Grand Slam Track, the new high-profile athletics league established by American track legend Michael Johnson, has secured joint US broadcast rights partners for its inaugural 2025 season, in the shape of national network The CW, and also US media giant NBCUniversal (NBCU).
The CW becomes the exclusive linear broadcast home in the US of Grand Slam Track, which will host four events – three in the US – in its first campaign.
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Meanwhile, Peacock, the NBCU-owned OTT streaming service, becomes the series’ exclusive US streaming home, with the linear NBC channel to air a mid-season season highlights show on May 10.
The brokering of this three-way partnership was aided by the Range Sports agency.
The inaugural Grand Slam Track meet will take place across April 4-6 in Kingston, Jamaica, with following US meets in Miami, (May 2-4), Philadelphia, (May 30-June 1), before the season finale in Los Angeles, from June 27-29.
Across these four meets, the opening Friday events will be Peacock-exclusive, with the Saturday and Sunday races split between Peacock and The CW.
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By GlobalDataThe format will have a prize fund of $12.6 million split over four events.
In the past Johnson said television coverage is a priority for his new league, adding that he had been in contact with “all the major broadcasters, with a heavy emphasis for us on the US.”
Speaking on the partnership Johnson, who has taken up the role of commissioner of the venture, has now stated that the broadcast deal will “help us continue to revolutionize the sport of track."
Grand Slam Track, launched last June, offers each athlete the chance to win total prize money of $400,000 over the course of a season.
In total, the new league will have a prize fund of $12.6 million split over four events.
NBC's senior vice president for Olympics and Paralympics programming, Joe Gesue, added: “Following the incredible success of the Paris Olympics, which featured one of the all-time memorable track meets, we’re looking forward to this new opportunity to showcase these phenomenal athletes and engage viewers with their dynamic performances and stories.”
NBC was the US broadcast partner for the Paris 2024 Games, and drew major viewership figures for the high-profile event.
NBC attracted 30.6 million viewers across its platforms for the Olympics, up 82% (16.9 million) from Tokyo.
On the Peacock platform, 23.5 billion minutes of Paris Olympics coverage were streamed – up 40% from all prior summer and Winter Olympics combined (16.8 billion minutes across NBCUniversal digital platforms).
Over the full Olympic Games, 4.1 million viewers tuned in daily across Peacock and NBCU digital platforms.
NBCU holds Olympics rights in the US through the 2032 edition.
