Grand Slam Track In Trouble As Founder Michael Johnson Admits League Has ‘Major Cash Flow’ Issues

On Thursday, a little over a month since Grand Slam Track announced an end to its debut season – citing a change in the “global economic landscape” – league founder Michael Johnson appeared live on Front Office Sports Today and admitted there was more to the story.

Our own reporting found on July 14 that the league owed over $77,896 for a facility rental of the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida following its second event, Grand Slam Track Miami, and owed an additional $14,928.50 for ticket surcharge fees.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg. Reports also indicate that Grand Slam Track has only paid a margin of its athlete appearance fees and owes almost all of its prize money won by athletes over three meets in Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia. In total, reports suggest that total is over $13 million.

Early this week, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the sport’s governing body is monitoring athlete payments from the league. “It’s not a good look,” Coe said. “The one thing World Athletics has always stood behind is the athletes. So yeah, this is not a good situation. It’s a startup, but the athletes do need paying.”

Behind The Reported Problems Of Grand Slam Track

When Grand Slam Track first unveiled its vision for a reimagined track league in June of 2024, it announced “$30 million in financial commitments from investors and strategic partners,” including from the likes of Winner’s Alliance, a commercial sports licensing firm. But on Thursday, Johnson said a major investor pulled out of that agreement, reneging on an eight-figure term sheet, according to Front Office Sports. He did not name the investor.

“We’ve had a very difficult situation financially,” Johnson said. “We had an investor who wasn’t able to honor their complete commitment to the league. We started with the capital that we needed to get through the season as we planned it with four slams. And to make sure we can take care of everyone.”

Fast spending likely contributed to the league’s situation. Johnson revealed that Grand Slam Track included luxuries that most track and field events rarely offered for athletes – airfare, single-occupancy rooms at hotels and plenty of days to acclimate to meet surroundings.

“We committed to treating them that way,” Johnson said.

But Johnson admitted fault in planning for the series itself, too. Scheduling four meets exactly one month apart from one another – in April, May, June and July — placed the league in a situation which did not give it enough time to breathe. Athletes committed to that schedule, and Johnson said the league felt like it had to honor that scheduling commitment.

A few weeks before the Philadelphia meet, Johnson announced he was cutting the event to two days and scrapped a long distance event entirely – the men’s and women’s 5,000 meters. According to Front Office Sports, investor Robert Smith, a board member and the chairperson of Vista Equity Partners, stepped in to make sure the event could even take place.

“We probably went too fast,” Johnson said of the league’s planning.

Soon after the Philadelphia meet, Grand Slam Track canceled its fourth and final event, which was set to take place at Drake Stadium in Los Angeles. The league then let go several high-ranking officials. Grand Slam Track has since stepped back from its social media presence. The league hasn’t posted on Instagram since July 11, on X since July 4 and on Tik Tok since July 13.

What Is The Future Of Grand Slam Track

Despite the league’s mounting problems, Johnson still applauded the league’s output in Philadelphia, saying it attracted 26,000 fans over two days at Franklin Field. Grand Slam Track’s social media accounts have attracted a cumulative millions of impressions, while linear broadcast numbers have been OK, with ratings reaching an average of 243,000 households during its Kingston event.

Forbes reached out to facility management at the University of Pennsylvania to inquire about any pending fees owed during the league’s Philadelphia meet. Multiple officials declined to comment.

Johnson continued to echo the thought that the league will go on, but questions remain on how after the founder admitted his startup has “major cash flow issues.”

When asked whether Johnson’s startup made any mistakes in Year 1, he admitted fault. “Absolutely, we made some mistakes this year. We knew we would. But one of the things that, in hindsight when we look back, we’re in a very, very difficult economic situation right now, that is pretty unprecedented, and has effected a lot of folks, a lot of businesses, affected one of our investors and has affected us as well, so we will be much more cautious going forward.”

Front Office Sport reported that Pitchbook lists a total of $39.5 of investments from two firms, though when asked where the money went, Johnson said much of the first year went to expenses. Johnson said he’s working with existing investors and the league’s board to sort through outstanding debts. Fundraising efforts also continue.

“We’ve been working very hard over the last couple of months to make sure we can get everyone taken care of and making sure we actually can get to next season and continue on the mission to elevate this sport,” Johnson said.

He added: “It’s what I do every day. It’s what I wake up every morning thinking about.”

When asked whether the league will go forward into Year 2, Johnson gave kudos to the successes of the first season, but did not give a concrete answer as to what’s ahead.