World champion decries ‘crazy’ athletics prize money – and backs Michael Johnson’s breakaway league
World champion Josh Kerr has hit out over a “crazy” lack of prize money for winning a world athletics title and backed the “ruckus” of Michael Johnson’s proposals for a lucrative new competition.
Kerr won $40,000 (£31,500) for his storming victory at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow on Saturday to add to the $70,000 (£55,200) he got last summer for winning the blue riband world outdoor 1,500m crown in Budapest.
It puts his prize money at £86,700 for becoming a double world champion – less than half what the darts player Luke Littler received for reaching the world final at Alexandra Palace earlier this year and less than the average Premier League footballer earns in a fortnight.
World Athletics offer special bonuses for world records at major championships – Femke Bol and Tobi Amusan both boosted their weekend earnings in Scotland by $50,000 (£39,450) - and prize money in athletics must of course be spread across numerous different events.
The total prize money at the World Championships last summer was $8.5 million (£6.7 million) and leading athletes can also command big appearances fees at Diamond League events.
Kerr has suggested a revamp to athletics’ traditional 15-date Diamond League so the best athletes are financially incentivised to race head-to-head. He is also excited by Johnson’s intervention and open-minded on the prospect of Saudi Arabia getting involved in the sport.
“I’ve always gone with the idea that it would be cool to sign athletes to a league,” said Kerr. “If you could sign someone to a Diamond League, and have 12 guys race each other three times, I think that would be a situation where guys would start to think that financially it would make a lot more sense for them to worry more about the league than they would about a World Championship.
“It was $40,000 (£31,500) to win on Saturday – that seems crazy versus other sports. Think about winning a World Championship. We need to bring some validity to these championships. We are very lucky to have the likes of Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway, and Femke Bol – amazing athletes who come here and do their job – but those numbers are lower than appearance fees now for athletes of that caliber.
“We’ve got to find ways to attract athletes to race more and to race head-to-head more. The way to do that is to pay athletes good money to race a series of events.”
Asked if he would run in Saudi Arabia, Kerr said: “We are walking a fine line with some of the LIV Golf stuff. But if people want to come and invest money in the sport, then I think it is needed. I do think World Athletics are doing what they can to interest investors and try and bring some more eyeballs. We have another Olympic Games to try and bring the viewership up, bring the sponsorships in.”
Johnson announced a partnership last week with the company Winners Alliance to create a new track league in 2025 and there are reports that a seven-figure sum has already been committed for the venture.
“He [Johnson] has a large voice on the scene and wants to make a bit of a ruckus and that sounds great to me,” said Kerr. “From an athletes’ point of view, it’s going to give us options and options is what we are looking for to make a living and also show off our performances.”
Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, said that Johnson and his team were one of several potential investors that had been holding talks with the governing body.
World Athletics also plans to innovate with their season-ending ‘made for television’ event in 2026 when there are no Olympic Games or World Championships.
“It doesn’t surprise me that athletics is an attractive proposition,” said Coe. “I welcome innovation. I also welcome external resources. If you’ve got a rising tide, everyone benefits. It’s better than eight years ago. There are only two global sports – one is football, the other is track and field. We will come out of Paris as the number one Olympic sport.”
