyVee
Des Moines
Ankeny (a suburb of Des Moines)
Ames (40 miles north...cancelled at the last minute, but rescheduled beginning 2011)
I would bet the other Iowa HyVee/IronKids races already existed under other names, but I don't know.
When I first started doing tris in 1999 there was a handful of races in Iowa. Pigman, Big Creek, Whaletown, Cornman, were about it. I can pretty much race every weekend now, while Hy-Vee isn't directly responsible for this....it doesn't hurt as the growth from 2007 to now has been huge.
Plus, I've paid an entry free 1x in 3 years. Hoping I'll get comped again!
My wife says WTC is like Kitchenaid. They used to sell only professional high-end kitchen appliances with high mark-up. Now they sell pots and pans, pot holders, dishtowels, etc, and their high end stuff no longer commands the big prices. And their products used to only be available at stores like Macy's but are now sold at Target and similar. Coach (purses, etc) is following the same trend. It's profitable in the short run, but costly to the brand image in the long run. But we all know that firms are biased to the short run and Providence Equity's goal is most definitely NOT the long run. When they get the value to where they want, they will sell WTC, and there is going to be some fall-out down the road due to this overexposure.
NYC already costs $245 and this year plus an $11 lottery fee. The lottery will be instituted for the first time this year. So what will they charge now I have no idea. There is no mention of this on the NYC Tri website as of yet. I'm kind of shocked they didn't buy Philly as well. That's another huge Olympic race.
As for the series itself, are they trying to compete with ITU now? I don't know how that will happen unless they open the purse strings. ITU payouts are pretty good, better than Ironman prizes by far from what I hear. The best athletes will go where the money is, save those special races like Kona. So I guess they are just trying to expand their brand thus earning them more profits.
@Paul - No one suggests that HyVee in Des Moines is or ever would be a "destination race" except for the draw of the pro race, i.e., if you want to see the ITU (in the past) or whatever-it-is-now race. It's a big race...for central Iowa. It does draw regionally to a degree (MN, KS, etc), but the bigness draws, in large part, from Iowans who do one race a year or maybe this is their first. It was my first Olympic race, in large part because it was so widely advertised, and I didn't know too much about others. Interesting analogy to Kitchenaid (although they still do make some good stuff!)
@Tucker - They are saying their niche is non-drafting, as opposed to the ITU style. Guys like Matty Reed and other strong bikers benefit. But, I do have to say that the ITU style does make it easy to sit in a grandstand and watch.
@Dan - how do you get the freebies??? :-) I assume it's because of your job. You're an EMS/fire guy right? I did the race twice and enjoyed it. I just skipped it this last year because it didn't really fit into my schedule and it had that high hassle-factor with the Saturday checkin, etc (plus $$).
@Tucker,
I honestly don't see how they can directly compete with ITU even though that seems exactly what they are doing. The reason of course is the national triathlon associations and the olympics. My understanding of these organizations is fairly limited, however there has always seemed to be a great impetus on ITU racing with the national teams and associations, i.e. USAT, Triathlon Australia, etc, are much more likely to foster and support development of an up and coming ITU athlete with the Olympics being the ultimate long term goal. This is why in the past athletes like Crowie had to basically abandon their national associations and strike out on their own if they were doing any racing other than ITU really, Crowie left the protective umbrella of Triathlon Australia and set out completely on his own when he gambled on Ironman focus. With these races being non-draft I'm just not sure what role they can assume on an international level. Surely they can attract age group support, and really that's probably what they want since they wouldn't have to hassle with big payouts, but I just don't see how 5150 can compete with ITU with the Olympics still in the picture,
@William,
As for the Hy-Vee discussion, certainly Hy-Vee is a big deal for more than just central Iowa, it's a big deal for all of Iowa and while I agree it's not a destination race, it is one of the bigger sporting venues in Iowa. Being from Florida, there is certainly no triathlon in Florida that is as big of a deal on the state level as Hy-vee is to Iowa. This is just my speculation, but with no professional sports franchises in Iowa, and honestly with Iowa not receiving a ton of attention on the national stage outside of election season, a true internationally significant sporting event is a big deal for the state. Remember, Hy-vee was broadcast on network television this year, other than the occasional Hawkeyes game, even then I'm sorry Hawks fans because it's all about the SEC!
, or election season, you aren't seeing a whole lot of Iowa on TV. The future of this race is important to Iowa as and Iowa triathletes certainly more so than most of the other races on that list.
Anyway, only other thing I'll add is the name 5150 did not actually bother me that much. Sure, it's a little dumb, but I really liked the fact that the 5150 site never makes use of the phrase "Ironman 5150" but rather uses "5150" on it's own. Now, if I it starts being referred as Ironman 5150 in the same capacity that 70.3s are branded then I will take greater offense. I know it's smug/selfish/any other thing you can think of, but I really did work my ass off to do Ironman and I honestly would prefer the name not be further diluted. I heard someone on the news the other week say "a 5k marathon" and visibly grimaced. That kills me.
LTFis a big corporate gun too; granted, not as big as HyVee in regards to purses.
Apprarently, the trend seems to be to align your race with a series. So, now we've got WTC 5150, Lifetime Fitness, Escape races (Alcatraz being the capstone event), WCS for ITU. Any more series I'm missing?!?
I'm hoping that this will help the pros financially and make it so some of them can actually make a living at the sport. In the end, better coverage of the Pros by the media means increased participation in the sport by the masses. Not many people can stay glued to Ironman Live for a 10-15 hour event, but lots will watch a "5150" on TV.
Chris Lieto lives in my small town. I bet 99.9% of the locals have no clue as to who he is. Also have some NFL and MLB players close by. They are mega stars.
The IM brand is very, very successful for a good reason. They put on a good event.
@William, my dad does some work w/ hy-vee he knows the right person I guess
@Patrick: I agree. I think it is only a matter of time before WTC tries to wrest control of international triathlon from ITU. If it does then USAT would essentially cease to have a purpose and WTC would be able to establish itself as the licensing/credentialing/etc body for all of triathlon. Even now I think it is hard to imagine ITU/USAT/etc trying to "govern" WTC races if WTC decides it wants to change something in the rulebook. The two entities have clashed before and WTC temporarily withdrew from USAT sanctioning for year, so clearly the relationship is not all roses.
We can say whatever we want but WTC is a for profit business these days and has pressure to make a profit. 70.3 has been very good for them and is growing faster that ironman. It's logical for them to try and continue to expand in all directions.
Like Rich said the rumor I have heard is that if the Pro points qualification system goes well and age group version may also be implemented at some point. I could then imagine that in addition to getting points for 140.6 and 70.3, they would add in 5150 therefore convincing people like me to pretty much race only WTC events. This is just rumor and speculation on my part.