Opinion: Grand Slam Track should give up on 2026

On Friday, Grand Slam Track and founder Michael Johnson released a statement on Instagram addressing the league’s inability to pay their athletes. But despite stretching to three slides, the statement is essentially just a rambling word salad–and completely avoids its most crucial ingredient: an apology.

 

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It’s been more than two months since the last Slam in Philadelphia. Athletes and facilities still haven’t been paid the US$13 million they are currently owed, and Johnson says the league has no funds to do so. If they are unable to secure capital, the statement reveals, GST will not proceed with a 2026 season.

“The cruelest paradox in all of this is we promised that athletes would be fairly and quickly compensated,” the statement read. “Yet, here we are struggling with our ability to compensate them.”

Last month, Johnson pinned the league’s “major, major cash flow issue” on a key investor pulling out of a tens-of-millions-of-dollars deal just days after the league’s opening Slam in Jamaica in April. He claimed GST had worked “tirelessly” with its board and investors to find a quick solution and was “getting positive signs” that the issue could be solved even after the LA Slam was cancelled–until, he says, “circumstances changed in ways beyond [their] control.”

Fans were also not impressed about the lack of acknowledgment from GST around financial problems during the season. Johnson had promised belated payments–July 31 for Kingston and Miami appearance fees, September for Philadelphia and LA fees–but those July timelines were not met, and it’s looking like September’s won’t be, either.

Grand Slam Track points fingers over mounting financial troubles

“With all due respect, proclaiming that the 2026 season will not begin until your obligations have been met isn’t exactly a bold proclamation,” one Instagram user wrote. “If you don’t meet your obligations, no one is going to sign up for the season anyway.”

It’s a fair point. Why would athletes or venues invest their time and money in a venture that might never pay them back? You can’t sell a product built on broken promises. And pouring millions into salvaging a league’s name, legacy and debt doesn’t automatically create success.

Undelivered prize money

For athletes, the delayed payouts are more than “frustration, disappointment and inconvenience,” as Johnson described. Many paid for their own flights, travel, accommodations and food, lured by unprecedented prize money: $100,000 for Slam winners and even $10,000 for last place. Some of these athletes have no sponsorships to cover these costs.

Prize money advertised per Slam:

1st – $100,000.00
2nd – $50,000.00
3rd – $30,000.00
4th – $25,000.00
5th – $20,000.00
6th – $15,000.00
7th – $12,500.00
8th – $10,000.00

In June, Brazil’s Alison dos Santos, the 2022 world champion in the 400m hurdles, owed $250,000, was surprised to hear the league was in trouble–but had still been expecting to be paid. Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas expressed her frustration publicly in early July, commenting GST’s TikTok: “So dope!! Please pay me.” Grant Fisher, the world record holder in the indoor 3,000m and 5,000m, also voiced his concerns: “If they aren’t able to pay out the debts that they have for this past year, I don’t think it will exist for next year.”

Some fans are even offering to step up to help the athletes. “Maybe create a GoFundMe where fans can donate?” one user wrote on Instagram.

Despite a surprising number of supporters, repeated broken promises and damaged relationships make it unlikely that Johnson’s revolutionary track league will survive beyond its inaugural season.