GST financial update: GST still hasn't paid Miramar for stadium, MJ says they had cash crunch after key investor pulled out after going to Jamaica event
Exactly. The investor's portfolio probably took a hit from the moron in the WH who doesn't understand how tariffs work. If they're losing money elsewhere, investing a a risky venture like GST probably didn't seem worth it, especially after the Kingston meet was a total bomb.
Dang, didn't think it was possible to hate Bill Ackman even more. Sounds like their "investor" didn't actually do any investing here.
There's a level of this that's on MJ and the GST organizers for not starting much smaller in scope if their main investor was this fickle about investing, but I blame Ackman more than anybody for promising money to a bunch of athletes and not following through on at least 1 single full season.
Going to do some digging to see what else Ackman funds and make sure not to support his "projects" in any way again whatsoever.
And some GST fans still think it's coming back in 2026! Hahaha.
Poor organisation all around, terribly presented on TV, no fans in the stadium, bad advertising, hosted thousands of miles away from the athletics spectating mecca that is Europe, couldn't attract all of the best names, left half of the sport out of it (mad given Duplantis is one of the biggest names) and now they can't pay for the venues or athletes.
Possibly the worst attempt revamp of a sport ever.
They were way over their skis on this one. I really hope the athletes eventually get paid.
Some very telling quotes in here but the biggest takeaway for me was that they didn't have true contractual commitments to the money before promising athletes money. A term sheet from an investor, even if signed, is almost always non-binding. They never should have gone forward before they actually secured funding.
^^^^^ They started this league based on a non-binding term sheet from investors? They told the world they had $30 mm in committed money because they had a term sheet? Flying athletes first class and putting them up at four-star accommodation based on term sheets? Told athletes they're getting paid $100k each, based on non-binding financial commitments? That is next-level incompetence.
This story gets worse by the day. GST is toast. No one's going to trust these clowns with money again. No one's going to trust them to organize a track meet after this. No one's getting paid. This thing is going down in flames.
So they knew they didn't have the money to pay athletes after Kingston, but they still held two more meets where they pretended they had the funds to pay everyone $100k each, in hopes of what--luring additional investors to replace the ones that already bailed? This is so bad.
After this article, I'd be shocked if the lawsuits didn't start getting filed.
This post was edited 10 minutes after it was posted.
I am sure i saw Akerman at the Phili stop (was wondering who the VIP walking all over like he owned the place). So bet it was not him
If MJ went forward with the meets after the major investor pulled out and then knowing he didn't have enough money to pay bill. Still talked and acted like everything was great. Isn't this textbook fraud?
They were way over their skis on this one. I really hope the athletes eventually get paid.
Some very telling quotes in here but the biggest takeaway for me was that they didn't have true contractual commitments to the money before promising athletes money. A term sheet from an investor, even if signed, is almost always non-binding. They never should have gone forward before they actually secured funding.
^^^^^ They told the world they had $30 mm in committed money because they had a term sheet?
That is next-level incompetence.
It's been obvious for the past month that this is what happened, and this has been discussed on other threads. Johnson was promising people money that he never had in the first place.
That's more on Johnson than it is on the investor. Johnson should have delayed the start of Grand Slam Track until he had the money in the bank. If he couldn't get the money into his bank account this year, then he should have pushed the start of Grand Slam Track until next year.
^^^^^ They told the world they had $30 mm in committed money because they had a term sheet?
That is next-level incompetence.
It's been obvious for the past month that this is what happened, and this has been discussed on other threads. Johnson was promising people money that he never had in the first place.
That's more on Johnson than it is on the investor. Johnson should have delayed the start of Grand Slam Track until he had the money in the bank. If he couldn't get the money into his bank account this year, then he should have pushed the start of Grand Slam Track until next year.
It was obvious that there was something funky going on with the investors and their legal commitments to GST. But what I had imagined was some sort of "out" clause where investors were not required to pay additional sums if the league failed to hit certain metrics in terms of revenue or whatever. Turns out, it was far worse. You're right. They never really had the money in the first place.
I agree that this is fraud from Johnson, but the investors will likely get roped into the lawsuits, too. If you're letting your name get attached to this dogsh!t brand for credibility but you aren't actually committed to it, you're at risk, too.
This post was edited 5 minutes after it was posted.
They were way over their skis on this one. I really hope the athletes eventually get paid.
Some very telling quotes in here but the biggest takeaway for me was that they didn't have true contractual commitments to the money before promising athletes money. A term sheet from an investor, even if signed, is almost always non-binding. They never should have gone forward before they actually secured funding.
