*Edit: Title name changed, as this was not meant to be an all out attack on everything Runnerspace does, just what we saw today.
Watching today’s national cross country championships and discussing the coverage with friends, I think it should be discussed whether a service like Runnerspace is good for the sport.
On the positive side, it does provide access to a lot of meets that we otherwise would not be able to watch.
On the negative side, the production value is lacking when you place it in the context of the importance of the meet today. The national championships is naturally the pinnacle of cross-country in our sport, and the coverage featured a main camera that could have used a better (if they were using any sort of stabilization) gimbal, an on-course mic that was somehow both quiet and driven to the point of distortion, and frequent quality and picture drops.
I don’t mind paying money for access, but I do wonder what the perception is of our sport when this is the coverage of the biggest meet of the year, and it is also hidden behind a paywall.
This is not a personal shot at anyone in particular, more observations from someone with formal education and work experience in the sector.