the fact that MJ thought Citius Mag's instagram posts, post-race interviews, and pre-shows were worth $270,000 is the real story. Not that Citius was paid, it's the fact that MJ thought the value of Citius was $270k. If you think Citius is worth $270k for instagram posts you are probably the dumbest person on earth.
He might have already received 50%, like many others. Then, MJ thought the value of Citius was $540k.
I agree with most of the posts here. But one thing to clarify for people...
As much as you think ~$300K is this enormous amount of money for what Citius was doing, this is likely normal (if not on the low end). If you ever worked in the Corporate Finance world, you would understand. The amount of money that flows to consultants is radical. I've seen $500K worth of payments going to "consultants" just to come up with a new naming convention on initiatives, process updates that come back with the same process, PowerPoint decks, etc. If Citius had 10 people doing various social media work over the course of months, this would include their fully burdened costs (salary, benefits, bonus, etc.). Then add on top of that, travel/lodging, supplies, outsourced costs, other discretionary expenses, and various fee's and profit on top. Is it insane? Yes. But that is this world.
Each vendor, and employee listed in the US bankruptcy application has been named in complaints whether Jamaican or American in the countries of foreign elites who raced at one of the GST charades. They are not advised to visit those nations subject to summary execution for fraud.
Even if you did not attend a GST meet, and simply wrote a race report for a website, AI will still list your name to Border Cops in various countries, where you will be arrested for being a member of a criminal enterprise and held in jail for years awaiting a hearing.
The concern with the Citius Mag / GST situation isn’t just money — it’s alignment. When media figures and league operators are financially and professionally intertwined, independence disappears fast. Chris Chavez has increasingly positioned Citius as a narrative-driven, progressive outlet rather than a neutral one. Again, that’s a choice, but it becomes a problem when the same outlet is paid to promote or “cover” the product it’s tied to. Kyle Merber’s involvement only adds to the optics issue. When league leadership and media coverage are effectively moving in parallel, fans are right to ask whether they’re getting journalism, promotion, or some hybrid that benefits insiders more than the sport. If the GST deal delivered real, measurable value, then transparency should be easy. Spell out the deliverables. Show the outcomes. Without that, skepticism is fair — not political, not personal, just basic accountability.
No one in the real world cares or even realizes that there is a stupid corner of the running world that thinks it’s progressive. To runners that appear on it and the people that follow it, it’s just what is normal. It’s only incel-adjacent bros here obsessed with politics for whom it’s some kind of a progressive propaganda machine. Whatever, nobody cares either way.
At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong with Citius Mag being content creators - it’s a perfectly legitimate business. There are lots of those in the world. I might raise my eyebrows at how much the market is willing to pay those people, but that just is what it is.
The issue with the whole GST and Citius thing isn’t that there was a contract, but that the ongoing disclosure of that relationship clearly fell below ethical practices. I think it raises questions about what other organizations are paying Citius for coverage, as it’s clear GST isn’t the only one. Citius should be disclosing that on an ongoing basis (I.e., if their New Balance Nationals coverage is sponsored by NB, then each post should say that). It’s not good enough to just say say “well we should have known” as that isn’t the standard in the regulations. If Citius want to be content creators, then they should play by the rules of that game.
The concern with the Citius Mag / GST situation isn’t just money — it’s alignment. When media figures and league operators are financially and professionally intertwined, independence disappears fast. Chris Chavez has increasingly positioned Citius as a narrative-driven, progressive outlet rather than a neutral one. Again, that’s a choice, but it becomes a problem when the same outlet is paid to promote or “cover” the product it’s tied to. Kyle Merber’s involvement only adds to the optics issue. When league leadership and media coverage are effectively moving in parallel, fans are right to ask whether they’re getting journalism, promotion, or some hybrid that benefits insiders more than the sport. If the GST deal delivered real, measurable value, then transparency should be easy. Spell out the deliverables. Show the outcomes. Without that, skepticism is fair — not political, not personal, just basic accountability.
What fantasyland are you living in where journalism is independent?
