Everyone knows the story of Grand Slam Track by now. A new track circuit, there are no leagues, Diamond or otherwise. Perportedly with $30 million, to pay over $12 million in prize money over four meets to 96 athletes. Started modestly, ended before the final competition. Athletes and vendors go un paid. Finally files for bankruptcy. That’s the short version. The internet has since gone nuts, blasting Grand Slam and Michael Johnson. Saying that it set the sport back, and that it’s failure will make it difficult for anything new to emerge moving forward. I disagree.
History tells us that many of the greatest things ever created, came after failure. History days the the key to failure is learning from it! That intelligent people learn from failure, and use it to improve moving forward. If those in charge of track and field are serious about improving it, then Grand Slam (GST) is a vehicle for learning and improvement. So to that point, what have we learned, because when I look at GST there’s much to learn, both good and bad. In my opinion, everyone is ready to throw the baby out with the bath water, but I believe that we can take this situation apart, and use it in a positive way.
Grand Slam needs to be looked at from two perspectives, what was good, and why did it fail. The failure seems clear, the “funding” was never solid. Promises of money, and having money, are two completely different things! If I’m running a business, and this was a business, I need cash to pay my bills! That means I either need money in the bank, or a line of credit that I can draw from. Clearly Michael didn’t have either of these. Therefore GST was never on solid footing, and was always going to fail. The lesson here is simple, secure your finding, before moving forward.
As much as Michael is to blame for this, a LOT of people and businesses, did a lot of things on the PROMISE of getting paid! Like almost everybody! I have no idea what those conversations were like, but they had to be pretty good. As I said on Twitter/X, if someone tells me they’ve got $30 million dollars, then pay me! If you can’t pay me, I’m questioning your legitimacy, but that’s me. Now this will be one of the “negatives” going forward, people are going to want to get paid up front for their services! Shouldn’t be a problem if your organization is properly funded and you have a proper financial structure in place – bank accounts, financial manager, accountant, etc. THIS was the biggest negative of GST, and frankly it’s an easy fix, just create and run a proper business! That’s all. Come to the table correctly.
On that note, I thought the execution, was a bit, ambitious. Too much money being spent on a “start up” endeavor. We didn’t need half hour intros, and a crew of announcers. We didn’t need three day long meets, both financially, and structurally. Sprinters and hurdlers can compete twice in the same day. Distance runners will have to compete over multiple meets, if you’re forcing them into multiple events. Though personally, if the goal is creating match ups, you simply contract athletes into these matchups over the course of your season. More meets, less overall expenditure, better exposure. That’s how I would’ve done it. Also, they didn’t need to pay podcasters a quarter million dollars to promote the league! I’m even going to say that the prize money was too ambitious, especially at the top. All they had to do was pay better than the Diamond League, to be enticing for the top athletes. Bottom line is that they were a startup that spent like they were the established, two decade strong, top circuit on the planet. Clearly a mistake when you don’t have your funding secured! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to bash GST or Michael Johnson, however these are things that must be learned from to prevent it from happening again. Personally, I don’t want this issue to damage the chances of another new circuit going forward, because while GST showed us what not to do, it also demonstrated what the needs are in this sport. Taking us to the positives.
On that note, GST was correct in looking at a few things that the sport truly needs, starting with more meets in the US. The overwhelming bulk of the sport’s stars are American athletes, and unfortunately they can’t make a living competing here at home. I’m not advocating that no one runs abroad, although athletes like Sydney Mclaughlin Levrone and Rai Benjamin rarely do so anyway, but it’s a poor business model that requires that anyone should be forced to commute across the ocean in order to pay the bills. There is also a large group of athletes in Canada, and South America that could benefit from a strong circuit in North America, as they too must travel to Europe in order to make a living. Having the ability to choose to go to Europe or compete in North America would not only be beneficial to athletes in the America’s, but also for athletes in other parts of the world, Africa specifically. This is what Europe fears, the Diamond League specifically, that giving athletes options will hurt their meets. The truth however is that there are more than enough elite athletes to go around, especially if the sport had better communication and organization. The problem is that the European promoters see themselves as the center of everything and are unmoving, which creates this, competition. So that, instead of the sport being welcoming to an infusion of money that could benefit the athletes, those with power look negatively at anything new, which is why new is what the sport needs. GST proved that on several fronts.
Starting with the athletes, who for the most part were lining up to sign for what they believed was going to be their biggest pay day ever in the sport, which demonstrates just how poorly the athletes are being paid. No domestic pay days, and poor pay days abroad, GST’s goal was to address these issues! To provide domestic pay days, and increase overall pay by creating competition. Take note that shortly after GST announced it’s pay structure, the Diamond League announced an increase in its pay s structure! Even if GST never returns, that happened, and that’s a gain for the athletes, and clearly the money was always there! It simply took the thought that they could lose athletes to get them to pay them better! Sad but true.
The fans also benefited, as we finally got some elite competition outside of Eugene. Building name brand requires exposure to as many people as possible as often as possible. Something that hasn’t been done in the US for the past quarter century or so, as Nike has ensured that the only truly elite meets in this country are held in Eugene Oregon. While Nike, or more specifically Phil Knight, has built a world class facility in Eugene, that doesn’t make Eugene a world class location. Few hotel rooms, difficult to get to with no world class airport, and lacking in other amenities, Eugene is difficult for the average fan to go watch meets there. Trust me, I go and it costs me a small fortune every time, with nothing to do outside of the stadium. Meets in Kingston, Philadelphia, and Miramar offered easy access, world class accommodations, entertainment, and hospitality. Making them attractive, not only for the meets, but as “vacation”, or family trips. These are the types of cities that major sports leagues choose, and how they’ve built their brands. GST got that right. This is what USATF was told to do when Sebastian Coe visited the US in 2022. He suggested then, that the US needed more elite, high visibility meets to increase the brand in America prior to hosting the Olympic Games in 2028! Truth is, the sport needs track & field to have better visibility if the sport itself is to thrive. It’s no different than the NBA, NFL, and MLB needing their franchises in Los Angeles and New York to do well. You need your “franchises” in your largest markets doing well, and having strong fan bases. The US is track & field’s top performing “franchise” in its wealthiest market. Track & field needs the US market to increase in order for the sport to increase overall! GST’s beginning to do this was a positive that needs to be replicated in terms of the creation of high level meets in large media, and population markets here in the US. That is why the sport is thriving in Europe. All of the Diamond League competitions are in thriving metro cities, Paris, London, Berlin, Zurich, etc. The same in Asia, Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai, Doha. Only the US pretends we can grow in a small town.
These were the biggest positives of GST, addressing pay, and increasing visibility. There were other “improvements” in terms of marketing, and presentation that were also good. Things that Athlos, another track and field startup has addressed in its competitions. Let’s talk about Athlos for a minute, as they are now heading into year three. There have been two basic differences between the two startups. One is that Athlos secured it’s funding. Athlos had the benefit of backing from a billionaire that has previously invested in sports endeavors. The other difference is scale! Athlos began with a single meet with a smaller defined group of athletes. After two successful seasons, they’re now looking at “expansion”. While I can appreciate GST wanting to do it all right away, the road that Athlos has taken has been more prudent, and has ensured it’s sustainability, which is a question that many had regarding GST from the beginning, a question of sustainability. The question was asked because no one saw a business model that would create the money necessary to continue past the initial investment.
At any rate, these are the lessons that I think should be learned from Grand Slam. We shouldn’t simply declare it a failure, but instead take these lessons and use them to improve the sport. I don’t see it’s failure as a reason not to try, but how to try and be successful. The beginning of a blueprint for success.