One of the more controversial announcements in our sport in 2024 was the announcement that Flosports had won the North American rights to the Diamond League (except Nike Pre Classic) and Continental Tour Meetings (except US-based Continental Tour) for 2025 and beyond. Social media was vicious, and the haters for paying for streaming came out.
Flosports should not be blamed for bidding on the Diamond League and Continental Tour rights. The half-energized coverage and lack of promotion by NBC showed, the data shows that the US audience for Diamond League on Peacock was 2.6 million views for the 14 meets (not Including NIKE Pre), smaller than Norway’s audience figures for the 2023 Diamond League. The Diamond League knew that they needed an energized partner, and that is what they found in Flosports.
This is part 2 of our coverage of this important development in the sport. You can find part 1 here.
Ryan Fenton was kind enough to answer all of our questions and provide photos. Special thanks to Brian Reinhart, VP/ Corporate Communications at FloTrack.
RunBlogRun, #1: Ryan, how did you get involved in track and field?
Ryan Fenton: I first got involved in track & field as an athlete in 4th grade when I tried out for the elementary school team and was cut (by my mom, who was one of the coaches). That didn’t sit well with me, so I started running/practicing afterward, and the next year, I made the team and was the best distance runner in the school. I continued running competitively through college, where I was All-Conference in the steeplechase at Clemson (2000-2005), and then moved to Boston and ran for NB Boston for a little over a year after college and prior to joining FloSports (finished 5th in 5k at USATF Outdoor Club Nationals in 2007).
RunBlogRun, #2: What was your first experience in running media?
Ryan Fenton: As it relates to professional experience in running media, I emailed Mark Floreani – CEO and Co-Founder of FloSports, who was also a former D1 track athlete (we ran the same event in college and competed against one another one time…Mark’s PR is much better than mine, but I got him in the one head to head match up we had 🙂 – in December 2007 and offered to help cover track meets in Boston where I was living. I owned a video camera and loved the sport of track & field. Mark came to Boston soon after for the Reebok Indoor Grand Prix, and we covered our first meeting together at Boston University (shout out to coach Robyne Johnson for…
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