Shots fired: Founder of Diamond League Patrick K. Magyar calls Grand Slam Track - Grand Slam Flop

GST isn’t a flop, but it’s a cardboard cutout of Diamond league. The ‘Miami’ meet is not in Miami. It’s about 30 minutes from what spectators think in their heads when they hear Miami. It’s a venue with about 200-300 available seating at a pretty decent track. I’ve ran there countless times. It’s a good track, but this is where the good HIGH SCHOOL meets are hosted.

They're trying to grow the sport in the USA. I think:

1. Have them in a smaller stadium- 10,000-20,000- and fill up the stadium- give away tickets. Get people there however they could to fill the stadium nad make it look good.

2. Market the HELL out of it- go to local schools for meets during the school year. Contact every track and cross country coach in the area nad have them mobilize their teams and the parents to attend.

3. I hate this but- have thing going on- gimmicky things to keep them entertained. I was at a minor league baseball game years ago. They had t-shirt give aways, music, games and events in between innings. It was like the game was an afterthought. But the stadium was full.

That generates interest and looks good on TV.

Thanks! That's much clearer.

good post, interesting MJ big timed DL as he seemingly did as an athlete... my initial thought was that any competition is actually good for DL and it seems like DL realized that initially but since MJ big timed them out the gates they are holding a reasonable vendetta.

This reminds me of PFL buying Bellator in the fighting world and Dana White realizing a competitor going under was way worse than having space for both organizations to exist.

you are wrong

it was not a good post

that Man has never provided us a good post in his God Da mn internet Life

Why does GST even need to be in Europe? You think Europe has more ‘integrity’ in the sport, since the post called out the ‘sport integrity’ of MJ?

No it wasn't, not by a long shot. And I cant believe that the only thing that can make T&F popular in the US is dumbing it down like this. I hope DL or anyone tries to set up an ordinary meet somewhere that is not Eugene.

They did that, and the DL in New York on Randall's Island failed, despite being in a city with 8 million people so it was moved to Rabat, where it only exists because of Moroccan government subsidies. Good luck finding a company or government in the US that wants to pay a huge subsidy for yet another DL meet that can't even fill a smallish stadium.

With the DL, some meets, like Magyar's meet in Zurich, Monaco, and Pre are consistently excellent and have good local support and attendance, and the other meets in Europe are almost always at least solid and worth watching. However, Rabat, Doha, Shanghai, etc usually have little depth or drama and only exist because someone is willing to lose a lot of money to put them on, where at least GST had some interesting match ups and they're trying to do something different.

This gets brought up a lot, but the entire point of the GST is to try to make track more popular in the US. That's why there's no European meets.

Track is already more popular in Europe than the US, there's no need for gimmicks and removing field event to make track interesting in Europe.

Without the biggest European stars, no field events and weird gimmicks in the format, why would Europeans care more about the GST than Diamond League?

GST couldn't attract a guy like Noah Lyles because he felt like it was amateurish and half baked, and the same goes for the biggest European stars like Jakob. It would hurt Jakobs brand to run in an amateurish running league like the GST, and he certainly doesn't need the money.

Just gotta fact-check you a bit:

-They tried to have a meet in the UK, but couldn't come to an agreement with Birmingham

-Europeans aren't going to care more about this than the Diamond League, at least not for a while. You are correct that they are trying to get more track fans in the US primarily.

-The reason they can't attract guys like Lyles/Jakob is in part the doubling format and in part the money just isn't a slam dunk for them. The extra travel and 800m make no sense for Jakob. For Noah, he can make the same money at DLs/Continental Tour Gold meets and he cares about fans/TV exposure/what pops. Kingston was not it, yet.

Jakob's brand isn't going to be hurt by meet selection at this point. Getting stomped in the 800 might not be a good look, though, nor would looking vulnerable in a tactical 1500. Either way, he'd be fine and the main reason he doesn't want to run these is the 800 aspect and their geographic inconvenience and the pay cut (only $50K a race Max and probably worse given the format).

No, Europeans are never going to care more about the GST than Diamond League as long as the GST uses weird gimmicks and no field events. The best European field athletes, Mondo, Tentoglou, Mahuchikh, Tamberi, are going to be more popular with Europeans than American runners are, even the best ones like Hocker and Sydney.

And Lyles has talked at length about why the GST doesn't appeal to him, with no fans and no sponsors, it's not about the money for him.

It's not the risk for losing that would hurt Jakobs brand, it's associating with the GST specifically. A poorly run meet that has to rely on gimmicks and massive prize pools to generate interest, run by an egomaniac like Michael Johnson who sees himself as the savior of the sport is going to hurt Jakobs brand if he associates with it, same goes for Lyles.

