Paul Doyle, Founder and CEO of the Doyle Management Group, has announced a new series of five track meets in the United States scheduled for the summer of 2014. The series promises to bring a rock concert atmosphere to a track meet as a live band will perform as events take place. 

If one were to take a track meet in which Steve Prefontaine competed at and compared it to a meet today, not much has changed. The American Track League looks to make events more exciting by bringing in entertainers to complement the athletes. According to the website, athletes will visit schools in each city to promote healthy and active lifestyles in hopes of raising awareness of the child obesity pandemic in the United States. 

Many of the sport’s best stars travel to Canada every summer to compete in the National Track League competitions, which is hosted by Athletics Canada. The series is more sprints and field events based with much of the action focused on the distances lower than 1,500-meters. It will be interesting to see if the American Track League decides to put an emphasis on the distance events. 

None of the American Track League meets will overlap with the National Track League competitions. 

Television and streaming rights have yet to be announced for the American Track League. 

A few of the athletes competing are already named on the meet website. Here are just a few that have been announced:

Hurdler Lolo Jones has not ruled out a return to the track after her bobsledding days may come to an end after the Winter Olympics in Sochi. She did not make the 2013 United States national team for the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, just one summer after finishing fourth at the Olympics in London. 

2013 was the opposite for Queen Harrison as she was among the many breakout stars for the United States. After making the finals in Moscow, she hopes to dominate in the 60-meter hurdles for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland. 

Ashton Eaton may be one to try new things. After winning the gold medal for the decathlon in Moscow, he has the title of Olympic champion, world champion and world recorder holder to his name. Adding an American Track League title would be fitting to that resume. 

Reese Hoffa, Brigetta Barrett and Janay DeLoach all bring Olympic experience to the field events. 

Stay tuned for more athlete announcements for the American Track League as the first meet is scheduled for May 2 in Bloomington, IN. The complete schedule can be found here.