I used to listen to the Citius Mag podcast, but had to stop when Chris was doing most of the talking and answering his own questions before he'd even let the guest respond. It is like he is still trying to prove that he belongs in the conversation. We get it, Chris. You've been to Luven. I tried to listen to his interview with Mantz after breaking the American record in Chicago, but only made it a few minutes.
I watched the Merrie Mile this weekend on the Coffee Club YouTube channel. I don't know if Citius bought the rights or if they were given the rights to broadcast it in exchange for their coverage-- it doesn't matter. I don't need to listen to pre-race coverage, I pay enough attention to know all the stats that he or anyone else is going to say to me.
What drove me NUTS though, was the way that they compared Nikki Hiltz and Sinclaire Johnson before the race.
Chavez wrote:
Now, Nikki is entering the 2025 race as the former American record holder. That's because Sinclaire Johnson managed to run a little bit faster at the London Diamond League earlier this year. Those two always provide us with awesome races any time that they go head-to-head, so let's take a look at their head-to-head record.
He's so dismissive of Sinclaire efforts. No one said that Yared or Jakob "managed to run a little bit faster" than the indoor WR last year, or that Cole Hocker "managed to run a little bit faster" than the Olympic Record. It was just disrespectful of Sinclaire.
And to be perfectly clear-- this is not an anti-Nikki Hiltz post. I like Nikki, I like the way that they run and fully support them in all their personal, professional and athletic endeavors. It has no impact on me and mine, and I think that people who are so upset about Nikki's pronouns are ridiculous. This is an anti-Chris Chavez post.
Citius isn't independent or journalistic, it's just a fanboy magazine. Don't take it too seriously.
Coach Timo
You can tell by their interviews in the past - they aren't journalists and ask more generic questions nothing touchy - night and day comparing interviews between Citius and Letsrun for the same athletes. I much prefer Letsrun, although I do listen and support both.
For example. In his latest Hawaii post he tags olipop. Recent posts with tags are also byu and new balance. Is he getting paid to promote them too? no disclosures or sponsored post tags. nothing they put out now can assumed to be not paid content. He’s instantly turned citius into a regular mid level influencer brand with a small market.
I used to listen to the Citius Mag podcast, but had to stop when Chris was doing most of the talking and answering his own questions before he'd even let the guest respond. It is like he is still trying to prove that he belongs in the conversation. We get it, Chris. You've been to Luven. I tried to listen to his interview with Mantz after breaking the American record in Chicago, but only made it a few minutes.
I watched the Merrie Mile this weekend on the Coffee Club YouTube channel. I don't know if Citius bought the rights or if they were given the rights to broadcast it in exchange for their coverage-- it doesn't matter. I don't need to listen to pre-race coverage, I pay enough attention to know all the stats that he or anyone else is going to say to me.
What drove me NUTS though, was the way that they compared Nikki Hiltz and Sinclaire Johnson before the race.
Chavez wrote:
Now, Nikki is entering the 2025 race as the former American record holder. That's because Sinclaire Johnson managed to run a little bit faster at the London Diamond League earlier this year. Those two always provide us with awesome races any time that they go head-to-head, so let's take a look at their head-to-head record.
He's so dismissive of Sinclaire efforts. No one said that Yared or Jakob "managed to run a little bit faster" than the indoor WR last year, or that Cole Hocker "managed to run a little bit faster" than the Olympic Record. It was just disrespectful of Sinclaire.
And to be perfectly clear-- this is not an anti-Nikki Hiltz post. I like Nikki, I like the way that they run and fully support them in all their personal, professional and athletic endeavors. It has no impact on me and mine, and I think that people who are so upset about Nikki's pronouns are ridiculous. This is an anti-Chris Chavez post.
For example. In his latest Hawaii post he tags olipop. Recent posts with tags are also byu and new balance. Is he getting paid to promote them too? no disclosures or sponsored post tags. nothing they put out now can assumed to be not paid content. He’s instantly turned citius into a regular mid level influencer brand with a small market.
I do not trust anyone that drinks this weird fake "healthy" soda. Just drink regular soda or seltzer or even water. Sick of all these Mormon housewives and running influencers pushing this stuff, it's gross.
