Meghan O’Leary

Meghan is a US Rowing athlete in the W2x and she wrote a stinging blog post about the lack of media coverage for the US national selection trials. Why Elite Rowing Will Never Be Popular in US which got a lot of commentary, particularly when she compared the amount of media coverage US Rowing got to the popularity of pygmy goats!

She correctly identifies the gap between media TV coverage and spectator numbers as the key challenge that rowing needs to tackle and then because of her professional background working for ESPN, she and I discuss possible solutions for the long term health of the sport.

 

Timestamps to the interview:

01:00 introduction and background in rowing

03:00 What made you write the blog post Why elite rowing Will never be popular in United States https://meghanoleary.net/2019/04/24/why-elite-rowing-will-never-be-popular-in-the-united-states/

06:00 What media was present at the US selection regatta?

09:00 Do you have a media contract with US Rowing?

15:00 Being a rowing writer and living the journey through writing

17:00 The ideal media future for rowing.  Media and sports develop new disciplines which become mainstream.

29:00 Withholding niche sports in Olympic Channels – a sub license

31:00 World Rowing online media brand and sponsorships

45:00 Brands should look to where their future audience is

48: Bringing the public closer to rowing – Focus on the team compared to individuals.

55:00 An aggregated rowing platform place to create content interesting to rowers

57:00 If I had a magic wand – create a series of events that allows for non-rowers to enjoy and consume it separate from the Olympics

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