And yet there are more spectators than GST had in Kingston.

When it comes to getting a proper, spectator filled DL on US soil its unfathomable how the american public isn't interested in watching their many medal winners in sprints, throws, jumps, middle and long distance compete on home soil, unless it is repackaged into American Ninja Warrior. Isn't there thousands, tema of thousands, each year that compete in T&F in college and high school? How can it be so hard when there must be enough people who themselves have competed at some level to fill a stadium in NYC?

To my knowledge there is no other country on earth where T&F (+XC) have so many resources and ironically is so professionalised (despite being "amateur sport" in college) as in the US. I cant wrap my head those two both being facts at the same time.

That's an interesting perspective. It's true that MJ hasn't been mentioned as much since his world records were broken, but his PBs still rank high on the all-time list, and he was fairly visible in the sport before GST. Contrast him with Maurice Greene, who seems to be completely out of the limelight now.

It's fair to say MJ's ego was part of his motivation to start GST (and definitely behind the forced doubling format). But can't the same thing be said about the vast majority of people who start a new venture or pursue a leadership position? Whether we're talking about elected officials or business executives, how many people are drawn to leadership roles without having any ego? I think there are very few completely selfless leaders out there.

I think MJ genuinely cares about the success of GST and the sport. He's been talking about the sport's challenges for years, and he's finally doing something about it. Even if we don't agree with the approach he's taken with GST, I think he deserves credit for trying something.

There's risk involved in being the head of a startup like GST. MJ will look pretty bad if it fails.

A US government entity should not be paying for this for-profit enterprise.

The US always has tiny, little meets outside of Cali. The Cali Relays are gigantic, development meets for college and post-college kids. The Cali beaches have more runners per day than the rest of the US's road races,and marathons for the year, combined. That's why marketeers target California first each time a new sports product is produced. Out side of Cali they have so-called "Pro" meets run by retired HS coaches, unpaid volunteers, non-profit "Charity Meets", with ex-Olympains as Pro-Bono Announcers. The "Pros"make 1,---to 100,---, that isn't "Pro" compared to what Hollywood TV pays NFL/MLB/NHL kids.

I agree, although that doesn't stop state and local governments from heavily subsidizing even more profitable sports like the NFL, MLB, and NBA using tax money for stadiums, sweetheart tax deals, etc.

My point is that nobody cares enough about professional level track in the US for politicians to subsidize DL meets or for corporate sponsors to want to lose money on naming rights outside of Pre. So if you want to build interest in professional track in the US to the point where it can pay for itself, you need to try a new model, and GST is at least trying.

WA Seb & DL Petr has the same Indie TV production with the same unpaid volunteers, they rename WA Broadcasting DL Broadcasting with old ancient gear from your Grandparents days you can only get parts for in NY and LA TV pick and pull studio junk rooms, and use their buddie's Omega timing & results. China does not allow outside TV and uses locals for TV. But the Swiss Omega is used by the Chinese. The Germans don't allow outside TV and Timing by law and is why there is no DL meets in Germany. Qatar and Morrocco have a old and rich futbol tradition and love athletics too. The US outside of California just doesn't have the backing for serious athletics meetings. Only a few $M. No fan base. Only L.A. TV puts up $B fo the IOC. No on else in Europe, Americas put the oney on the barrel heal except L.A. TV.

NBC L.A. is like having Shaquile O'Neal over for beers and nachos. WA DL is like stepping on an ant on the sidewalk you didn't know it was even there. GST ATHLOS SR TTUSA ATL is like an amoeba you can't see it at all......

I live in a small town in BC with about 30,000 people. I’m not a hockey fan, but I took my son to see our local junior team (16–18-year-olds), and it turned out to be a fantastic, family-friendly event

The experience was about more than just hockey. Between the national anthems, player intros, the game itself, and breaks filled with giveaways, contests, and games—like shooting on an open net for cash or tossing frisbees into a sponsored dumpster—it was two and a half to three hours of fun, even for non-fans.

The arena is often close to sold out, with several thousand in attendance, which is impressive for our town size. What made it successful was how well the event was packaged: affordable, engaging, and enjoyable for everyone.

Personally, I’d be happy just watching a track meet—but that’s because I’m already a fan. If you want to draw in people who aren’t, you need to do what our local hockey team did: add value beyond the sport itself.

Just knowing athletes are highly paid doesn’t attract non-fans. Repackaging means giving people more than they expect—and minor league sports are a great example of how to do that right.