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Michael Johnson has spoken out after cancelling the Los Angeles leg of his new Grand Slam Track competition, describing the drastic move as a “business decision” to preserve the future of the league.
Johnson held a meeting over Zoom on Thursday to inform athletes and their representatives that the LA event – the fourth and final leg of the season scheduled for 28-29 June – had been pulled, bringing the campaign to a sudden end.
The Independent understands that Grand Slam Track’s deal with host UCLA had become financially unviable, with estimated losses of more than $2m had the event gone ahead. A new sponsor is set to be announced next week ahead of the 2026 season, and organisers felt avoiding losses was crucial to help secure that investment and ensure the long-term future of the competition.
The US legend said in a statement: “The decision to conclude the inaugural Grand Slam Track season is not taken lightly, but one rooted in a belief that we have successfully achieved the objectives we set out to in this pilot season, and the importance of looking towards 2026 and beyond.
“We launched with a bold vision to reimagine professional track racing and we could not be more excited about what we have accomplished so far, delivering amazing races to a rabid fan base. As we’ve said all along, we were going to have learnings, make adjustments, and continue to improve. Sometimes we have to make moves that aren’t comfortable, but what’s most important is the future and sustainability of the league.
The global economic landscape has shifted dramatically in the past year, and this business decision has been made to ensure our long-term stability as the world’s premier track league. Our attention is now on 2026, with our eyes set on continuing to deliver the best-in-class storytelling, content, and competition that we have become known for in our debut year.”
Organisers remain confident that Grand Slam Track will continue in 2026, with LA set to be on the circuit, and have stressed the positives of what they insist has been a relatively successful “pilot” year.
Before the opening event in Kingston, Jamaica, Johnson’s co-founder Steve Gera told The Independent that they were “maniacally focused on having the youngest fanbase of any sports league in the world in the next five years”.
The star-studded list of athletes – which included US stars Kenny Bednarek, Gabrielle Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone as well as British names including Josh Kerr and Dina Asher-Smith – competed in two linked events, such as 100m and 200m sprints, with results combined to calculate the winners in each category. Prize money for winners stood at $100,000, with $50,000 for runners-up and $10,000 for eighth place.
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The competition was billed as a much-needed shot in the arm for athletics, although the decision to include only track events and omit field disciplines was met with criticism. “I am going to save what I think I can save,” Johnson explained. “I think I can save track, I don’t think I can save track and field.”
But ticket sales have been slow and sponsorship and broadcast revenues have not met lofty expectations. The Times reports that organisers will save around £2.2m in prize money and travel expenses by cancelling the Los Angeles event.
Some of the action has played out in half-empty stadiums, although the third event in Philadelphia was more popular, with close to 30,000 tickets sold over two days after the action was compressed from the three days of events held in Kingston and Miami.
A disappointing crowd in Jamaica prompted organisers to review their locations for 2026, with a variety of other markets being considered, including European cities.
Gera told The Independent in March: “We had discussions with a couple of different cities across the UK [but] that was a decision that we made to just focus on tightly packaging our run of shows [in the Americas] in year one. But we’re really excited to get the product into Europe in the not too distant future.”
Johnson added: “We are in conversations with potential host cities – many of whom have already thrown their names in the hat – to build out an exciting calendar of events for our fans across the globe. We are committed to calling Los Angeles home, and look forward to hosting a Slam in LA as part of the 2026 season.”
