Grand Slam Track owes around $13 million to athletes who participated in three of its events this past spring, according to published reports on Thursday.
In a pair of detailed articles from Front Office Sports and The Times, which cite their own separate sources, athletes were only paid appearance fees from the league’s inaugural event in Kingston, Jamaica and are still waiting for prize money from that meet along with payouts from events in Miami and Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, league officials abruptly canceled its final meet in Los Angeles that was scheduled for June 27 to June 29 after trimming the Philadelphia showcase to two days — May 31 and June 1 — instead of the planned three days.
With the appearance fees already paid for the Kingston meet, athletes are still owed prize money from Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia in addition to the appearance fees for Miami and Philadelphia, based on the reports.
The article by Front Office Sports said that an email sent to athletes’ agents explained that all fees and payouts would be settled by September.
“At this time, all agents who have sent the appropriate paperwork have been issued appearance fee payments for Kingston,” the email read sent on Tuesday. “Our plan is to make payments for Kingston prize money before the end of July and the remaining payments due by the end of September, which includes the honoring of Los Angeles appearance fees.”
Grand Slam Track was announced last year with a stunning revelation that Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was the league’s first signing. Led by four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson, operations were backed by $30 million in funding and a promised $12.6 million in prizes. Johnson touted significantly higher prizes for athletes, with race group winners taking home $100,000 per meet, far surpassing Diamond League’s payouts — $10,000 to $50,000 depending on special event formats.
As word spread about the Los Angeles meet cancelation in mid-June, rumors of financial constraints swirled following low turnout at the Kingston event. However, the league still named Kenny Bednarek and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden as its top competitors following strong showings in the three prior meets.
Based on a report in The Times, officials from the Association of Athletics Managers contacted Grand Slam Track about the owed payments and finally met with Johnson via conference call. And some athletes — and their representation — reached out to World Athletics to discuss the matter, according to the article.
Grand Slam Track was contacted for a comment and has not publicly released any information regarding the reports about the owed payouts.
