Athletics is about to get a serious payday upgrade. Just when fans were getting excited about the increased prize pool for this year’s finals, the Wanda Diamond League has doubled down. With a dramatic new announcement that promises to shake up the 2025 season, four elite “Diamond+” disciplines will now headline each series meet, offering unprecedented rewards for top athletes in both men’s and women’s events.
In a bold expansion revealed in the third paragraph of the latest statement, organizers confirmed the creation of “Diamond+” Disciplines. Starting next year, every series meeting will feature two male and two female events under this premium banner. Each boasting maximum prize money of $20,000 per win. That’s double the current $10,000 limit for regular Diamond Disciplines. And it doesn’t stop there. The 2025 final will feature eight Diamond+ events with champions set to pocket a staggering $50,000.
This marks a fundamental shift in how the world’s top-tier track and field athletes will compete. Prize money across the board will be boosted. Not only for those standing atop the podium, but even for those finishing as low as 12th. Lower-tier finishers can now expect guaranteed payouts, a move that brings greater financial security to athletes often left in the shadow of the big names.
Organizers are banking on this money surge to draw more intensity and drama to each meet, with $9.24 million already committed as prize money, the highest total in the League’s history. The series is poised to break new ground. When including promotional fees for star competitors, the total payout balloons to approximately $18 million, plus another $6 million earmarked for athlete services like travel, lodging, medical and physiotherapy support.
Silesia, Lausanne, and Brussels are set to host the coveted Diamond+ disciplines, with each meet unveiling its chosen events in early 2025. What remains unchanged is the League’s commitment to gender equality: men and women will continue to earn the same in every discipline. With cash on the line like never before, the Diamond League is primed to elevate both the stakes, and the spectacle, of world athletics. Surprisingly, this is exactly the format that track leagues like the ATHLOS NYC followed last year.
Diamond League mirrors ATHLOS NYC-like financial approach
Track and field just witnessed a game-changing moment. At the heart of New York City, the inaugural Athlos NYC Invitational didn’t just break the mold. It smashed it wide open. Held on September 26 at Icahn Stadium, this all-female meet put the global athletics community on notice by offering a prize structure so generous, even the Diamond League couldn’t ignore it.
With Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian backing the event, Athlos NYC made headlines by awarding a jaw-dropping $60,000 to every first-place finisher. Double the $30,000 offered to winners at the prestigious Diamond League final. The financial contrast was stark and deliberate. Second and third-place athletes at Athlos NYC earned $25,000 and $10,000 respectively, while even those finishing as low as sixth didn’t leave empty-handed.
While the Diamond League recently unveiled plans to boost payouts in 2025, including the addition of “Diamond+” disciplines and up to $50,000 for some final winners. Athlos NYC may have already set a new standard. By creating a platform exclusively for women and offering the kind of compensation usually reserved for male-dominated events, the meet didn’t just celebrate athletic excellence. It rewrote the financial script. With the bar now dramatically raised, the world of professional track and field may never look the same again.
The post Noah Lyles & Co Get Relief As Diamond League Makes Big Announcement After GST Dismissal appeared first on EssentiallySports.
