Grand Slam Track, the new professional track league spearheaded by Michael Johnson, has shifted its schedule for its upcoming meet in Philadelphia from three days of racing to two.

The league launched with two meets in Kingson (April 4-6) and Miami (May 2-4), each taking place over three days. The three-day format allowed for some athletes, like the long distance competitors, to have a day of rest between their two events.

The Philadelphia Slam will still take place at Franklin Field, but only on May 31st and June 1st.

Here’s what you need to know:

– The broadcast window for Saturday will still be 4-7 p.m. E.T. and Sunday will still be 3-6 p.m. E.T. to accommodate what is now 11 races each day of competition. Athletes will still double. However, with the consolidation of the Slam schedule into two days, GST is also doing away with the 5000m for both the men and women’s long distance groups.

– Because Long Distance athletes in those groups are now only racing once in the 3000m, their potential prize purses have been halved. The winner of the men’s and women’s 3000m races will each win $50,000.

– The league issued the following statement from commissioner Michael Johnson:

“Coming off an amazing sold-out Miami Slam, we’ve taken time to celebrate the successes we’ve achieved in our inaugural season, but also have looked for ways to improve Grand Slam Track in real time.

“We’ve said all along we want to listen to our fans, athletes, and coaches, and having heard feedback from various key stakeholders, we’ve made the decision to condense our schedule in Philadelphia into two, high-octane, and intense days of combat racing. We want to be the most flexible, adaptive, and fan-first league in sports, and we believe making these changes will improve the Grand Slam Track experience for all.”

– Tickets for Philadelphia and Los Angeles remain on sale here. Fans who had already purchased single tickets for the Friday session will be refunded, League organizers said.

Here are a few quick takeaways from the news:

The League Is Receptive To Feedback

One of the first things Johnson did after the Kingston Slam was to open up his Twitter mentions to feedback from the fans on what the league could do to improve in its first year. (A bold move when Twitter can be an absolute cesspool at times!)

Scrolling through some of the 500 responses, there were some fair suggestions about the long-ish time between events, the need for more graphics/splits, and other smaller actionable tweaks. (As for the many requests for the inclusion of field events…I don’t think that’s happening.) And as a result, some slight changes to the in-stadium experience and broadcast were made from Kingston to Miami. There will likely be more between Miami and Philadelphia, and then again between Philadelphia and Los Angeles. You have to commend the league for being malleable in its first year. The concept works. The product will continue to be fine-tuned and will unsurprisingly look different between Year 1 and Year 2 and certainly beyond that.

It’s Unfortunate News For Grant Fisher’s Bank Account

Grant Fisher, the double Olympic bronze medalist, has won the first two Slams and has pocketed $200,000 in prize money. With the elimination of the 5000m, the maximum he will be able to earn at the next Slam is now cut in half. The long distance group is one where Johnson already hinted at potential adjustments to improve the quality of racing. If these guys have been running the 5000m in 14:39.14 in Kingston and 13:40.32 in Miami with a day of rest before or after a 3000m, imagine how much slower the men would consider going knowing they have to go back-to-back in Philadelphia.

On the women’s side, Agnes Ngetich, who has earned $150,000 in prize money with her runner-up finish in Kingston and the Miami Slam title, also probably won’t earn as much prize money as she may have anticipated, particularly given her strength at longer distances. However, this change could come as good news for Racers Elise Cranny Nozomi Tanaka who haven’t fared as well with the double and finished in the back half of the standings. Cranny was sixth in Kingston and eighth in Miami; Tanaka was eighth in Kingston, seventh in Miami. Having one race to focus on could bode better for them.

Here's the schedule of events...

Day 1 | Saturday, May 31:

• 4:39 p.m. ET – Women’s Long Hurdles 400m hurdles
• 4:48 p.m. ET – Men’s Long Hurdles 400m hurdles
• 4:57 p.m. ET – Men’s Short Distance 800m
• 5:07 p.m. ET – Men’s Short Sprints 200m
• 5:16 p.m. ET – Women’s Short Sprints 200m
• 5:25 p.m. ET – Women’s Long Distance 3000m
• 5:42 p.m. ET – Women’s Long Sprints 400m
• 5:51 p.m. ET – Men’s Long Sprints 400m
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Women’s Short Distance 1500m
• 6:13 p.m. ET – Men’s Short Hurdles 110m hurdles
• 6:22 p.m. ET – Women’s Short Hurdles 100m hurdles

Day 2 | Sunday, June 1:

• 3:41 p.m. ET – Men’s Long Hurdles 400m
• 3:50 p.m. ET – Women’s Long Hurdles 400m
• 3:59 p.m. ET – Women’s Short Distance 800m
• 4:09 p.m. ET – Men’s Short Hurdles 100m
• 4:18 p.m. ET – Women’s Short Hurdles 100m
• 4:27 p.m. ET – Men’s Long Distance 3000m
• 4:43 p.m. ET – Women’s Long Sprints 200m
• 4:52 p.m. ET – Men’s Long Sprints 200m
• 5:01 p.m. ET – Men’s Short Distance 1500m
• 5:13 p.m. ET – Women’s Short Sprints 100m
• 5:22 p.m. ET – Men’s Short Sprints 100m

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