With Change Comes Opportunities

This past weekend was CLASH Endurance’s Daytona race. You may have missed it. In fact, many within our industry did, too. That’s a far cry from the fall of 2020, when the then-Challenge Daytona served as the inaugural PTO Championship, which by extension made it practically the long course triathlon world championship because of all of the other cancellations that year. A $1.2 million prize purse made sure all eyes were there, and it delivered.

So, what happened?

It's no secret that at least two things have continued to happen with CLASH Daytona. Or at least, two things have continued to happen with the professional race at CLASH Daytona.

The Pro field has continued to shrink in size. Now let me be very clear, I didn’t say quality. I said size. I will let you argue about this in our Forum.

That being said, the subject of professional athletes in our sport and how they integrate into the broader triathlon community is a whole different topic that I will be diving into at a later date. But I will say this: when it comes to races that pros should be focusing on, I believe they are having a really hard time knowing what to do and when to do it. They are being pulled in many directions and I’m really hoping that the broader industry will take notice of that sooner than later. I hope that we can find a happy medium for them so that they can start to settle into a more structured season so that they don't all end up with shortened careers due to injury and mental stress from simply not being able to get off the gas pedal due to the extended calendar.

The Broadcast coverage continues to be great. It is probably the cleanest overall broadcast in our sport. They’ve also managed to improve with every race they do.

With the resources that CLASH has access to, thanks to being teamed up with NASCAR at some level, the coverage should be good. It’s also no secret that covering a CLASH race for broadcast is a lot easier than trying to do the same for IRONMAN. And it is. But they still put together a great broadcast product. And by doing so, they have also provided pro athletes a fantastic opportunity to provide their partners national television exposure. Side note: endemic sponsors – given the national TV exposure, why aren’t we giving the same athlete bonuses for a CLASH win compared to an IRONMAN branded one?

CLASH has also proven to be good listeners about their race and broadcast product, making changes suggested by athletes and viewers alike.

With all that being said, it was a busy weekend in triathlon. CLASH Daytona happened, and guess what? The pro field was small but mighty, and the coverage was great. What you probably would have expected. Both the men’s and women’s races were fast, with tight finishes that added to the excitement.

Top 10 Men’s Results
1. Vincent Luis 2:23:48
2. Joao Pereira 2:24:12
3. Jason West 2:24:58
4. Thomas Bishop 2:25:30
5. Matt Hanson 2:27:04
6. Matthew Sharpe 2:27:57
7. Jonas Schomburg 2:28:00
8. Jackson Laundry 2:28:43
9. Seth Rider 2:29:36
10. Tomas Rodriguez 2:30:49

Top 10 Women’s Results
1. Angelica Olmo 2:40:11
2. Sara Perez Salla 2:40:39
3. Julie Derron 2:41:55
4. Jackie Hering 2:42:18
5. Haley Chura 2:43:52
6. Kaidi Kivioja 2:44:19
7. Sif Madsen 2:45:18
8. Valerie Barthelemy 2:46:21
9. Grace Alexander 2:47:36
10. Lesley Smith 2:48:37

Great racing, for sure. But there was also some stiff competition for pro athletes this weekend at IRONMAN 70.3 Indian Wells. Guess what? The pro field was smaller than you’d expect, but still mighty, and the coverage was great. All things we’d expect, but it also tells us something: the pro athletes are burnt out in November and December, especially given the extended 2022 race year.

But something else happened over the weekend, which hasn’t been talked about. CLASH’s age group registration numbers doubled compared to last year. Now, yes, that included all of their events on the weekend, which one of them isn’t a triathlon, but we will get to the importance of that in a bit.

Why change is Important

This weekend was a perfect example of how change can bring about opportunity, whether Clash really knows that or not.

Being completely honest, I have never really understood why there was a professional race at every race CLASH puts on. Or, at least, I don’t understand why they kept the same format for every location of theirs. It's just too long of a race to do at every single track with all things considered. If you can’t run the full event within the confines of the track you are at, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

What I have understood from the first time I set foot onto one of the NASCAR tracks for the race in Miami in 2021 was how it had the opportunity to become one of the best short course introduction feeders, while still being able to provide an excellent experience for professional athletes and long-course racers alike.

