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≡ GRAND SLAM TRACK ≡
Noah Lyles is opening to joining Grand Slam Track next year.
That’s the key comment concerning the new circuit from Lyles’ three-hour appearance with former NFL star Cam Newton on his “Funky Friday” podcast from Saturday (30th).
Lyles explained, “This is the closest thing we’ve ever had to a professional league in track and field,” but said that he and Grand Slam Track founder Michael Johnson could not come to terms during months of discussions in 2024:
“I’ve worked very long to increase my value in this sport. When he came to me and asked me to be a part of it, he gave me a number and we said that number is not a fraction of what my worth is right now, and this is before the [2024] Olympics.
“We came back to him after the Olympics. I said I still like what you’re doing, I’d like to be a part of it but if I’m not going to financially gain on one side, I have to marketwise get value from it. And at the time he could not give me enough reason in my head to believe that I was going to – marketwise – get enough value from it.
“And I know a lot of track and field people are going to be mad, but I’m going to ask you this one question to prove my point: have you ever heard of Grand Slam Track?”
Replied Newton, “No, I have not.”
Lyles: “And that proves my point. Do not feel bad; this is only proving that we need to do better, we need to step up, that there needs to be a higher level of marketing, storytelling and you know, pushing the product.”
Now Newton also hadn’t heard of the “Sprint” series on Netflix which profiled the lives of sprinters as they pursued their careers and Olympic dreams. But Lyles said that the series was well received and showed off the sport to a larger audience that he feels is the key to growth for the sport. Lyles continued:
“Right now, we don’t have a lot of proofs of product, but that is one piece of it. But the fact that again, I ask you the question do you know what Grand Slam Track is, you cannot tell me. You know, what it is shows me that whatever they’re doing right now is not strong enough for me to get my value on the side of marketing and you’re not giving it monetarily, so what would I be doing it for?”
Newton observed:
“I know Michael Johnson is a household name but look, one thing I will tell you and without knowing anything, business is business bro, and one thing that you cannot do in business is get emotional or take it personal because it’s business and both parties have to come to any agreement to say, ‘hey this is fair [for you] and for me.’
“And that negotiation process may take long and as it’s happening, a lot of discoveries they come up. It’s like. ‘yo well he’s a little different, you know what I’m saying, or she’s a little different so we have to, you know, pay accordingly.”
Lyles closed on an upbeat note:
“I do agree and there might be a time maybe next year I’ll join, you know, who knows? I’m very open, I’m trying to stay very open ‘cause again, like I said, this is the first thing we’ve ever had [close] to a track and field league, and I would truly like to see it succeed.”
¶
While the Philadelphia Slam at Franklin Field drew by far the best attendance yet – what appeared to be about 18,000 each day – the meet drew poorly on The CW television broadcast. Per The CW:
● 31 May (Sat.) in Philadelphia: 238,000 total viewers
● 01 June (Sun.) in Philadelphia: 211,000 total viewers
Courtesy of SportsMediaWatch.com, figures from the first two meets – for Saturdays and Sundays only – showed better:
● 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 the Peacock streaming service, which are generally significantly less than broadcast.
These totals are much less than seen for NBC’s track broadcasts from past years, but are comparable with the ESPN2 audiences for the NCAA Track & Field Championships in 2023, which averaged about 237,000 per day across four days.
¶
Grand Slam Track has brought betting options into the sport, which inevitably ends up including a dark side. Olympic women’s 200 m champ Gabby Thomas, who dominated the Long Sprints in the inaugural Kingston Slam, but moved down to the Short Sprints for the Miramar and Philadelphia events and ran into a hot Melissa Jefferson-Wooden – the Paris Olympic women’s 100 m bronze medalist – who won the Short Sprints at the Miramar and Philadelphia events.
A self-proclaimed “King of Track and Field Dramedy, Sports Betting and Social Science Comedy” called “Mr 100k a day” from San Juan, Puerto Rico trolled Thomas on X and said he heckled her in Philadelphia and “I made Gabby lose.”
Thomas replied on X:
“This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children) shouting personal insults – anybody who enables him online is gross”
Grand Slam Track said in a statement to Front Office Sports:
“Grand Slam Track is conducting a full investigation into the reprehensible behavior captured on video.
“We are working to identify the individual involved and will take appropriate action as necessary. We will implement additional safeguards to help prevent incidents like this in the future. Let us be clear, despicable behavior like this will not be tolerated.”
¶
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