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≡ GRAND SLAM TRACK ≡
One sign of success for the debut of the Grand Slam Track circuit last weekend in Kingston, Jamaica, is the continuing chatter about it in track & field circles.
For U.S. fans, for whom any kind of news coverage of track & field is a surprise, consider that the Caribbean sports channel SportsMax.tv devoted 19 minutes to a review of the circuit debut, primarily with SportsMax.tv editor and track and field analyst Leighton Levy (JAM).
Asked if the meet was hit-or-miss, Levy said:
“Hit in terms of the performances, and miss in terms of the crowd.
“The crowd engagement was fine but the numbers weren’t what they were expecting. … [Founder] Michael Johnson alluded to that yesterday when we spoke after the after the meet concluded; he said the crowd was disappointing but they were engaged.
“And that is where it was let down because I think they made a number of – I don’t want to call them flubs – but I don’t think they understand or understood the culture of Jamaica or the nuances that affect this country in terms of disposable income and those other things that I believe impacted the the attendance.
“For example, Sunday at 12:00, most Jamaicans are thinking about Sunday dinner, are not thinking about leaving their homes, and on a Friday, you know, 5:30 in the evening is when most people are leaving work and battling what usually is gridlock traffic or on a Friday afternoon in the city.
“Those are some of the things that I think impacted the attendance overall but in terms of the performances I don’t think anybody can complain.”
Anchor Mariah Kelly added:
“One of the things I found that really stood out for me was the professionalism, like when I walked into the National Stadium, I think the atmosphere was nice, the environment, I just wish it had a bit of Caribbean flavor to it which I felt lacked personally.
“Because you know one of the things Caribbean people like is music and entertainment and all of that and I felt like if there was that bit of flavor it probably would have drawn a bit more people.”
Levy wasn’t sure better entertainment would have helped, and observed:
“I think the timing of the meet in terms of when it started for one, and I don’t think there was enough beating of the bushes on the ground in Jamaica.
“I think social media was fantastic in terms of how they engaged their their fans on social media – Instagram, Tik Tok – you know all the different platforms. But in terms of on-the-ground I don’t think there were a lot of people who were engaged, because I remember talking to some people in New Kingston about two-three weeks before the meet started and some of them weren’t even aware.”
He also mentioned the lack of some of the big-name stars who did not appear, such as Jamaican sprinters Shericka Jackson, Kishane Thompson or American Noah Lyles.
It was also noted that veteran track watchers in Jamaica do not want to sit in the National Stadium on the backstraight during daylight hours because it’s so hot. And it was.
Levy was asked about whether Grand Slam Track would return in 2025:
“Well it was difficult to say, because there were people who I was speaking to weren’t giving much away. What Michael Johnson did say, he was asked directly whether or not the Grand Slam leg has a future in Jamaica and he says everything is under review; that was all he was willing to say, which suggests to me that for right now they are not particularly convinced that Jamaica is the ideal venue for a Grand Slam meet.
“They want to see full stadiums, they want to see energy, which we did have, but it sells better – you sell a better product when you have fans from all sides of the stadium sharing and enjoying the proceedings and I think they were let down by the fan support.”
Co-anchor Ricardo Chambers said the fan issues can be fixed:
“I think the reasons can be fixed from Grand Slam’s standpoint because I think if they understand the culture, if they understand the reality of Jamaica and make certain adjustments, then you will see significantly better crowds, so I think that’s more on Grand Slam than it is on the fans.”
Levy added one last observation that Grand Slam Track invested $450,000 to resurface the track and made other upgrades to the stadium, and asked, “do you want to walk away from that investment?”
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Johnson, to his credit, went to X on Monday and asked, “What can we do over the season to make @GrandSlamTrack better?”
He got dozens and dozens of replies; some of those which expressed recurring comments included:
● “Reduce dead time between events.”
● “More solid bibs” and “The bibs are ripped and make no sense just have actual jerseys.”
● “More storytelling, more behind the scenes, crowd engagement.”
● “Split screen in cases like the men’s 3k (winner on main cam, series battle in secondary cam).”
● “Pace of action is the biggest issue. Without field events, starts need to be much tighter. Too much dead air.
● “2+ hours 3 days in a row is a lot. Even as a super track fan, 2 days would be preferred.”
● “In stadium energy needs a boost. Pull out all stops to fill stands. Think about some visual effects – lights/pyro/other.”
● “Easily could’ve had field events. Athletes compete during down time btwn races. 3 jumps/throws each.”
● “Racers and challengers should intro themselves like the NFL: ‘Jason [Kelce] U of Cincinnati’ or something like that.
● “Butts in the seats. But what you’re attempting to do is exactly what we’ve all wanted. Betting, beer, speed = excitement. You’ve clearly got the comp, just set it in the right place, where the crowd matches the energy.”
And there was this reminder of reality:
“Tighter broadcast/timeline for sure. Need to keep the ante going, otherwise it is too easy to get into phone scrolling and get distracted, attention spans these days (for both in-stadium and TV).”
The second leg of the four-meet circuit comes from 2-4 May in Miramar, Florida, no doubt keeping some of these ideas in mind.
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