A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY.

Byline: Joe Harwood The Register-Guard

Tom Jordan knows about competition.

After all, the director of the Prefontaine Classic track and field meet every year delivers some of the world's top athletes to Hayward Field - where eight of the 20 fastest miles ever run on American soil have been recorded.

Hayward is the spot where two years ago, Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj broke from an elite pack to run the fastest outdoor mile ever in this country. And where last year, inside the track, three Americans for the first time in the same competition all propelled the shot over 71 feet, 10 inches.

While the athletes endeavor on the field, Jordan does battle with costs and revenues, trying to make the meet as attractive as possible while sticking within a $400,000 budget - a relatively puny sum by international track and field standards. His big savior is Portland-based Nike Corp., which backs the event, presses its athletes to attend and this year is covering fully half the expenses.

As in the past, this year's Pre Classic - set for Saturday - will attract a contentious field of world record holders and Olympic medal winners.

It's a blend of world-class competition and Nike marketing muscle.

But there is also an emotional connection that runs deep. Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight has long had a soft spot for the University of Oregon and the Pre. Knight got his start at Hayward Field, and he continues to make Nike support of events there a priority.

Jordan is the business brains behind the contest.

The meet is owned by the nonprofit Oregon Track Club, which hires Jordan's company to run the event. Jordan juggles the hefty costs of putting on the event, and attracting top-notch talent, with a $200,000 sponsorship subsidy from Nike, plus ticket and other revenues.

"It's a lot bigger deal than a lot of people recognize," he said.

Travel woes

Getting athletes in and out of the Eugene Airport - with its dearth of commercial flights and the resulting high-priced fares - gives Jordan fits.

"Bring back the 737s and some competition," Jordan said, referring to United Airline's decision in January to drop large-jet service at the Eugene Airport. "That would be the greatest assistance for this meet in the future."

Lamenting the higher cost of flying roughly 150 athletes and their entourages to Eugene from destinations across the globe for what many in track and field consider to be the most prestigious meet in the United States is just about Jordan's only gripe.

It's never been cheap to host Eugene's only major-league pro sports event. And during the past decade, as the caliber of talent competing at the Pre has increased, so have costs. At the same time, Nike has boosted its cash payment to the meet, with most of the increase going toward bigger prize money for the athletes.

"You have fixed costs and a fixed income," Jordan said. "On the cost side, travel is probably the biggest expense, and this year we are just getting slammed."

He estimates that air fares are up more than 20 percent compared to last year.

Paul Swangard, managing director of the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, said Nike's role in helping out is crucial.

"They have brought an infusion of capital and an infusion of enthusiasm to make this event stand out in the international community," he said.

No big prizes

Unlike International Association of Athletics Federations-sanctioned track meets in Europe, track meets in the United States - the Pre among them - don't pay appearance fees to top athletes.

In Europe, for example, American Tim Montgomery, the 100-meter world-record holder, might make $100,000 for showing up at an event, Jordan said.

At the Pre, the material rewards are scant in comparison. The event covers the athletes' travel, food and lodging while they are in Eugene. And the Pre does pay some prize money - for example, $5,000 to each event's winner.

One reason athletes show up for the Pre is because Nike requires that the track athletes it contractually supports participate in the event, provided they are healthy.

The presence of those Nike athletes helps Jordan recruit other runners, jumpers and throwers from among the best in the world.

"If you're not in the top 50 in the world, you won't even be considered (for the Pre), and in recent years it's been the top 25," he said. "We've had people ranked in the top 10 in the world who haven't been able to get a lane."

And it's the top talent that helps pull in the estimated 11,000 spectators whose ticket purchases cover about a third of the meet's expenses.

Getting air time

Part of the Pre's attraction to athletes is the city's reputation of being the track center of the United States, an aura that existed even before Steve Prefontaine donned his first pair of Nike shoes. Another part is Hayward Field, a venue many consider the Fenway Park of track and field.

"There's a tradition of great performances and great athletes" at Hayward, said Craig Masback, CEO of USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport. "There's a history of people running well there, and people competing today think they can run well there."

Masback, a former runner who competed at Hayward, is credited with raising the visibility of the sport in this country. Since taking over the national organization, Masback has increased revenues, lined up blue-chip corporate sponsors and increased television coverage of domestic meets such as the Pre. The meet will be aired by NBC this year.

Track and field events don't draw huge viewership compared to other sporting events, so USA Track & Field in effect has to buy TV time to televise meets such as the Pre. By contrast, professional baseball or football sell rights to their games to the highest-bidding TV networks.

So, for track and field events, it is the business sponsors who once again save the day. Often, an organization such as Masback's will provide the footage at no cost to a TV network, while meet sponsors such as Nike, Verizon Wireless or Visa line up to buy advertising slots for when the event is aired. That makes the meet an attractive business proposition for the TV network. In past years, track and field has had to buy the programming time.

Another factor in the Pre's favor are those 11,000-plus screaming fans who show up each year, most from Eugene, to watch sub-four minute miles live rather than on TV.

"You can't go anywhere in the country and get in front of a track crowd and have them understand the sport as well," the UO's Swangard said. "They care about 800 splits, and that affinity about the sport is a great foundation for the event itself."

The current era of success started in 1993, when Nike-backed pole vaulter Sergey Bubka showed up and broke 19 1/2 feet. That sparked fan interest and led to habitual sell-outs and broader television coverage.

The Pre is part of a global track tour, and Nike's requirement that its athletes stop in Eugene for the event "sets the stage for everybody viewing this as the best domestic track meet every year in the United States," Swangard said.

Pay for performance

The prize money at the Pre is also the highest of any track meet in the country, Jordan said. The extra cash helps top track stars, whose compensation pales in comparison to the multimillion-dollar contracts of many professional baseball, basketball or football players.

First prize in any Pre event is $5,000, second is $3,000 and third pays $1,500. The payouts continue on a sliding scale down to sixth place.

Another incentive is the event's status as an IAAF Grand Prix meet, in which athletes earn points toward season-ending prize money.

Sometimes the Pre makes money for the nonprofit Oregon Track Club, and other years it doesn't.

After expenses last year, for example, the club cleared $1,400. Jordan said the average profit is about $13,500. The club pours any profits into community activities such as the annual summertime all-comers meet.

Jordan said the meet is able to keep costs down thanks to the 100 or so local volunteers who turn out each year.

"Most of the staff is volunteers," he said. "These folks are accountants and professors and students who are doing this for love of the sport."

CHASING

THE CASH

Income and expenses for putting on the Pre this year

Main income:

$200,000 from Nike;

$145,000 from ticket sales;

$50,000 from sales of T-shirts, posters and other miscellaneous items

Main costs:

About $190,000 for air fare, and for housing and feeding athletes;

$164,500 in prize money for athletes ($11,750 total for each of the 14 events);

$40,000 for renting Hayward Field (includes UO personnel costs)

CAPTION(S):

Track star Marion Jones, sporting a Nike "swoosh," meets the media after winning the women's 100 meters at last year's Prefontaine Classic. Marla Runyan gives it her all in the 2002 Prefontaine Classic. Runyan is hometown talent in an event that draws top athletes from all over the world - thanks in great part to Nike sponsorship. Track: Travel to Eugene tougher to arrange Continued from Page F1 Please turn to TRACK, Page F3 Brian Davies / The Register-Guard Nike puts marketing muscle into track classic