“There Isn’t Enough Money”: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Addresses Major Issue in Track and Field Sport

All eyes will be on Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. She finally announced her participation in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials. Being an Olympic champion and world record holder in the 400m hurdle is definitely attention-grabbing, but so were her recent words about the sport. What did she say about track and field?

The 24-year-old is scheduled to compete in the 400m hurdles on Friday, May 31, in Atlanta. This will be her first competition in her signature event since August 2022. She will put up action in the upcoming Edwin Moses Legends Meet 2024. Before her most anticipated performance, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone spoke with Citius Mag commentator Anderson Emerole, who took their talk on X, with the caption: “McLaughlin-Levrone on the need for better access and marketing of T&F to push it the way that we want to.”

As a top-tier athlete, McLaughlin-Levrone is proudly sponsored by ‘New Balance’. McLaughlin pointed out, “I feel like we don’t do a good job marketing ourselves…We need people to actually be able to see our sport and not have to pay all the time to watch subscriptions online. That’s just my opinion. I think that Netflix documentaries is gonna be huge… I think there is not enough money in our sport to push it the way we really want to.”

Simply put, sports marketing, a $487+ billion global market, involves strategies to promote sports-related products, events, and brands. It focuses on raising awareness, funding, developing interest, and increasing customer interaction in the sports business. Social media is not only a medium, but it also influences every other medium, how it is televised and streamed across the world, and how people react to what happens in real-time and afterward. But every point that McLaughlin-Levrone raised has flared up much discussion in the past few months.

Will new developments hit the already dwindling viewership?

In a major development, recently FloSports signed a multi-year deal with the Wanda Diamond League. That will distribute 14 of the 15 meets on Flotrack starting in 2025. For the past few years, fans have been watching the Diamond League on NBC’s network of channels or streaming it on Peacock. The subscription for this has been $5.99/month or $59.99/year. But with FloTrack, that is slated to go up significantly.

The new subscription will make one shell out $29.99 monthly, adding up to $149.99 annually. This staggering increase flared up the fans and athletes alike. Prominent athletes like Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, and Gabby Thomas came down heavily, criticizing the shift. “We got some cold a** YouTube in the track and field community that can promote the sports from high school all the way to professional that got podcast a platform to elevator sport to higher heights,” Fred Kerley fumed on X, which is similar to what McLaughlin-Levrone opined.

The sky-high rate would be further detrimental to a sport that is already reeling with a lack of recognition and reach in the US. Noah Lyles had vented his frustration in the past saying that by pursuing a career in track and field in the USA, one might feel like they are in a “dying sport”. Many athletes have often pointed out that track and field athletes are only in the limelight during the Olympics.

However, someone like Lyles had also aced marketing himself. He is one of the biggest track and field stars who also made a name in the fashion industry. It is his way of not just expressing himself. It sets him apart from his competition.

But coming back to high subscription prices, it becomes difficult for fans to support their favorite athletes. Even Gabby Thomas was unhappy with how rates were increasing. “… 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.” However, the current generation of athletes are trying to overturn the picture with their personal efforts.

Vowing “to change the game for athletes and fans”, Olympic champion Michael Johnson recently announced the launch of a brand new meet- ‘Michael Johnson Invitational’. Set to begin next year, the legendary sprinter has reportedly secured over $30 million from investors and strategic partners. The only goal of the meet has been to bring more eyes to the sport. Interestingly, help for track and field has started coming from beyond the sporting realm as well, with promises to address the lack of money in the sport.

Money matters pointed out by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to get a solution?

In an exciting development for the sport, Reddit founder and Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian has recently announced the launch of an all-woman track and field meet. The meet boasts the participation of standout athletes like Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas. Named 776 Invitational, the meet is slated to raise its curtain in September 2024. But the highlight of the event is probably its prize money.

In the proposed event, athletes will compete for big prize money, with $60,000 going to first place, $25,000 to second, and $10,000 to third. It sits more than most of the meets at present. Along with such personal efforts, the official bodies have also taken some remarkable steps to solve the money matters in the sport.

Further, on April 10, in a groundbreaking step, World Athletics announced to award of prize money to the athletes for their performance at the Paris Olympics. For this year, athletes who win a gold medal in each of the 48 athletics events in Paris will bag US$50,000. However, the World Athletics proposed to extend the prize money to Olympic silver and bronze medal winners at the LA 2028 Olympic Games. In this, it became the first international federation to award prize money at an Olympic Games.

All these are proof that the revolution has started despite hitches from time to time. Although much still needs to be done, such initiatives will surely bring the much-needed vibe to the sport to shed its tag of a dying sport.