Michael Johnson, a former Olympic gold medal sprinter, was standing in a downtown Los Angeles restaurant that had been booked out for a major announcement at the start of the summer of 2024. With promises of payments never previously seen in track and field, Johnson claimed to have raised $30 million for a new track league.
Grand Slam Track was a massive windfall in a sport where even the biggest performers make meager salaries by professional athlete standards. Over one-third of the proposed funding, or more than $3 million every meet, would go toward prize money alone. Additionally, the top finishers at each of its four competitions would get $100,000, which is five times the amount of money awarded for first place on existing international circuits.
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48 competitors who agreed to contracts with the circuit might also receive a portion of the money made via group licensing in addition to an annual base salary.
However, Grand Slam Track has yet to pay many of its athletes and vendors, just 14 months after Johnson’s big announcement and four months after the group’s first meet in Jamaica. Johnson acknowledged on Friday that the financial crunch, which according to one source amounts to approximately $13 million in unpaid money to athletes alone, poses an existential threat to the circuit’s ability to return for a second season.
The cruelest contradiction in all of this is that we assured athletes that they would receive prompt and equitable compensation. However, a statement signed by Johnson and shared on social media on Friday stated, “Here we are struggling with our ability to compensate them.”
Additionally, Johnson insisted that he has faith in Grand Slam Track’s future.
Four agents who represent several athletes who are still due money by Grand Slam Track were interviewed by NBC News; they requested anonymity in order to maintain their connections with the organizers. Three voiced grave concerns that the circuit would not be able to secure enough investor capital and athlete trust to go back for a second season in 2026. A fourth stated that, for the time being, he was prepared to grant the benefit of the doubt.
“Look, it’s not good,” the agent stated, delivering a warning to our athletes. However, we will wait for them to pay us because that is their intention. They won’t have a future otherwise.
Track and field agents, coaches, and event planners stated that their worries regarding Grand Slam’s problems extend well beyond only collecting the money due from the three competitions it held this spring in Philadelphia, Florida, and Jamaica. It was hoped that if Grand Slam Track were eventually able to attract large audiences and high ratings, this kind of demand would attract more wealthy outside investors to invest in a sport that frequently runs on shoestring budgets in comparison to other professional leagues.
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According to Paul Doyle, a well-known athlete agent who started and has run the American Track League, a professional track circuit, since 2014, “many people feel that this will be a massive deterrent to future endeavors.” It wasn’t entirely bad. They’re in a difficult situation, so I feel bad for them.
Johnson was optimistic when he unveiled Grand Slam Track in 2024, but he also acknowledged that it would take time for the business to turn a profit.
Johnson stated in 2024, “I wouldn’t take their money if I had an investor who said, Well, I need it to be profitable in Year 2 because that’s impossible.”It simply won’t take place. Our investors have expressed their belief in the long-term feasibility of this venture.
Ever since Grand Slam Track called off its fourth and last meet, which was supposed to take place in June, that viability has been questioned. In July, it issued an email to athlete representatives informing them that they would get payment by the end of the month for the revenues from their inaugural meet, which took place in Jamaica in April. A Grand Slam Track representative stated on August 4 that the athletes are our first priority and that the company expects investor monies to be in our account soon.
However, as of Friday’s announcement, Grand Slam had not given players any prize money—only the appearance fees they were due in Jamaica.
In his remarks, Johnson implied that a change in circumstances beyond our control was the cause of the financing shortage. Johnson earlier stated to Front Office Sports that money had been taken out by an investor.
Johnson stated in his statement on Friday that “we offered dated payment timelines and have been unable to meet them due to our strong desire to make this right as quickly as possible.” It makes sense that this has caused our athletes, agents, and vendors to feel frustrated, disappointed, and inconvenienced. I am aware that this undermines confidence. I am aware that some people question if our vision will endure. To ensure that it doesn’t happen again, we are establishing relationships and mechanisms in addition to tackling the current issue.
As an athlete, the statement said, “I am no stranger to setbacks and overcoming obstacles, but this current situation of not being able to pay our athletes and partners has been one of the most difficult challenges I’ve ever experienced.”
In track & field, it is not uncommon for prize money cheques to take weeks to arrive; in fact, it is the norm. In severe situations, athletes have reported that it has taken them over a year to get their prize money. According to one agent, the prize money from the international indoor championships in China in March has still not arrived. Drug tests are the main source of delays because competitions usually don’t pay until they have confirmed an athlete’s clean status. It usually takes 10 to 30 days for results to appear. A source claims that Grand Slam Track’s contracts with its racers stipulated that drug tests would be finished within 21 days of each competition and that an athlete’s promotional fee and winnings would be disbursed within 10 days of discovering the doping findings.
There are often delays. However, according to one agent, Grand Slam Track stood out since it was thought to have its $30 million in capital already in escrow, ready to pay when due.
They now await Grand Slam organizers’ e-mail updates instead.
You re not getting anything directly answered, one agent said. We want to pay. You are able to pay, but when? Nobody is pleased with that.
