Franklin Field earns a stop on Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track circuit next year

It’s been 23 years since Michael Johnson chose the Penn Relays for the last race on U.S. soil of his legendary sprinting career.

But for all the places track has taken him since then as a broadcaster and businessman, he hasn’t forgotten the stadium that still draws the sport’s most vibrant crowds in this country.

So as he worked on launching his new professional athletics circuit, Grand Slam Track, he knew where to look for the big stage the sport so badly needs outside the Olympics. And on Thursday, he will be back at Franklin Field to announce it as one of four stops in next year’s launch, with races set for May 30-June 1.

The other cities will bring their own spotlights: Miami, Los Angeles, and Kingston, Jamaica. But none will be quite like the one that for so many springs has brought tens of thousands of fans to 33rd Street, especially in the USA vs. the World era.

“It’s the venue, it’s the city, and certainly the history of [the] Penn Relays absolutely figured into our decision to choose Philadelphia, Penn, and Franklin Field as one of our venues,” Johnson said. “Probably the most well-attended meet throughout the history of track and field in this country on a consistent basis, year to year. … We wanted to honor that with Grand Slam Track.”

The local track community has often wondered what it would take to bring another truly marquee event to Franklin Field — not one with college and high school runners, but pros. The chatter grew louder when the pandemic and sponsorship changes ended the USA vs. the World series after 2019.

Last April was the first time since then that Saturday felt like the old days, between the attendance and the decibel level. But with USA Track and Field hosting its own event on the same weekend, there weren’t many big names in attendance.

Grand Slam Track will fix that, with 48 athletes spread across six categories. Big names who have signed so far include multi-gold-medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Olympic stalwarts Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek, hurdler (and former Eagle) Devon Allen, and middle-distance runner Cole Hocker — whose 1,500-meter title in Paris was one of the Games’ viral highlights.

They’ll all get base compensation plus bonuses for results, with a total prize pot of $12.6 million on the table.

» READ MORE: Former Eagle Devon Allen is joining Michael Johnson’s new track league. Are his football days done?

“They want to run here,” Johnson said, especially those who haven’t been to town since their college days. “When you’re going around the world and people are talking about, you know, how, ‘Oh yeah, track and field in the U.S. doesn’t get these kind of crowds,’ we’re all sort of thinking, ‘Actually, it does, at Franklin [Field].’”

The most famous American men’s sprinter right now, Olympic 100-meter champion Noah Lyles, hasn’t signed on yet. In September, he told ESPN he was waiting for a TV deal before he commits. But he’s in negotiations, and we’ll see if he eventually says yes.

“We are continuing to work with all athletes and their agents,” Johnson said. “If those athletes decide to join, that’s great; if they don’t, that’s great as well. We’ve got a tremendous list of athletes right now.”

Will the Relays’ big crowds show up for this? As Johnson said, it’s a key reason he wanted to come here instead of other venues. He didn’t pick New York’s Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island or the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, which perennially host USA Track & Field and World Athletics official events.

“It’s the culture that makes the Penn Relays so amazing,” Johnson said. “It’s the people that show up and fill the stands. That closeness that you get at Franklin Field, that closeness to the track, the intimacy of that stadium — it’s a huge stadium, but you’re so close to the track when you’re sitting there, and it feels much more intimate than it is.”

» READ MORE: Inside nearly a century of the historic Penn Relays victory wheel: ‘It’s truly Penn’

The memories came back to him in the moment: sprinting along the horseshoe-shaped stands that hug the outer lanes, with “Woo Corner” roaring and the Wall of Fame in touching distance on the bricks.

“Coming around the final turn and coming down the home stretch — hopefully chasing someone down and not being chased down — and the crowd just on their feet,” he said. “You can feel that stadium vibrate because of the excitement of the fans, and that’s the essence of track. That’s the part of it that has always been great. That has never changed.”

Now, finally, the stadium once again will have a showcase worthy of the stage. And hopefully, it will help elevate the sport back to a spotlight it used to command more than once every four years. Tickets go on sale Dec. 6, with details available at grandslamtrack.com.

“Track and field as a sport has fallen behind significantly over the past several decades — behind other sports in terms of presentation, in terms of fan experience,” Johnson said. “People loved the track and field in Paris at the Olympics, and I continue to hear people talk about how great that was and how much they loved watching it, and then they want more. … We’ve created Grand Slam Track in that vein, to recreate that now four times a year, as opposed to people having to wait another four years to actually have that experience.”