I used to listen to the Citius Mag podcast, but had to stop when Chris was doing most of the talking and answering his own questions before he'd even let the guest respond. It is like he is still trying to prove that he belongs in the conversation. We get it, Chris. You've been to Luven. I tried to listen to his interview with Mantz after breaking the American record in Chicago, but only made it a few minutes.
I watched the Merrie Mile this weekend on the Coffee Club YouTube channel. I don't know if Citius bought the rights or if they were given the rights to broadcast it in exchange for their coverage-- it doesn't matter. I don't need to listen to pre-race coverage, I pay enough attention to know all the stats that he or anyone else is going to say to me.
What drove me NUTS though, was the way that they compared Nikki Hiltz and Sinclaire Johnson before the race.
Chavez wrote:
Now, Nikki is entering the 2025 race as the former American record holder. That's because Sinclaire Johnson managed to run a little bit faster at the London Diamond League earlier this year. Those two always provide us with awesome races any time that they go head-to-head, so let's take a look at their head-to-head record.
He's so dismissive of Sinclaire efforts. No one said that Yared or Jakob "managed to run a little bit faster" than the indoor WR last year, or that Cole Hocker "managed to run a little bit faster" than the Olympic Record. It was just disrespectful of Sinclaire.
And to be perfectly clear-- this is not an anti-Nikki Hiltz post. I like Nikki, I like the way that they run and fully support them in all their personal, professional and athletic endeavors. It has no impact on me and mine, and I think that people who are so upset about Nikki's pronouns are ridiculous. This is an anti-Chris Chavez post.
I couldn't agree more. He's trying to prove how in support of Hiltz he is so he gets the social justice warrior points. He's very biased any time a conversation around Hiltz is being had. Again, nothing against Hiltz. This is a Chris Chavez problem.
The concern with the Citius Mag / GST situation isn’t just money — it’s alignment. When media figures and league operators are financially and professionally intertwined, independence disappears fast. Chris Chavez has increasingly positioned Citius as a narrative-driven, progressive outlet rather than a neutral one. Again, that’s a choice, but it becomes a problem when the same outlet is paid to promote or “cover” the product it’s tied to. Kyle Merber’s involvement only adds to the optics issue. When league leadership and media coverage are effectively moving in parallel, fans are right to ask whether they’re getting journalism, promotion, or some hybrid that benefits insiders more than the sport. If the GST deal delivered real, measurable value, then transparency should be easy. Spell out the deliverables. Show the outcomes. Without that, skepticism is fair — not political, not personal, just basic accountability.
Chavez is a fan. It is mostly fan service. From what I have heard of their pod reviews of big meets, it is mostly gushing but it is something. They are not critical of much, especially athletes. It was never meant to be journalism but it is a bad look to not disclose and how he answered when questioned, "it's obvious". Obvious? Maybe it is a generational thing.
Turning Point USA spent $2m on social media contractor (who happens to be in AZ Senate) on just one of their subsidiaries Turning Point Action which has no website or no social media. Neither does the "contractor". It's money laundering.
I'm a fan of Citius, but I understand the criticism: if they were paid to cover GST by GST, they probably should have said so in every article and livestream. I was aware because I heard the podcast episode where they announced that their partnership, but it's totally valid to say that this isn't enough.
That being said, I'm curious how you people want Citius to cover track and field. Sure - they're overly positive and overhype things and rarely criticize or ask challenging questions. But aren't they covering a sport? This isn't government work or education or the enconomy. I don't need "hard-hitting journalism" most of the time. I watch sports to be entertained. Hearing Eric Jenkins rant about Gudaf Tsegay's pacing strategy is wildly entertaining. It's nice to have another outlet with a different audience than LRC that lets people know what races are upcoming, how to watch them, and what could be exciting about them
WA's 200 or so federations have contacted their relatives in the military, ruling tribe, church, and regime and if the perpertrators enter the country via airlines, will arrest MJ, KM, CC, TV Producers, Runnerspace, Flotracks, Citius, etc.