Over the previous two years, storied American Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson has poured hundreds of thousands into reinventing observe and discipline to reflect the 4 main fashions in tennis and golf. He’s managed to draw some massive names and safe 4 North American areas for his first season. But, his latest enterprise, Grand Slam Observe (GST) already faces challenges earlier than the gun has even gone off.
The most important problem? Star energy—or lack thereof. Of the 20 Olympic observe champions from Paris 2024, solely six are on the GST roster. Even Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, its largest identify, not often races, and there’s uncertainty over whether or not she’ll be on the first occasion in Kingston. The league is lacking huge world stars like Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Noah Lyles, Letsile Tebogo, Religion Kipyegon, Sha’Carri Richardson and Keely Hodgkinson. These are the athletes followers pay to see—but they’ve all turned down this new athletics enterprise.
Why is that? Why has ladies’s Olympic 100m champ Julien Alfred chosen to run on the Miramar Invite in Miami as an alternative of GST’s Kingston opener? Why have Tebogo, Tokyo 100m champ Marcell Jacobs and even Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson opted for the Shanghai Diamond League over GST’s Miami occasion? When high expertise seems the opposite method, it may be an indication that one thing is unsuitable.
Might or not it’s as a result of half of the 48 athletes on the GST Racer’s roster are American, and a number of other worldwide athletes like Ingebrigtsen and Akani Simbine declined on account of journey, time and price points? GST has marketed itself as a North American-centric product quite than attempting to be a world spectacle.
The inevitable dangers
So, what’s the issue? Lyles known as GST on his podcast, “observe and discipline with further steps,” and he’s not unsuitable. The April-Might schedule is early for athletes seeking to peak for the 2025 World Championships in September. It calls for further danger—athletes should race twice a weekend, with one of many occasions being exterior their common self-discipline. In the end, this will increase the chance of damage.
Take the Quick Dash class, the place GST opponents are slated to race the 100m and 200m. However Quick Hurdles athletes additionally run a separate 100m flat? That is not sensible, and the 2 occasions are vastly completely different. Why not merge them and pit hurdlers in opposition to sprinters over a 100m? A easy repair, however nope.
Simply days earlier than the inaugural occasion in Jamaica this weekend, GST revealed 10 of its opponents, together with American 400m star and Olympic champion Quincy Corridor, have already scratched. Though the explanations for these withdrawals haven’t been disclosed, the league already faces a recurring problem in observe and discipline—getting high athletes to purchase in and present up.
Working the numbers
Even main observe organizations have chosen to not purchase in. UK Athletics declined involvement, citing monetary issues. Birmingham and London had been thought-about as host cities earlier than being changed by Philadelphia and Miami, however as UKA put it, “Three days (eight occasions per day) of simply observe athletics is a whole lot of tickets to promote within the London Olympic Stadium.”
Financially, GST is of venture. The league continually boasts its US$30 million funding (which helped launch it) and the record-setting $12.6 million whole prize pool, with $100,000 for every occasion winner.
Take the meet in Kingston, for instance, held at Jamaica’s Nationwide Stadium (capability: 35,000). The venue hasn’t been half-full for the reason that Usain Bolt period. GST is charging US$10 per day or US$20 for a weekend cross, however with Jamaica’s weak economic system and an common month-to-month earnings of round US$700, why would somebody—except they’re a diehard observe fan—spend $60 on three weekend passes? That’s a troublesome promote for an unproven occasion with nearly no Jamaican stars. Even a sellout at these costs wouldn’t cowl the $3.1 million in prize cash per meet.
OBLIQUE SEVILLE BEATS NOAH LYLES OVER 100M IN JAMAICA IN 9.82 – WORLD LEAD pic.twitter.com/Z4GVIokoFA
— CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) June 2, 2024
GST’s second meet in Miami faces much more challenges. It’s scheduled to be held on the 5,000-seat Miramar Ansin Sports activities Advanced, the place tickets are costly and locals view it as simply one other meet at a venue that hosts observe occasions nearly each weekend in the course of the spring. Recognized by sprinters because the windiest place to race on earth, the complicated is hardly excellent for setting quick instances, so spectators who purchased tickets to see quick wind-legal instances may very well be disillusioned. Until each seat is priced at $500/day, it may very well be tough to revenue right here. That leaves Philadelphia and L.A., two extremely aggressive sports activities markets the place different observe meets like Penn Relays or L.A. Grand Prix already wrestle to attract a sold-out crowd. So, what’s GST doing in another way to face out?
No must reinvent the wheel
Like Lyles stated, observe doesn’t should be reinvented. It must be simpler to comply with. A greater strategy? Use world rankings like golf or tennis. Let the Diamond League operate just like the PGA Tour, the place top-ranked athletes compete, whereas Continental Tour Gold, Silver and Bronze meets function developmental ranges just like the Korn Ferry Tour or PGA Tour Canada. This technique rewards expertise and builds development.
I hope Johnson and his group discover success with this enterprise. However proper now, GST hasn’t given followers an incentive to care. Two years from now, who will bear in mind who gained the GST Miami Lengthy Hurdles occasion? Followers aren’t exhibiting up simply to observe athletes earn larger paychecks.
One chance for GST: rebrand. Herald athlete or company sponsors. Flip it right into a team-based competitors, like F1 or LIV Golf, the place athletes race for greater than only a larger payday. Both method, the continuing success will depend upon how a lot it’s prepared to evolve over the following few seasons.