Lane9: Track, field & money George M. Perry

Track & field athletes lament their one-sided contracts, but the sponsors probably feel the same way. When was the last time an athlete, agent or property asked a prospective sponsor "What do you want? What would benefit you?" and then went back and figured out a solution?

Sports sponsorship requires more from the brand and the property than slapping a logo on something. What did the sponsors of recent track & field events hope to get from their involvement, and did they do anything to reach that goal? What will Puma do to activate their new post-collegiate group in North Carolina?

Two stories, five years apart, set the stage for a stark choice that everyone faces when someone new appears in your Inbox: be an eagle and respond, or be a s**tbird and ignore them.

Track & field athletes need purge the word "No" from their vocabulary, because the institutions to which they entrust their careers are far too comfortable saying "No" at every turn.

Everyone involved in "professional" track & field should be ashamed that Ben Blankenship funded a race at the American Track League. But they won't be. Our advice to aspiring pro's or semi-pro's: Look elsewhere.

Post-collegiate non-professional athletes were the majority of competitors at the 2016 track & field Olympic Trials. Any changes to the format for the 2021 trials would likely fall hardest on them.