Disappointed Noah Lyles Gets Gabby Thomas’ Support As Track World Fights Over World Athletics’ Streaming Controversy

It is not only the Paris Olympics that are keeping the track and field world on its toes. Amid all the upcoming events approaching the Paris Olympics, the broadcasting issue has created a lot of uproar recently. FloTrack lately acquired the US broadcast rights for the Diamond League starting in 2025. This has led to an outcry from the fans and the athletes alike. Noah Lyles noted that the issue wasn’t just about high subscription fees. Instead, he remarked, “I wish FloTrack offered more money to host the Diamond League domestically. That’s how they got it.” Many prominent athletes have already joined him in this. Now the list increases further.

Adding to the conversation, Gabby Thomas, a 2x Olympic medalist in Tokyo, has criticized FloTrack’s high pricing. A new post from Chris Chavez features Thomas speaking at the ‘100 Days To Go Until Paris 2024’ event by Omega. There, Thomas has been questioned about what the powers that be in track and field can do to raise the viability of the athletes. To this, “She brought up the Diamond League’s move behind a paywall in 2025”.

Coming out straight in the matter, she said, “I’m most critical of decisions like that because it does eliminate visibility and there is a pretty big paywall behind watching our track meets now…Paying $30 a month to watch a track meet is not reasonable for a lot of people, to be completely honest……”. With that she also added that while popularizing the sport, “…the first step is: the fundamental access to watching track and field.” added further.

Notably, Gabby had voiced her displeasure right after the decision was revealed. On that occasion, she wrote, “This might be the worst news I’ve heard from the diamond league since… ever.” But she got many of her comrades in that.

A furious Olympic silver medalist, Kenny Bednarek, tweeted, “Track world fuming.” Along with them, two-time world team member Isaiah Harris added, “Flotrack = death of the sport” on X. Lastly, 2021 Olympian, Heather MacLean lashed out saying, “Worst move ever.” With so much backlash, let’s now take a look at how this is going to affect the sport.

The reach of the sport to the enthusiasts might take a hit?

American fans will face a hefty price hike to watch the Diamond League. With FloTrack charging $29.99/month or $149.99/year in comparison to Peacock’s $5.99/month or $59.99/year, the steep increase can add more agony to the Track and Field scenario of the US. Track and field is already lacking popularity in the US as even Noah Lyles has also pointed out calling the sport a “dying” one. Under such circumstances, the freshly imposed paywall is projected to further deteriorate the picture.

The first step towards increasing the popularity is making the sport reach as many as viewers possible. The new fiasco kills this fundamental requirement. There are a few more concerns as well. According to reports, FloTrack’s number of subscribers is way less than that of NBC/Peacock. To top it, FloTrack is solely a streaming service. Unlike NBC, which had the flexibility to show them on various channels and promote them widely, FloTrack lacks such versatility. All of these might take a hit at the viewership count. But there has been a sustained effort to glorify the matter.

Diamond League CEO Petr Stastny commented, “This partnership represents our shared commitment to elevating the profile of track and field, providing fans with unparalleled access to our premier series of events” However, from the ongoing discussion it is evident that few are on the same page with Stastny. In fact, from the entire set of events, it seems that FloTrack’s focus remains on generating more revenue rather than increasing exposure. It remains to be seen if this model does any good for the sport.