ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – SEPTEMBER 08: A Diamond League trophy is seen during the Weltklasse Zurich 2022, part of the 2022 Diamond League series at Stadion Letzigrund on September 08, 2022 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
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The 2025 Diamond League season concluded a week ago in Zurich, Switzerland. Throughout the Diamond League season, fans had the opportunity to experience some of track and field’s most anticipated match-ups before the World Athletics Outdoor Championships in just under two weeks.
With this being the first year that the Diamond League was streamed on FloTrack, subscribers increased by 16% according to a representative from the media company. Here are some major takeaways from the newfound partnership.
How FloTrack Is Making Accessibility The Focus
MONACO, MONACO – JULY 11: Noah Lyles of the United States crosses the finish line to win in the Men’s 200m during the Herculis EBS, part of the 2025 Diamond League at Stade Louis II on July 11, 2025 in Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
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The decision to move the streaming of the Diamond League from NBC to FloTrack was not widely accepted by fans during its initial announcement. Fans struggled with the idea of paying the costly monthly subscription along with other critiques the media outlet received in the past.
With these concerns in mind, instead of shying away from the feedback, FloTrack took several steps in its first year to tackle viewer concerns.
FloTrack made it clear they would still stick to their business model, but understood pricing may be a factor in losing customers. Accessibility became their primary focus moving forward. Instead of lowering the price of the subscription, they made several things free for fans to watch.
FloTrack offered several free streams of the press conferences throughout the year, something that isn’t typical for track and field. Press conferences are the time when athletes get to banter with each other and reflect on their training and any other thoughts they have leading into competition. Instead of waiting for stories or news clips to arise online, fans got to experience much of the information they want to know from athletes in real time.
Along with offering free live streams of pre-race press conferences, FloTrack made its new show, The Athletes’ Lounge, free as well. The premise of The Athletes Lounge is to be similar to Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli. The Athletes Lounge is an alternative broadcast to the live competition stream, hosted by some of the biggest names and history makers in the sport, including two-time Olympic and world medalist English Gardner, Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz, and Olympic champion and two-time world champion Trey Hardee.
With this Olympic-level commentary, Gardner, Centrowitz, and Hardee could lean on their personal experiences to provide real-time insight on the athletes performances at each meet. The Athletes Lounge served as an open and light-hearted space for these three to discuss the sport they love while also teaching fans new things with their behind-the-scenes commentary, hoping to bridge the gap between competition and conversation. The Athletes Lounge was also known for bringing in special guests like NFL player and former world-class track and field athlete Marquis Goodwin.
Lastly, for some meets throughout the season, FloTrack streamed the competition for free on their YouTube channel. They first did this with one of the most anticipated match-ups of the year – Noah Lyles versus Letsile Tebogo. Tebogo and Lyles went head-to-head in Monaco in the 200-meter dash. This was the first time since the Paris Olympics that these two competitors faced off against each other, and it was Lyles’ season opener in the event.
The decision to show this live on YouTube for free was huge for all track and field fans, giving them easier access to a storyline that will be pivotal at the world championships next week.
Even though they only did this for a few meets, they took the time to upload race footage to their social media channels for fans to watch after the events were completed. This was perfect for people looking for replays of specific events.
The Athletes Lounge host, Gardner, talked about how she was impressed with some of the improvements FloTrack made this season.
“FloTrack has made major strides in connecting and meeting fans where they are,” said Gardner. “This season, there has been a push for accessibility that I feel we never had in the past, with Flo making our stream available for free on YouTube to reach broader audiences.”
Since NBC has a much larger platform than FloTrack, along with the monthly subscription, fans were worried that track and field wouldn’t reach a larger audience. However, FloTrack made straightforward strides to address that concern, which will hopefully help grow the sport’s popularity over time.
“This season has been one of transition, some greats grinding to stay alive, some fresh names fighting for a spot… overall, a very pivotal moment for the sport,” said Gardner. “What has been giving me hope is the fan engagement…they are demanding more from us as analysts, from the sports structure and from the athletes themselves.”
The Olympic champion went on to state that this demand from all stakeholders in the sport is what’s needed for the sport to continue evolving, rather than track and field becoming stagnant and dying off.
While there is still more to improve, FloTrack has made it clear with these gestures that they are committed to adjusting to viewer feedback in whatever way they can.