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≡ GRAND SLAM TRACK ≡
Attendance at the first two Grand Slam Track meets, in Kingston, Jamaica and Miramar, Florida has been light and while the broadcast television audience has been better, it’s less than comparable meets in recent years.
The debut meet in Kingston in April was held in the 35,000-seat National Stadium and drew perhaps 4-5,000 on Friday evening, about 10,000 on Saturday and maybe 8,000 on Sunday.
At the 5,000-seat Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida in early May, about 3,500 turned up on Friday, more than 4,000 on Saturday and an estimated 3,500 or so on Sunday.
Grand Slam Track has broadcast agreements to cover 189 countries, with NBC’s Peacock streaming service showing all three days – and exclusively on Friday – with The CW showing the meets on broadcast on Saturday and Sunday.
Courtesy of SportsMediaWatch.com, figures are now in from The CW, for Saturdays and Sundays only:
● 5 April (Sat.) in Kingston: 246,000
● 6 April (Sun.) in Kingston: 241,000
● 3 May (Sat.) in Miramar: 250,000
● 4 May (Sun.) in Miramar: 248,000
No figures were available from Peacock, which are generally significantly less than broadcast.
Thus, a slight improvement for Miramar, with the next meet coming on 30-31 May and 1 June at famous Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
As a debut, this is a reasonable start, but well behind comparable meets on NBC from 2023 and 2024:
2023 on NBC:
● 04 Feb.: 866,000 for the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix
● 11 Feb.: 972,000 for the Millrose Games
● 18 Feb.: 954,000 for the USATF Indoor Nationals
● 21 May: 636,000 for the USATF Bermuda Grand Prix
● 27 May: 777,000 for the USATF L.A. Grand Prix
● 24 Jun.: 839,000 for the USATF NYC Grand Prix
2024 on NBC:
● 04 Feb.: 1.197 million for the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix
● 11 Feb.: 1.087 million for the Millrose Games
● 17 Feb.: 1.051 million for the USATF Indoor Nationals
● 18 May: 846,000 for the USATF L.A. Grand Prix
● 25 May: 1.166 million for the Prefontaine Classic
● 09 Jun.: 1.371 million for the USATF New York Grand Prix
The Grand Slam Track numbers are comparable, however, to the ESPN2 audiences for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2023 from Eugene, Oregon, which totaled 948,000 across four days, or 237,000 per day on average.
So, we can say that Grand Slam Track has perhaps captured the “core” track & field audience in the U.S. in its first two meets, not a blockbuster, but already a reasonable achievement in its first season.
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