Many athletes have confirmed that the Diamond League often doesn't pay out until Nov-Dec.
All of these Gen Z athletes are publicly whining, while in MJ's time a runner might not get paid until 6-9 months after a Golden League meet.
I knew someone who ran the Euro circuit around the same time as MJ. He reported that on more than one occasion he got paid cash the evening after his races.
That doesn't mean that was everyone's experience, but, 6+ months to get paid for a race? Seems kind of silly.
You should listen to Justin Gatlin's podcast. He was old-timers on all the time, reminiscing about 00s track and with no reason to make anything up.
In just the last episode he and Bernard Williams were joking about some meets would have a "cash room" (and all the customs issues with carrying winnings around), while some would not pay for as long as 6-9 months. They agreed that 3 was considered exceptionally fast.
This seem to be as detailed information as most of us are going on about the Golden League era. I agree it sounds bad, but it's not new to GST.
I've watched a couple Continental Tour meets, Lussane and Madrid. A few superstars but mostly up and comers like our Sunset Tour. What are their business models? Not very well attended either but meet records were pretty salty.
I don't know much detail, so this is all speculation. But their prize money is much smaller than DL (like $3000 for the first place). Their travel budget should also be much more modest. And I don't know if they pay any appearance fees. (Maybe to the few top stars?)
I think most of their revenue comes from sponsorship. They don't have many spectators and their tickets must be pretty inexpensive. I don't know if they have any tv deal, and even if they did, the price should be pretty low.
Their "business model" must be quite simple, Keep their expenses low enough to be covered by their modest revenue. Who would have thought of that?
Why the hell was prize money not put in escrow first? The athletes and their agents should have demanded it and gotten personal guarantees.
I personally don't believe they ever had the $30 million that they claimed to have. They had promises of money but not the actual money. I think Johnson's arrogance concerning his "greatest track league in the world" lead him to believe that he would have sold out stadiums and tremendous merchandise sales, which would ultimately provide them the money to pay the athletes. Of course, neither happened and here we are.
I made the point a while back that it would do more harm than good for the current highest profile athletes like Jakob and Lyles to be associated with an amateur hour cash grab like the GST, and I'm being proven more and more correct as time goes on.
Who are the athletes and how much are they claimed, owed?
I made the point a while back that it would do more harm than good for the current highest profile athletes like Jakob and Lyles to be associated with an amateur hour cash grab like the GST, and I'm being proven more and more correct as time goes on.
I think I was more impressed with the likes of Julien Alfred staying away from it, and keeping her head down and focused, without trashing it. There really was no need to trash GST.
On another note, MJ said he had (raised) $30m for the program. If he really did, then there was probably embezzlement. But if he didn't then he lied and it was fraud. ... But I can understand athlete's believe him on his word, and the terms of the contract that they would get paid. I don't think anyone thought GST would be the scam that it is proving to be.
I made the point a while back that it would do more harm than good for the current highest profile athletes like Jakob and Lyles to be associated with an amateur hour cash grab like the GST, and I'm being proven more and more correct as time goes on.
I think I was more impressed with the likes of Julien Alfred staying away from it, and keeping her head down and focused, without trashing it. There really was no need to trash GST.
On another note, MJ said he had (raised) $30m for the program. If he really did, then there was probably embezzlement. But if he didn't then he lied and it was fraud. ... But I can understand athlete's believe him on his word, and the terms of the contract that they would get paid. I don't think anyone thought GST would be the scam that it is proving to be.
Hindsight is 20/20. As I've previously posted, the concept of GST is great. MJ is an accomplished prominent track and field figure world wide, and has paid his dues as an athlete and knows how important this opportunity is for the livelihoods of the athletes. Why would any elite athlete turn down the opportunity to make a lot money running track meets in the late spring to set up their summer season and hopefully a world championship team birth. I'm still optimistic that everyone will eventually get paid, and the contractual terms of payment had a deadline of late fall if not the end of the year. The "Racers" most likely got some nice upfront appearance money with the agreement of being cashed out at a pre-determined date as I mentioned above. At this point, the only real concern is why did GST cut the distance races in Philly, and why was the L.A. meet cancelled? MJ and GST need to get out in front of this with frequent transparent updates to assure athletes, coaches, agents, and fans of what is going on, good or bad. As the proverbial saying goes, "Where there's smoke, there's fire", and MJ-GST need to let all involved know if they need to evacuate or just chill out and be patient. Going dark doesn't help!
MJ promised transparency in his 13 June statement on GST but has said absolutely nothing since then, which has only heightened the sense that something is not right. Meanwhile regular reports have appeared in the media about failures to make payments to athletes and for facilities used. GST has done nothing to rebut these reports or provide any reassurance.
MJ promised transparency in his 13 June statement on GST but has said absolutely nothing since then, which has only heightened the sense that something is not right. Meanwhile regular reports have appeared in the media about failures to make payments to athletes and for facilities used.
GST has done nothing to rebut these reports or provide any reassurance.
What do you expect Grand Slam Track to say? The only honest statement they can make at this point is "We promised people more money than we actually had which means that many people aren't going to get paid."
Grand Slam Track isn't ready to admit that yet, but they will have to admit it eventually.
What do you expect Grand Slam Track to say? The only honest statement they can make at this point is "We promised people more money than we actually had which means that many people aren't going to get paid."
Grand Slam Track isn't ready to admit that yet, but they will have to admit it eventually.
I just found out that that's exactly the statement Michael Johnson just made. Grand Slam Track promised money they never had. Someone is getting sued!!