I’ve been to multiple CLASH races since, and have come away with the following conclusions to date.

Positives
1. Bill Christy has a true genuine passion for putting on these events. Most people just see the dollar signs due to his NASCAR ties. But he’s all-in on these events.
2. Because of those NASCAR ties, unless they mess up the grass with the Daytona logo on it, there shouldn’t ever be a problem with permitting or access.
3. They have some of the best operational people in the business in charge of putting on the races, including some long-time ex-IRONMAN employees.

Challenges
1. Once the PTO does not provide a 1.2 million dollar prize purse, you will always look like you’re shrinking in terms of size of field and investment in the professional athlete.
2. Getting age group athletes to buy into what you are trying to do takes time. Triathletes tend to be at the front of the bell curve for a lot of things – shoes, bikes, technology. Not so much with races. With our traditional triathlete audience of highly educated, very busy, type-A personalities who don't have time for you to mess with their schedules – there’s hesitation to try something new. And when they put you on the calendar they are fully committed to that date and experience, and they expect you to be the same.You only get one shot at impressing these athletes – you can see how others have failed in this space.
3. CLASH hasn’t yet understood that their biggest opportunity long term will be in shorter distance races and other endurance events.

It’s been a long time since our sport has had someone that can really make a difference when it comes to long-term participation growth. I have often asked and wondered to myself, “How is the sport going to grow when everyone continues to fight over higher priced long distance registration dollars? Or which pros we can have show up that might help with eyeballs? What age group story can drum up earned media shares?” Those things are important, and we need those big actors to continue, right? But what those things do is engage people already in our sport. They don’t bring in anybody new. And without new athletes, our sport slowly withers away.

With pro athletes mostly being used for media views, and larger race companies sucking endemic companies dry with sponsorship fees (to the tune of north of seven figures per year for a partnership), there’s a vacuum currently answering the question: who is actually going to take up the job of bringing new athletes in and teaching them how to swim, bike and run? Is it solely the responsibility of clubs and coaches, like it has been for the last several year? Will it be USA Triathlon? Will new CEO Victoria Blumfield going to start on some of the promised changes, or will it continue to primarily focus on its Olympic Development Cycle mandate?

Ultimately, the question becomes this: who is going to be the leader in introducing people to endurance sports?

I think, at least as a race producer, CLASH can really start doing this. Looking at their success from this weekend in Daytona, I believe they can start looking at their business model and finding their rhythm. While the pro field shrank in size from 2021, they saw at least double digit growth in their shorter distance races this weekend: a 5K running race, and the kids and sprint distance triathlon/duathlon events. What does that say? What is their client base trying to say to them?

To me, it’s telling us a big thing – that people want to try triathlon, but they might be intimidated by open road courses, or swims in large bodies of water. And this is where CLASH has an advantage over most other short-course events. The kids and sprint distance races take place entirely within the confines of the Speedway – the only vehicles on course are for race support. It’s the level of treatment you’ve come to expect only out of an IRONMAN branded event. And, long-term, it’s not healthy for the sport if people starting in the sport are doing so at 70.3 or full distance races in order to get the level of safety they expect out on the race course.

Everyone – including us here at Slowtwitch, if we’re being honest – has been too focused on the middle and bottom part of the athlete funnel. The people who are always going to sign up for a triathlon, year in and year out, or the peak end of the age group and professional field. We’re not doing enough to keep people in our circle. We put gravel and triathlon in separate buckets, or we use language like “oh, I’m just doing a running race this year” or “oh, I’m only doing the half next weekend at XXX race.” And that’s not going to be good enough anymore.

Coming off this weekend, I’m hopeful for a few things when it comes to CLASH. I hope they continue to have fun with their customers as they mix things up in our sport. I have been to their races and fun is at the heart of what they do. I hope they continue to expand their product offerings at other tracks to focus on those non-long distance races to bring more new people to triathlon. I hope they continue to have great relationships with professional athletes and keep things moving forward on the broadcast front. In turn, I hope pro athletes can see the long term positives that CLASH provides them and they show up to their events.

For more information can be found on the website
www.clash-usa.com
All Photos provided by Clash

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