^^^^^ They started this league based on a non-binding term sheet from investors? They told the world they had $30 mm in committed money because they had a term sheet? Flying athletes first class and putting them up at four-star accommodation based on term sheets? Told athletes they're getting paid $100k each, based on non-binding financial commitments? That is next-level incompetence.
This story gets worse by the day. GST is toast. No one's going to trust these clowns with money again. No one's going to trust them to organize a track meet after this. No one's getting paid. This thing is going down in flames.
So they knew they didn't have the money to pay athletes after Kingston, but they still held two more meets where they pretended they had the funds to pay everyone $100k each, in hopes of what--luring additional investors to replace the ones that already bailed? This is so bad.
After this article, I'd be shocked if the lawsuits didn't start getting filed.
Almost every term sheet has clear and bolded language at the top that says that the term sheet isn’t legally binding. That’s not the most solid foundation for a sports league.
Investor went to Jamaica and saw no-one was there. Like me, he or she must have been stunned by how few people were there.
Immediately decided to cut bait and not dump more money into venture. Investor (or GST), like many in the country. tries to blame it on Trump. Can someone please tell me how tariffs would impact a pro sports league?
Dennis Young wrote: A source familiar with the matter told FOS the investor reneged on their eight-figure term sheet days after attending Grand Slam’s April debut in Kingston, Jamaica, saying they planned to invest their money elsewhere after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement.
PS. Here is the link to Young's actual article which I have added to the first post.
Also Corey Mull has a tweet out about how they haven't paid Miramar:
Investor went to Jamaica and saw no-one was there. Like me, he or she must have been stunned by how few people were there.
Immediately decided to cut bait and not dump more money into venture. Investor (or GST), like many in the country. tries to blame it on Trump. Can someone please tell me how tariffs would impact a pro sports league?
PS. Here is the link to Young's actual article which I have added to the first post.
Also Corey Mull has a tweet out about how they haven't paid Miramar:
lol Rojo - you can't do anything without defending your MAGA daddy can you?
Defending my maga daddy? I’m the one hyping up the wsj articles about him and the threads about that on the homepage.
unlike some simple minded partisan simplots , I can do two things at one. Point out how TDS is crazily used in this case and hype up the WSJ story at the same time.
Investor went to Jamaica and saw no-one was there. Like me, he or she must have been stunned by how few people were there.
Immediately decided to cut bait and not dump more money into venture. Investor (or GST), like many in the country. tries to blame it on Trump. Can someone please tell me how tariffs would impact a pro sports league?
Dennis Young wrote: A source familiar with the matter told FOS the investor reneged on their eight-figure term sheet days after attending Grand Slam’s April debut in Kingston, Jamaica, saying they planned to invest their money elsewhere after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement.
PS. Here is the link to Young's actual article which I have added to the first post.
Also Corey Mull has a tweet out about how they haven't paid Miramar:
Yes, the first meet fell flat in terms of ambiance. But the far bigger issue is that they built, sold, and marketed a sports league based the idea that there would be huge payouts for everyone involved, and then it turns out they only had non-binding commitments from investors. And then, even after that investor bailed, and they knew they didn't have the money to follow through on their commitments, they continued to promote the league based on the even-more-speculative hope that some future investor would bail them out from their prior misrepresentation. It's starting to sound more likely that this was outright fraud.
Are there any more athletes that have made a statement about this? I have a feeling that even after LA was cancelled they still weren't fully transparent with the athletes about how bad the situation was. Jessica Hull was asked it at Pre and she didn't seem that concerned yet.
And then, even after that investor bailed, and they knew they didn't have the money to follow through on their commitments, they continued to promote the league based on the even-more-speculative hope that some future investor would bail them out from their prior misrepresentation.
It's starting to sound more likely that this was outright fraud.
People have gone to jail for fraud for much smaller amounts than $30 million. Michael Johnson should stop talking to the media and hire a criminal defense attorney ASAP. He's in really big legal trouble.
And then, even after that investor bailed, and they knew they didn't have the money to follow through on their commitments, they continued to promote the league based on the even-more-speculative hope that some future investor would bail them out from their prior misrepresentation.
It's starting to sound more likely that this was outright fraud.
People have gone to jail for fraud for much smaller amounts than $30 million. Michael Johnson should stop talking to the media and hire a criminal defense attorney ASAP. He's in really big legal trouble.
Civil litigation is the most likely outcome here. Not sure this rises to the level of criminal fraud, but the decision of whether to pursue that is usually at the discretion of local prosecutors and the DOJ. Not sure how much they're going to get involved in this or whether this meets the legal standards for that. But the civil liability seems a near certainty.