“3 Years Before Collapsing”: Michael Johnson’s Track & Field League Gets Exposed by Former Athlete

As track and field fans, we're living in exciting times! While the 2024 Paris Olympics was undoubtedly the pinnacle of the sport, there have been plenty more to satiate the needs of the fans since the Games. The Diamond League has been a continuous tournament before and after the Paris spectacle that has been a steady supply of such action. And now, the community looks forward to seeing what former Olympic champ Michael Johnson brings to the table. But the 4x Olympic gold medalist might be in over his head, as some fans seem to think.

Ambitious projects like Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian's Athlos NYC have created quite a ripple among track fans with its intensity and scope. Naturally, as athletes continue to clamor about the poor conditions that region over the sport, such tournaments have only helped to mellow the dissatisfaction. But Johnson might have given in to impulses more than actually thinking things through, as some fans opine.

Michael Johnson could be subject to a gradual decline in the funds When the retired sprinting icon announced the Grand Slam Track in April this year, it turned a lot of heads with its benevolent promises. It was further announced that winners in 12 event groups can win as much as $100,000. Naturally, considering the Diamond League awards winners around $60,000, Johnson's revelation seemed too good to be true. However, one track enthusiast believes that, in reality, the track veteran has taken a bigger bite than he can chew. According to a recent post on X by Raes Takes TV, Grand Slam Track is already looking like a project that's doomed to failure based on some simple calculations.

According to the social media update from November 14, Grand Slam Track's "math ain't mathing." Noting how the upcoming event has already declared a prize pool of $12.6 million, Raes Takes TV believes things aren't looking all good. To substantiate the claim, the post highlights that athletes with low-end contracts of $50,000 will take out a chunk of $2.4 million. Moreover, the cost of flying the 48 athletes to Philadelphia and accommodating them would cost an additional $153,000 (with $200 as the average flight fare and assuming all athletes agree to share rooms), the post notes.

While the University of Pennsylvania could potentially charge higher than average for the venue, the rental for the Franklin Field comes up to a sum of $18,000. On top of that, Michael Johnson has previously revealed that the marketing cost for his project has been fixed at $30,000, while Raes Takes frowns that someone with a much lower pay scale could do what Grand Slam Track is doing to promote the event. With all these expenses above, Grand Slam Track could be looking at a grand total of $15,201,000 in its first year.

At the moment, four venues have been announced by Johnson & Co. They aim to entertain fans with titillating track and field action in 2025: Independence Park in Kingston, Jamaica, the Ansin Sports Complex in Florida, Miami (the same venue for Miramar tournaments), the track and field stadium on Penn State's campus, and the LA Stadium in Los Angeles. Now, considering all of these stadiums are sold out, the post estimates a total profit of $5,035,000 a year by selling tickets.

Now, calculating the costs and profits, Raes Takes posits that Michael Johnson's posse will be losing about $10,166,000 in the first year of the tournament. Naturally, the $30 million that has been accumulated as an investment will amount to less than $20 million after just a year, and going by the trend, the update claims that GST has only a short life expectancy for itself. "They have a lifespan expectancy of 3 years before collapsing," states the X post without beating around the bush. However, there is a silver lining for Johnson nonetheless.

The tournament is set to be live-streamed via CitiusMag's YouTube channel live, and Raes Takes believes this could be a major boost to improving track and field exposure. But the former athlete thinks introducing merch could change the game altogether. Moreover, there could be a few stars and athletes to ensure Johnson doesn't fall flat on his face.

A titular group of athletes will converge for the GST GST has already revealed a very long list of top-tier athletes who will make the tournament a spectacle to behold. From Masai Russell to Kenny Bednarek, and from Fred Kerley to Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, there's certainly no dearth of explosive stars who are et to make the inaugural edition of Grand Slam Track a marvelous affair. On top of that, the addition of 4x Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone only added to the excitement, and the University of Kentucky alum is also looking ahead to kickstart the tournament on a high note. "Really excited about that!" McLaughlin-Levrone reiterated how Johnson is trying to bring in a new er a in track and field.