Anyone been keeping up with this development over at the WTC? The "Ironman Access" program was launched and quickly scrapped based on tons of negative feedback from the public...here is a an interesting take on the whole thing.
The World Triathlon Corporation exposes its true, greedy colors
Although the Access Ironman program has been retracted, the cat is out of the bag—the WTC is, above all other things, a business that has gone from great to disturbingly greedy.
When the Ironman debuted in 1978, its purpose was pure and simple: ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Further, in 1991 when the World Triathlon Corporation was founded, I truly think the intentions were good and that furthering the sport of triathlon was at its core.
To the WTC’s credit, the sport of triathlon has grown. In fact, the expansion of participants is almost freakishly amazing as the numbers of new and repeat registrants continue to soar despite tough economic times. But somewhere between 2005 and today, greed has seeped into the crevasses of a once distinguished organization -- and, like a cancer, is killing it.
I think that the WTC has taken advantage of the fact that it holds the rights to the name “Ironman.” For many, this word is synonyms with completing iron distances of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and a 13.1-mile run. The Ironman phenomenon is a beast that feeds itself— more people want to conquer the distance, so more events are created; more events expose more people to the challenge; increased exposure births more dreams of becoming an “Ironman”… and this is where the WTC has a stronghold on the market. To become an Ironman, one has to complete an officially licensed Ironman event … or so, this is the perception to many.
The WTC is all too aware of this fact, and continues to capitalize. They have a stronghold on the Ironman market, the half-Ironman market (i.e., 70.3 series that launched in 2005), and with their recent launch of the 5150 series in 2011, they’ll soon have control of the Olympic distance market as well.
Slowly but surely, the WTC is taking dreams and holding up a price tag. The consumers have no other choice than to do whatever they need to do in order to achieve their aspirations. This includes battling through a registration process that often requires people to travel to the race destination just to register. Then, if they are lucky, they get to pay $600 for an opportunity to achieve their dream a year later. Still, people flock to these races that fill up within hours.
In answer to this chaos, the WTC announced a new Ironman Access program on Oct. 27. According to the WTC, this program was to offer advanced registration to its Ironman events before entries would be open for registration to the general public. The cost?.... only $1,000 (this, on top of the cost of registration for the event).
Understandably, the triathlon community was immediately outraged and the WTC was bombarded with thousands of negative emails and Facebook comments. The public could not believe the insanity. The WTC was basically adding another $1000 to the already outrageous price to achieve a dream.
On Oct. 28, the Ironman Access program was rescinded. Ben Fertic, President and CEO of the WTC appeared in an online video stating: “If you guys think we’re wrong, we’re wrong.” As explained in the video, the purpose of the program was to free up 2,500 to 3,000 entry slots that go unused by individuals who sign up for multiple Ironman events.
Really WTC? So, you are telling me that there are thousands of wealthy individuals out there who buy multiple entries to Ironman events just so they have a spot in one? I highly doubt the validity of this claim. I think that your true intention was to “test the waters." I think that you put this $1,600 price tag out there to see how many would take the bite. If the program was successful, then you could justify raising registration costs; if the program failed, no biggie… it was worth a try.
Unfortunately for the WTC, the plan blew up their face. The only thing the Ironman Access program was successful in doing was exposing its true greed.
Endurance Sports - Running
BY michele wallace
Wednesday, 03 November 2010 17:17
No comments:
Post a Comment