Michael Johnson Reveals Everything You Need To Know About Grand Slam Track: New Professional Track League To Debut In 2025 With $12.6 Million In Prize Money
The CITIUS MAG Podcast | A Running + Track and Field Show
CITIUS MAG
4.9 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 18 June 2024
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"What's exciting is that in this new role, I'm able to bring athletes and fans what they've been asking for and just screaming out for – more head-to-head matchups, more fans getting to know these athletes, athletes able to connect better with their fans, athletes being able to realize more value for themselves. Fans are frustrated that they're hearing these stories that the athletes, who they love to support, are frustrated that they’re not able to capitalize on their greatness. So with Grand Slam Track, I'm able to bring that to fans and athletes. That brings a smile. It makes me happy."
Michael Johnson is one of the greatest sprinters of all-time with his 12 gold medals. However, he joins me as the new commissioner of Grand Slam Track. Michael is on a mission to revive his beloved sport, track and field, which has long struggled to capture the U.S. public's attention outside of the Olympics. Grand Slam is set to debut in 2025.
This league aims to engage fans with a TV-friendly format, spotlighting the sport's biggest stars, and drawing new audiences through compelling storytelling. I speak for CITIUS MAG in sharing our excitement to be partnering with the league to share in their mission on athlete storytelling and we’ll be helping them with our own resources and expertise to connect them with our super loyal and engaged track and field diehard audience.
With a significant investment exceeding $30 million, Michael is determined to bring the essence of the sport to the forefront, putting athletes center stage like never before.
Grand Slam Track will host four annual Slams in global cities – starting in April 2025. Los Angeles will serve as the league's home, hosting one of these exciting events. The league has already signed its first star racer, 400m hurdles Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. In my conversation with Michael, we talk about the fan’s frustration around now watching some of the top stars compete more and how this aims to change much of that.
Each year, 48 elite athletes will be named GST Racers, competing across various categories and vying for substantial prize money.
Hear a bit more about Michael's vision for the future of track and field and the challenges he's tackling. We'll delve into how this new league plans to fit in among the existing competitions like the Diamond League and leverage the excitement of the upcoming Paris Olympics and the Netflix series to galvanize support from fans and athletes alike.
Host: Chris Chavez | @chris_j_chavez on Instagram
Guest: Michael Johnson | @mjgold4 on Instagram
Read a complete guide to the new league here: citiusmag.com/articles/michael-johnson-professional-track-league-grand-slam-track-everything-you-need-to-know
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | After an awesome weekend with New Balance at the 2024 New Balance Nationals outdoor |
| 0:06.3 | we will be bringing tons of excitement to Eugene from Friday June 21st to |
| 0:11.8 | Sunday June 30th. |
| 0:13.6 | That's right, Sidious Mag at the trials. |
| 0:16.7 | For starters, where are we gonna be? |
| 0:18.6 | Sidious Mag will be coming to you live |
| 0:20.9 | from Prince Puckler's Ice Cream Shop at 19th Avenue and Aga Street. |
| 0:25.4 | Just a two minute walk from Hayward Field. |
| 0:27.8 | The whole crew is coming out. |
| 0:29.4 | We've got a daily morning show called Good Morning Track and Field hosted by Eric Jenkins |
| 0:34.0 | Mitch Dyer and Karen Lesowitz expect that to start at 830 a.m. Pacific time on the |
| 0:39.1 | City of MAG YouTube channel. We know how much you guys loved our interviews and sit-downs with athletes, coaches, |
| 0:45.3 | and any notable folks in town for the World Championships. |
| 0:48.7 | So we're doing it again. |
| 0:50.1 | Citius Mag, Live from Eugene, will be streaming on our YouTube channel from 12 p.m. Pacific Time. |
| 0:55.4 | We'll have all of those interviews broken out as a podcast as well. |
| 0:59.8 | While the show is happening, we may be also offering up a free ice cream hour come on |
| 1:05.2 | by watch the show see your favorite athletes up close and indulge in a scoop or two of |
| 1:10.3 | your favorite ice cream I believe Prince Pucklers will also be highlighting some of New Balance's |
| 1:16.8 | favorite flavors. |
| 1:18.3 | Once the meat starts, we're bringing you live updates across social media |
| 1:21.2 | with those epic photos captured by our two |
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