The Times (UK) reporting that Michael Johnson has been unable to give specific dates when athletes will be paid their GST prize money. The plan is to pay Kingston prize money by the end of July and prize money by the end of September. Fairly evident from this article that that GST don't currently have the money.
The whole thing was run on credit. I know "30 million" was thrown around as secured funding but it is never that simple - I'd be surprised if he even got a third of that in terms of actual liquid cash.
He was right about one thing - it was a startup. Problem is, his "employees" weren't working for minimum wages and equity. This is going to get awfully uncomfortable. I would personally love to see his business plan and how he believed he was going to generate revenue, I really would.
But all sh-t talk aside, I do hope the athletes in the very least get what they are owed, even though my gut feeling tells me this is never going to happen.
It sounds like they literally do not have the money to pay the athletes and are hoping for new sponsors to provide money so they can pay them. They are not looking for new sponsors for a 2026 season; they already know there will be no 2026 season.
The whole thing was run on credit. I know "30 million" was thrown around as secured funding but it is never that simple - I'd be surprised if he even got a third of that in terms of actual liquid cash.
He was right about one thing - it was a startup. Problem is, his "employees" weren't working for minimum wages and equity. This is going to get awfully uncomfortable. I would personally love to see his business plan and how he believed he was going to generate revenue, I really would.
But all sh-t talk aside, I do hope the athletes in the very least get what they are owed, even though my gut feeling tells me this is never going to happen.
Well, startups are typically funded with equity because that type of risk is rare in credit markets. I suspect 30 million may have been the total investor commitment, but it's likely the investors had protections built in around timing and circumstances of capital calls so it's highly likely that total investor equity is less than 30 mil at this stage. Combining that with presumably poor revenues from ticket sales and ads, and I'm almost positive that there is a cash crunch within GST in just their first year. It's a shame but to anyone with any kind of business mind, this idea was poorly executed.
No way there will be a GST series in 2026. What athlete in their right mind would sign up for this series? Unless appearance fees are paid out in advance no way should anyone sign up.
There are some of these athletes who believed the money they won was going to be life changing only to now feel like they have been ripped off.
MJ has zero credibility now and will not be able to save GST
Next we will hear athletes are suing and GST will file for bankruptcy
Someone said in another thread GST is the Frye Festival of track
No way there will be a GST series in 2026. What athlete in their right mind would sign up for this series? Unless appearance fees are paid out in advance no way should anyone sign up.
There are some of these athletes who believed the money they won was going to be life changing only to now feel like they have been ripped off.
MJ has zero credibility now and will not be able to save GST
Next we will hear athletes are suing and GST will file for bankruptcy
Someone said in another thread GST is the Frye Festival of track
We all agree there is one way to their to be a GST in 2026. They get new investors, pay the money owed for this year, and then maybe even prepay the appearance fees next year. 100% people would show. Money talks.
This post was edited 6 days after it was posted.
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fixed typo
The whole thing was run on credit. I know "30 million" was thrown around as secured funding but it is never that simple - I'd be surprised if he even got a third of that in terms of actual liquid cash.
He was right about one thing - it was a startup. Problem is, his "employees" weren't working for minimum wages and equity. This is going to get awfully uncomfortable. I would personally love to see his business plan and how he believed he was going to generate revenue, I really would.
But all sh-t talk aside, I do hope the athletes in the very least get what they are owed, even though my gut feeling tells me this is never going to happen.
Well, startups are typically funded with equity because that type of risk is rare in credit markets. I suspect 30 million may have been the total investor commitment, but it's likely the investors had protections built in around timing and circumstances of capital calls so it's highly likely that total investor equity is less than 30 mil at this stage. Combining that with presumably poor revenues from ticket sales and ads, and I'm almost positive that there is a cash crunch within GST in just their first year. It's a shame but to anyone with any kind of business mind, this idea was poorly executed.
Excellent post. Appreciated.
What protections might there be to reduce the investor commitment? Why wouldn't GST seek firm dollar amounts?
Well, startups are typically funded with equity because that type of risk is rare in credit markets. I suspect 30 million may have been the total investor commitment, but it's likely the investors had protections built in around timing and circumstances of capital calls so it's highly likely that total investor equity is less than 30 mil at this stage. Combining that with presumably poor revenues from ticket sales and ads, and I'm almost positive that there is a cash crunch within GST in just their first year. It's a shame but to anyone with any kind of business mind, this idea was poorly executed.
Excellent post. Appreciated.
What protections might there be to reduce the investor commitment? Why wouldn't GST seek firm dollar amounts?
Well, their commitment could be staggered based on the passage of time and/or certain performance hurdles.
This is disturbing. I half heartedly joked a few weeks ago that they couldn’t possibly have a 2026 season without paying the 2025 athletes but I didn’t think it would actually come down to them not getting paid when all was said and done. How do they not keep that commitment? And what investor is going to come in to pay athletes and then not have a 2026 GST season? Like what’s the incentive for anyone to invest? They are starting right off the bat with owing money to people.
No way there will be a GST series in 2026. What athlete in their right mind would sign up for this series? Unless appearance fees are paid out in advance no way should anyone sign up.
There are some of these athletes who believed the money they won was going to be life changing only to now feel like they have been ripped off.
MJ has zero credibility now and will not be able to save GST
Next we will hear athletes are suing and GST will file for bankruptcy
Someone said in another thread GST is the Frye Festival of track
We all agree there is one way to their to be a GSTP in 2026. They get new investors, pay the money owed for this year, and then maybe even prepay the appearance fees next year. 100% people would show. Money talks.
After failing so bad in 2025 who would want to sign on as a sponsor for 2026? Do you know one of the big sponsors of 2025 - Drip a UK water company has not even starting selling water yet?
Ok let's assume GST gets new sponsors. All that does is gets them out of the hole from 2025 and they are then starting 2026 at zero. The old borrow from Peter to pay Paul
No way there will be a GST series in 2026. What athlete in their right mind would sign up for this series? Unless appearance fees are paid out in advance no way should anyone sign up.
There are some of these athletes who believed the money they won was going to be life changing only to now feel like they have been ripped off.
MJ has zero credibility now and will not be able to save GST
Next we will hear athletes are suing and GST will file for bankruptcy
Someone said in another thread GST is the Frye Festival of track
We all agree there is one way to their to be a GSTP in 2026. They get new investors, pay the money owed for this year, and then maybe even prepay the appearance fees next year. 100% people would show. Money talks.
But what investor is possibly going to flush money down the toilet on a venture that couldn't even run a full season? The problem with this concept is that it could've worked with one big meet that everyone raced at then turn that meet into a series.
As for the lawsuits, the Professional Tennis Players Association, which invested heavily on this, is ultimately the one that lots of people would try to sue (because they have the money, where as MJ doesn't).
I honestly think GST could have worked if the model was perfected prior to the start of the season. It did seem to be picking up steam by Philadelphia, but it was too little too late.
It’s definitely a tough market if the whole thing collapsed in only 3 meets, but that’s the nature of this sport. And the model was definitely payout heavy.
Ultimately I think the model for events was kind of half-baked and MJ pushed it ahead despite moderately heavy skepticism. It proved to not be as effective as he thought and the meets were not as successful as I think the believed they’d be.
