Has triathlon lost it's "cool"? (Page 2)

There are far more IM or 70.3 branded races now then there were in years past.  The number of participants has grown, and grown a lot.

Triathlon was hardly ever on TV.  There's just as much coverage as before on NBC Sports (Universal).

BT lost a lot of its traffic when they converted the site a year or two ago and it never bounced back.  ST is humming along as usual.

Too many races sprung up in the triathlon popularity explosion that started around 2008 or so.  Everyone was looking to make a buck and let's face it... most of the races that were born during that time pretty much sucked.  While triathlon's popularity has continued to increase, it's not at the rate it increased in the 2008-2011 timeframe.  So there's just not enough participants to justify all those races.  An industry wide contraction was long overdue.  2013 and 2014 thinned the herd.  Ironman has been more or less immune to this.  They are only cannibalizing themselves at this point.

Which is interesting, because you would think that duathlons would be more popular, but saying you did a triathlon sounds more impressive.

Universal Sports also got dropped by Comcast around 2012 as I recall.  Which could easily contribute to Kido's perception.

Jason, 

I am thinking you are on to something there.

Not everyone can or should go for HIM/ IM distance.  I know my body rebels on the long volume training and I am content to participate in sprints/ olympic distance.  I love the sport but primarily race for the fun of it.  

I participate in fewer races than I used to for a few reasons....one is financial, I have 2 kids in college that doesn't leave me with a lot of disposable income for race fees.  

Another is the one local race organization that does most of the triathlons in my area just plain stinks.  I refuse to support the organization with my few available dollars.  So, I pay a little more to take part in races through Rev 3 and Set Up (though Set Up is not as expensive as the Rev 3 races)

Some is related to time, I enjoy cross training as a whole and do not want to give up all my available time to solitary swim-bike-run training when I can go toss a medicine ball or something that my husband will take part in.  He doesn't do any training related to triathlon and while he is a good race sherpa he would sooner watch grass grow than run, he hates swimming and doesn't particularly enjoy biking so if I can get my chubby hubby to a boot camp class or in a gym to throw a medicine ball with me I will go with him to keep him motivated.

The thing about fitness as a whole is there are many avenues for all sorts of fitness.  Sometimes because of injury or other life event we have to change our focus.  Does it make triathlon less cool?  No, it just means our interests or priorities have had to change.  It's only uncool to those who have tried one and said "Nope, never doing THAT again" and meant it ....

You could make the same argument about soccer, Formula 1 racing, pro cycling or even team handball.  All immensely popular around the world, except in the US.   I love triathlon, but they'll have NFL franchises in Europe before triathlon ever becomes close to being a mainstream sport in the US.  Too much competition and not enough profit potential.  It all comes down to economics in the end. 

One possible opportunity I see is for 2 hour ITU-style races 'packaged' as a pro sport on cable or streaming internet outlets by providers looking for ways to fill airtime/bandwidth.  One thing for certain, even the most dedicated triathlon fan isn't going to sit in front of their TV every week for eight hours to watch the 'IM of the Week'   

Mark 

I see that all the time too. Some people do have lack of races around them, but for many it seems to be the prestige of triathlon. Too worried about what others think even though everything they say would seem to lean towards duathlon. Sometimes it's not wanting to "waste" any of their training which is funny because they'll go right ahead and sign up for a marathon that will totally dominate what training time they have anyway. Those other activities do seem to get that name brand interest more easily.

I agree with your last part....but then, I don't give a rats arse about IM.

hobbyjogging 100 miles is now more "cooler" than swim/bike/hobbyjogging 140.6 miles. 

Good point, there is not a lot of effort placed on youth triathlon.  Starting with kids 7-8 years old who can swim 200 meters, bike 3 miles or run half a mile or so.  There are a few college triathlon teams, but not in the bigger colleges.  One of my daughters goes to Liberty (Lynchburg, VA) and it does have a tri team that I have interacted with at several races.  My other daughter attends a different college and no tri team--but at least they do have an intramural swim team.

QZ - I'm not tracking you.  Youth/Jr. triathlon is the largest growth segment in triathlon.  There are plenty of colleges that have club triathlon teams.....and plenty of big colleges....just look at the teams in the collegiate national championships.  Colorado, Arizona, and on and on.  Colleges are now starting to ramp up for women's triathlon as an NCAA Championship sport.

Still going strong here. Some people have dropped out, others have joined in. Similar with races. Not so good ones have gone, others are trying to break in, good ones are still around. Numbers may move around, but there are still lots of races within easy driving distance.