Grand Slam Track blew through nearly $18 million without paying a penny in prize money? How?

I'd be curious what a business plan with say 10 million could do by buying existing Diamond league meetings. We know London lost money every year but as soon as London Marathon and great Run got involved it got a major sponsor (albeit with a bunch of other stuff) and is now profitable.

For 18m, Phil could put on the greatest track meet in the world right in his own backyard.

there is zero reason why anyone would invest in GST. You will be able to buy their assets during the liquidation sale for peanuts and it isn’t like they have infrastructure you want…

Dominant observation in the entire thread

Why would a foundation be any different? There are many better causes better than a professional track league and if someone stepped in, the athletes would be receiving charity funds.

TBH having there first meet in Jamaica was stupid.

Ain't no party like a Johnson party!

Syd was properly paid as her status was used to get all the other athletes on board. Syd was the very first ambassador. Blame MJ for the theft and embezzlement -- or call it mis-management if you will.

if this thing goes under could they clawback money paid to athletes already and say it should be disbursed equally?

No chance!

Yeah, I don’t understand why anyone would bail out this mess.

Even if you wanted to do something similar, you could do it fresh. No 14M of debt. No bad press, or ill will. Hell, you could even steal their format if you want.

Unless you’re really fond of the name or think MJ and his s***eating grin are worth 14M, I don’t see why you’d even consider it. And frankly, even if you did, after the bankruptcy proceedings, even those could be had a few cents on the dollar.

The economics of track and field are always difficult, which is why I was always skeptical about GST. I still don’t understand how the Diamond League manages to survive, though I guess their broadcast rights are a bit more and they have been doing this for a while.

I don’t know what Michael Johnson’s management skills are or what generally he has been doing in the 25 years since he retired from competition. Is he mostly the figurehead here? It does seem the problem here is that they overpromised and put on too many shows without having the money lined up. And maybe they should have structured the money to have less guaranteed up-front and more of the upside. It’s disappointing the main targeted sponsor didn’t bite but I can’t say I blame them; any investor looking to make a great return would probably be better off in the S&P 500.

But not paying performers, stiffing contractors? At least Michael Johnson looks like he could get elected President.

The thing with the DL is that it largely lives within its means. Prize money isn't exorbitant and crowds, especially on the European swing, are very good (the Chinese DLs are likely propped up by the state and direct additional funding from Wanda). People focussed too much on the finances of the London DL before LME and Great Run took over. The costs of the London DL are unique due to the additional burden of converting the stadium (and converting it back) every year. The London DL is now profitable with competent management, but othe DLs have had that for years. Brussels and Zurich are very well-run events.

GST tried to blow all that up by writing large sums on the prize money board before they even had any idea where revenues would come from. The DL always has large crowds for tickets sales as a foundation for revenue, GST had nothing and seemed to be hoping sponsors would be the substitute for paying customers.

This story explains something that has been bugging me about Kerr’s series on YouTube: How in the hell is he paying for his family, a coach, his videographer, his chef, and PT to travel to all these meets? Plus the salaries of the latter three? Brooks doesn’t have that kind of money. But if Kerr received a large up/front appearance fee from GST …

Yeah. I think for what was aiming to be a large multinational corporation capturing an international audience, 13-18 million is not actually a lot of money. It's a lot of money for a personal finance budget or a boutique firm but this is neither.

I'm certainly not saying there was no malfeasance but I don't have any evidence that there was either, and claims like that should also be verified before being treated as truth.

GST proves, unfortunately, I think what a lot of people suspected prior. That at least right now, there's not really the market for this product. Yes, GST made some tactical and financial mistakes as well. At a minimum they certainly weren't soundly managed from a financial perspective. However, if there truly was the booming interest that they hoped for, it could have even possibly compensated to some degree for the lack of sound management.

This is a big part of the problem that track faces.

And don't forget that F1, tennis, golf, etc don't have appearance fees.

I wish a major marathon would be open about ALL the money they pay out.

Shoe companies should be open about how and how much they pay their athletes.

How many Diamond League events pay $10,000 for first.

Golf has one winner to pay.

Tennis maybe 4 with doubles.

F1 one winner and 20 total with world wide TV.

What? Bill Ackman promised $30 million. We don't know what, if any strings, were attached. He has a net worth of several billion dollars. He reneged.

Phil Knigh has made tens of billions off shoes beginning with track shoes. He can't step up with $30 million.

I would love to see GST succeed. Very much enjoyed the races and would like to see the runners get paid.

You guys all want to see GST fail

The reality is Track & Field (Athletics) is a small sport with very little money swirling around, that just so happens to get loads of attention every year because of the Olympics. People want to know who can run the fastest, jump the furthest, etc. But they won't buy into it like they might with Tennis where they will watch the ATP/WTA Tours.

the reason Football/Soccer has so much money is because people will pay to go and watch games. They'll buy TV subscriptions. They'll pay through the nose for merchandise & shirts. They have a deep emotional feeling with their team either through geography or family reasons. Brazil at the world cup is life/death, it's not really the same if they have a 100m hurdler who might make the semi finals, maybe.

In what scenario are endorsement contracts ever published?

Just keep an eye out for new toys displayed by the directors of the company; fancy car, new yacht, maybe a mansion somewhere, excessive jewelry.