The Grand Slam Track was set to be the next big thing in track and field and revolutionize the sport. But while the buzz and the star-studded rosters are definitely there, one thing is still missing. That’s because when the production camera zoomed in on the National Stadium in Kingston on April 4, one could see that there were lots of empty seats. After all, only 50% of people showed up for Michael Johnson’s big spectacle. But why? What’s the reason for the low numbers? Well, Noah Lyles might have the answer to that.

In a recent episode of the Beyond the Records podcast, Lyles, along with fellow track pundits, was pretty clear on what is causing Johnson’s brainchild to fail when it comes to attendance. From excessive downtime to uninspired filler content, the GST’s TV coverage drew sharp criticism, particularly from the trio of Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway, and Rai Benjamin. So what’s the verdict they came up with?

Well, the trio’s critique zeroes in on GST’s pacing problem: interminable gaps between races that sucked the momentum out of the broadcast. Noah Lyles breaks it down: “So what usually happens is they would run a race… the pre-show start was 40 minutes from start time to the first gun… then they talk about the time… and then they go to commercial and when they come back… you’re kind of just watching random video footage of anything that’s going on… maybe a child in the audience for about 15 to 10 more minutes.”

That’s right, fans were left staring at irrelevant clips for up to 15 minutes, a far cry from the high-octane vibe track demands. Grant Holloway, the 110m hurdles king, adds, “Let’s not have this whole little talk show for about 10-15 minutes until the next event starts. Because at some point I’m over here doing practice swings with my putter and my irons, and I forget the track meet is on.” The downtime was so bad, it even had athletes zoning out. Compounding the issue was the low spectator attendance, which made the broadcast feel flat.

Empty stands at Kingston’s National Stadium didn’t help sell GST as the must-watch spectacle it aimed to be. The lengthy pre-show and post-race breakdowns, as Noah notes, lacked substance, offering only brief mentions of upcoming races without engaging analysis. Rai Benjamin, ever the strategist, suggests a fix: “What they should do between events is provide a detailed breakdown—show what runners did right and what they did wrong in the previous race… It would make the overall broadcast more educational and engaging.”

His vision? A broadcast that educates fans, sharpens commentators, and deepens everyone’s love for the sport. But with gaps stretching 4 to 5 minutes, or more, between races, the broadcast felt like a marathon of boredom, not sprints. How could GST tighten up this mess? Besides, these are not the only ones who have spoken about the flaws of GST.

Noah Lyles isn’t the only one, as the VP of the Diamond League is also critical

Well, according to Jon Mulkeen Magyar, a titan of the track world and former vice president of the Diamond League, the series didn’t just stumble out of the gate—it face-planted. “It took just one competition day for the much-hyped Grand Slam Track series to prove it’s not the future of track and field—it’s a flop,” Magyar declared. “In fact, ‘Grand Flop Track’ might be a more accurate name.” Ouch.

So, what went wrong on day one? Magyar didn’t hold back, painting a grim picture of the event’s debut. The Kingston meet, held in the heart of a track-mad nation, was supposed to electrify fans. Instead, it delivered a snooze-fest. “Boring, lifeless, with long stretches of inactivity and—perhaps most telling—an empty stadium in Kingston, the capital of one of the world’s greatest track and field nations,” Magyar said. 

An empty stadium in Jamaica? That’s like an empty arena for a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. The atmosphere, he argued, felt more like a “mausoleum than a laboratory of innovation.” If the goal was to hook new fans and keep the diehards buzzing, Grand Slam Track missed the mark. But is this just one man’s opinion, or is there more to the story? Let’s see, the next round is the Magic City, and Michael Johnson is hoping that Miami will do the job on his quest.