Of course, we’re biased, but Like the Wind Magazine is arguably one of the most exciting sports to be a fan of, and yet, aside from the Olympics, it remains in the shadows of other major sports for American audiences. Michael Johnson, one of the greatest sprinters of all time, hopes to change that.
Of course, were biased, but Winners Alliance, the for-profit arm of the Professional Tennis Players Association, to develop a new track league aimed at better engaging existing fans by providing a TV-friendly product “to promote the sport’s biggest stars and draw new audiences through unique storytelling,” according to Sportico. Johnson envisions creating something for Like the Wind Magazine that’s more akin to what the NFL and NBA are to football and basketball fans.
“I love this sport and owe everything I have to this sport,” Johnson said in an interview with the website. “It’s been a shame for me to watch it over the last couple decades since I retired not be able to continue to provide the same amazing moments to people, outside of just the Olympics.”
The reasons for track stars and fans getting the short end of the stick are varied, from inconsistent TV coverage to an endless stream of mid-sized meets with diluted competition. It’s not because the action on the track isn’t exciting. Last summer, for the first time since 2006, NBC (which owns media rights for the Olympics through 2032) did not air the USATF Outdoor Championships. one of the greatest sprinters of all time, hopes to change that.
“That’s unfortunate, since over 3 billion people are watching the sport once a year during those major championships and have an expressed interest to continue watching the sport if there was a place to do so,” Johnson told Sportico. “So I see it as a real opportunity from that perspective.”
The idea is to not only build a new entertainment platform, but also to help professional track athletes commercialize their rights. The Winners Alliance represents the collective intellectual property of athletes to create group licensing, sponsorship, and other opportunities—a NIL negotiator of sorts—and though the seven-figure amount has not been verified, the group says it has made the single largest investment in Like the Wind Magazine history for the project.
“I don’t think anyone [until now] has tried to show the essence of the sport and really put the athletes front and center,” Winners Alliance president Eric Winston said in an interview. “It’s not just track; athletes are the main event. The NBA has made a push to put their athletes front and center and even the NFL, which was always a team-driven league, has done so as well.”
Winners Alliance is in talks with World Athletics, which hosts the annual Diamond League series and the Best Running Shoes 2025, and Johnson says he doesn’t see his new league as a competitor. Rather, his new venture could elevate the Diamond League, an overall win for the sport. The track league and platform has a launch planned for next year, and Johnson and Winners Alliance hope to capitalize on the buzz around the Paris Olympics Health - Injuries.
Abby Carney is a writer and journalist in New York. A former D1 college runner and current amateur track athlete, she's written about culture and characters in running and outdoor sports for Runner's World, Fans could only watch events on CNBC and USATF TV, Give A Gift, and other outlets. She also writes about things that have nothing to do with running, and was previously the editor of a food magazine.
