Grand Slam Track files for bankruptcy

Grand Slam Track (GST), the innovative brainchild of US Olympian Michael Johnson, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, following a premature end to its inaugural season, loss of a key investor, and millions of dollars owed to athletes and vendors.

In a report by Citius Mag, it is estimated that GST has a debt of US$19 million, which includes athletes’ prize money, vendor debts and operational costs.

GST, which was marketed as a new revolutionary track league, was launched this year with a major lure of its US$30 million funding a record-breaking US$12.6 million prize pool.

The track league held three of its four meets in Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia, but abruptly cancelled its fourth and final meet set for Los Angeles amid reports of financial difficulties.

Johnson, the league’s founder, confirmed their financial woes following the loss of a key investor which left them unable to fulfil their financial commitments.

“We’ve had a very difficult situation this year financially. We had an investor that wasn’t able to honour their complete commitment to the league,” Johnson said.

“That was a huge blow to us. It caused a major, major cash flow issue for us, put us in a difficult position, put our athletes in a difficult position, but we’re very confident that we’ll pull ourselves out of it.”

Following the public admission, GST had worked towards paying the money owed to the athletes and vendors, but had reportedly missed set deadlines.

The league was able to secure emergency funding and, in October, distributed US$5.5 million to its athletes, which amounted to half of the figure owed.

BANKRUPTCY

A court filing dated December 11 confirmed the league had officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware, and GST announced the decision on its social media platforms.

In their press release, they stated that, having exhausted all other options, they made the decision to file for bankruptcy as a way to ‘protect’ their sporting community.

“From the outset, our goal at GST has been to build a professional platform that truly reflects the excellence, commitment and ambitions of this sport’s athletes,” their release read.

“That’s why we have done everything possible to address out financial challenges. After the withdrawal of a committed investment earlier this year, we worked tirelessly to secure replacement funding, meet our obligations and keep GST moving forward,” the release continued.

“With every alternative fully explored, moving into a court-supervised reorganisation - which is what GST did today, became the clearest path to protect our community and our mission.”

According to the bankruptcy filing, GST has declared estimated assets between US$0 and US$50,000, estimated liabilities between US$10 million and US$50 million, and a range of 200 to 999 creditors.

THE WAY FORWARD

GST insisted this is not the end of the league, as they hope to host subsequent meet stagings in the years to come.

However, they said, this cannot be done until all debts are settled and they are able to secure a sustainable future for the league.

“GST can still be that league and we are working every day to ensure it is built on a foundation worthy of that purpose,” the press release read.

gregoory.bryce@gleanerjm.com