Vendors involved with the collapsed Grand Slam Track league are seeking court permission to sue Olympic champion Michael Johnson and investor Winners Alliance for $25 million, alleging fraud and mismanagement. The creditors claim Johnson improperly paid himself $500,000 and that Winners Alliance led the league into financial ruin despite promises of support. A bankruptcy court hearing on the matter is scheduled for Thursday.
Grand Slam Track, a short-lived professional track league founded by Michael Johnson, has been in bankruptcy proceedings since December 2025 following its three-event season that year. The league reported more than $40 million in debts against less than $2 million in revenue. On Monday, a creditors' committee comprising three vendors—broadcast company Momentum-CHP Partnership (owed about $3 million), graphics firm Girraphic Park ($690,000), and former PR firm SRK Strategies ($248,000)—filed for approval to pursue a $25 million lawsuit against Johnson, Winners Alliance, and several executives.
The filing accuses Johnson of fraud, specifically citing a $500,000 payment he made to himself in early June 2025, shortly after the Philadelphia event and before canceling the Los Angeles event, without proper board approval. "Shockingly, Mr. Johnson elected to secretly prefer himself over the athletes and other, non-insider creditors," the creditors stated. They also challenged Johnson's claims of personal investment, noting a lack of documentation for promised repayments totaling over $2.2 million.
Winners Alliance, the commercial arm of the Professional Tennis Players Association and the league's primary backer, faces allegations of failing to deliver on commitments. According to the filing, a September 2023 term sheet promised funding for diligence and scaling, including a $25 million line of credit that was reduced to $6 million. The league announced $30 million in funding in June 2024, but only $13 million was provided. Internal projections foresaw $14.5 million in 2025 revenue against $27 million in losses, with profitability not expected until 2027. Despite this, Winners Alliance allegedly instructed the league to proceed with events amid deepening insolvency and later offered vendors settlements as low as 7-8% of owed amounts.
Defendants in the proposed suit include Johnson, Winners Alliance executives Vivek Khanna, Ahmad Nassar, and Eric Winston, as well as league COO Steve Gera and board member Robert Smith. The league's bankruptcy plan proposes repaying athletes about 85% of their claims—totaling $6 million of $7 million owed, including $350,000 to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and $250,000 to Gabby Thomas—while creditors would receive just 1.5%. Grand Slam dismissed the creditors' objections as "reeks of desperation," and Winners Alliance defended its actions as conducted "in good faith," rejecting claims of control over the league.
The creditors' committee described the league's handling as showing "shocking levels of incompetence, bad faith, self-dealing and failures to fulfill its fiduciary duty." A hearing before the judge is set for Thursday, where the dispute could impact athlete repayments and prolong the bankruptcy process.
