Michael Johnson aimed to change the dynamics of track and field once and for all. Looking at the significant scarcity of financial backing in the sport, the US track legend proposed a multi-million dollar project- Grand Slam Track. This would provide prize money of $100,000 to the athletes who win each event. Now, so far, things look pretty rosy. But wait, there are some significant conditions to the league that have sparked widespread controversies.
One of the major reasons for concern is that athletes who participate in GST will have to ask for permission before entering other similar competitions.
This meant that the female participants would have to seek a no-objection clause if they had to attend the ATHLOS. Such a requirement triggered the track community including ATHLOS owner Alexis Ohanian. And while this controversy did not subside, GST was hit with another one. After announcing Jamaica as their opening venue, US track fans lashed out at Johnson.
They stated that despite knowing the intense rivalry between the two nations; it made no sense for Johnson, who was a US athlete, to give the opening GST event to Jamaica. However, the biggest fallout to date was between Noah Lyles and Michael Johnson. Criticizing the league, Lyles pointed out how GST lacked visibility. He pointed out that any sport needs to reach a global audience in order to gain popularity.
Warner Bros. Discovery and Grand Slam Track partner for coverage of league’s inaugural season for fans in Europe and Asia
For fans in Europe and Asia: Eurosport
For fans in the U.K. and Ireland: @tntsports
Broadcast information for additional regions and countries to be… pic.twitter.com/HlFNDyj1Xe
— Grand Slam Track (@GrandSlamTrack) March 6, 2025
And Johnson’s league lacked significantly in that field. But Lyles was soon proved wrong as Johnson announced an impressive deal with Peacock. The broadcaster will be streaming all the GST races live on their platform for the US audience. But what about the international audiences? Well, Johnson has it covered too. In a recent announcement, the official X account of Grand Slam Track delivered some exciting news.
“Warner Bros. Discovery and Grand Slam Track partner for coverage of league’s inaugural season for fans in Europe and Asia… For fans in Europe and Asia: Eurosport… For fans in the U.K. and Ireland: @tntsports…Broadcast information for additional regions and countries to be announced soon!” read the statement. Unfortunately, while this news was supposed to bring smiles to the faces of the international audience, things seemed to turn out pretty much differently. A look at the details stated that the fans will have to shell out a subscription amount in order to catch the million dollar game live. And this did not sit well with the fans.
Fans lash out At Michael Johnson for latest viewership fiasco
As soon as the news went trending, fans flocked to the comment section to give their two cents on the matter. One of the fans seemed utterly frustrated as it was clear that the viewing experience would need a subscription amount. The comment read, “Great way to bring the sport to a new audience, by sticking it behind a paywall “ Surely, this fan had a point. While selling a new product to the audience, things must be kept pretty lenient as far as the finances are concerned. With track and field struggling to get viewers on board, such a move might as well create more complications.
Another fan spoke on the same line but also took a dig at the Warner Brothers. As a matter of fact, the subscription amount of £31 is pretty much a hefty amount. Adding insult to injury, Warner Brothers discontinued Eurosport from the UK region in order to bring the football entertainment behind a paywall. Now, when this fan realized that Grand Slam Track was also following a similar route map, the user could not help but say, “Not paying £31 a month for Tntsports now that Warners withdrew Eurosport from UK customers just to subsidise football.”
Another big problem for Michael Johnson trying to generate revenue from the subscriptions in Europe is its low reception. Dominated by sports like football, the European audience will not be quite interested to shell out money from their pockets to watch a new sport that they do not resonate with. A similar sentiment was echoed when this fan said, “Nobody cares in Europe for this sh……”
Piling up on the list of complications is the timing. While the GST is scheduled suitably for the American audience, in the European market, the starting time of the races is 4am! This is making the market value of the product go further down, as aptly pointed out by this fan who said, “”only £30.99 / month” at 4am …yeah no thanks.”
Speaking about the easy accessibility of track and field, an user directly compared GST to Diamond league saying it was free. The comment read, “Say what you want about the Diamond League, but at least viewers in the UK can watch it for free.”
Surely, when the aim is to popularize the sport, the subscription based model does not seem like a good idea. After all, the revenue would only keep coming if the league gained worldwide attention. If there were no expansive viewership, then the million-dollar business model would soon become unsustainable. A couple of fans spoke on the same lines as their comments read, “Putting Grand Slam Track on a channel like TNT Sports that requires a paid subscription definitely isn’t going to help or grow the sport,” and “You’re going to lose out on a lot of potential viewers because of this decision,” respectively.
Thus, it is evident that the latest announcement has put GST and Michael Johnson in a spot of bother. Now, it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the future and how does Johnson deal with the situation and bail out of it.
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