Grand Slam Track Unpaid Payments

Michael Johnson may be the face of this but please don’t tell me he’s in charge of the finances? This is why the best general managers in sports are accounting nerds and not former players. They know how to actually manage the money. I don’t doubt it’s simply he got in over his head with the financial management of this.

He’ll get another job like others involved in failed sports leagues. Like President

I can think of some that have been very successful, but none really are good parallels to track:

- The English Premier League in soccer started 35 years ago when big teams broke away from the existing league structure;

- The American Football League of the 1960s, the American Basketball Association of the 1960s and 70s, and the World Hockey Association(?) of around the same time were startup leagues that were eventually absorbed by the previously existing NFL, NBA, and NHL, respectively, making tons of money for a few of their investors who stuck it out, while other investors lost out;

- There's also baseball's American League, but that was started in 1901 and so is even less relevant;

- In individual sports, the Association of (men's) Tennis Professionals broke away from the existing structure in 1988 and formed its own very successful tennis tour in 1990, which I think basically replaced the previous structure. That isn't too similar to the track situation, because there's no unified body representing competitors, and I don't think anyone wants to replace the Diamond League or other existing races, just add new competitive opportunities.

Can't think of any others. There have been lots of failed attempts since then in many sports, of course.

No one (sponsors or athletes) will trust MJ again.

And now on Instagram GS keeps posting the Pre classic like it’s their meet. “21 racers at Pre”. No they’re not YOUR racers. Stop misleading everyone that you have a stake in a DL meet. Couldn’t even pay them and now acting like you own them.

Reuters reporting that only appearance fees from Kingston have been paid, prize money for Kingston to be paid by the end of July 2025.

reuters.com

Report: Grand Slam Track still owes athletes $13M

Reuters

Grand Slam Track still owes about $13 million to athletes who competed in events this spring, Front Office Sports reported Thursday.

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Grant Fisher alone must be owed ~ $250,000

Yes the IPL. Super successful. A few financial people even believe it could overtake the nfl in the next decade as the most valuable sports league. Tennis was also pretty successful in the 70s when the top players missed Wimbledon etc. I can’t remember if they boycotted Wimbledon because of lack of prize money or Wimbledon ban they for not being amateur

everyone knows the USA had tons of doping that was covered up and everyone pretends like it didn't happen.

Nike Beaverion, Nike TTUSA, Nike Grand Slam, etc.

Kind’ve surprised nobody brought up Gabby commenting on GST’s TikTok, saying “pls pay me 😭”

Followed it up on X, with “likee why are we using my likeness at this time pls”

This may have been mentioned, I just didn’t see it.

tiktok.com

Aura @itsgabbythomas

Grand Slam Track

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But one of the attractions to night of the 10000 pbs is its free to spectators. I have no idea how much they collect in programs they sell as you go in (that’s sort of their voluntary entry fee) and other entry fees etc. I don’t know if they ever given details about the financial success of the meeting.

Re: the Night of the 10k PBs meeting: the track upgrade was funded by the City.of London, sponsorship from the Swiss company 'On' and £30,000 prize money in total for men's and women's championship 10K events with £6,000 each for the winners of the men's and women's events and an additional £5,000 if the championship records are broken. Heavy reliance on volunteers keeps costs sustainable.

Missed this, thanks for sharing. I’m super curious to see where this is going to go. There are a lot of athletes owed a lot of money and they clearly aren’t happy about the current situation. I guess we’ll see if they get paid from Kingston by the end of July as GST claims. If not I have a feelings things will take a legal turn in some capacity, which sucks for everyone involved. It’s abundantly clear that GST is done because no athlete will compete for them again. What I have been noticing is all of the promotion of Pre and all of their “racers” and “challengers” competing there. I find it so pathetic - they are trying to make it look like they have something to do with Pre, and acting like all these athletes are forever associated with GST when they can’t even pay from their first meet months ago. Every post I see makes more annoyed and I feel for the athletes

Yes. This has been mentioned earlier in the thread. So sick of GS audacity to keep posting runners likenesses on its social media accounts like GS owns them. Waiting for a lawsuit or two or more. GS is a despicable and disgusting group that needs to shut up and pay up

Ahhhh....LetsRun posters, the gift that keeps giving.

You are spot on except one thing:

The first international athletics meet at Bislett was held in 1924. The Bislett in its modern for has been held since 1965, with the same clubs organizing it, and with the same director for most of it. The first world record was set at Bislett in 1965 (10,000m 27:39 Ron Clarke). There have been about 25 different world records set at Bislett since then. (1985 was especially notable as Ingrid Kristiansen ran 30:59.42 for a WR in 10,000, Aouita ran 13:00.40 in 5000, Cram ran 3:46.32 in the mile). Kristiansen set the 5000m world record the year before, and the Marathon world record earlier in the same year - holding 5000m, 10,000m and the marathon at the same time.

Stuff like this sells tickets, and gets people watching on the television. They know they might witness history. But you got to be in it for the long haul, I am sure the founder of Bislett Games and the "Bislett Alliance" that was made between the three founding clubs had a MUCH longer perspective, and a lot more patience than the GST founders had.

I am sure its the case for many of the other big meets as well (Herculis, Monaco been going since 1987, Bauhaus Galan, Stockholm 1967, Memorial Van Damme 1977, Weltklasse Zurich 1926, London Athletics meet 1953).

Few people will be glued to the tv to see a meet with empty stands. The stands are not going to be filled because the price is big or because Michael Johnson is going to try to score a profit.

Great meets held in an fairly big city, with a long history. It takes time, but it works.

DL, WA, HF, etc pay no rent. Its part of the ruling regime free service to the serfs in most of the world. Free rent in Eugene. GST, AThlos has to pay rent. That's 1/2 the bill.