Team-Based League in Track and Field Coming in 2026: Could This Be the Future of Professional Athletics?
31 MAY 2025 - NEW YORK
ATHLOS, the first women-only track event funded by Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit and husband to tennis legend Serena Williams, just announced a team-based track and field league with an athlete-advisor ownership model. Here’s a breakdown of what we know:
ATHLOS will showcase their team-based league model in multiple events taking place after the World Athletics season concludes in 2026. Given last year’s cash prize totaled to over $600,000, it’s safe to assume the cash prize will increase for teams competing.
As part of the athlete-first movement of ATHLOS, Olympic gold medalists Sha’Carri Richardson, Tara Davis-Woodhall, and Gabby Thomas will serve as athlete-owners in this new league.
Before transitioning to the team-based model, the ATHLOS will return to Icahn Stadium in New York City on October 10th, a few weeks after the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in mid-late September. Davis-Woodhall is set to headline the inaugural long jump event. The 2025 lineup also includes Gabby Thomas, Masai Russel, Marileidy Paulino, Brittany Brown, Jasmine Comacho-Quinn, Jasmine Moore, Natoya Goule-Toppin, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, and Amber Anning. It has not been confirmed whether Richardson will compete, given her focus is on her ownership status with ATHLOS. The cash prize still remains large, with first place walking away with $60K and a sterling silver crown courtesy of Tiffany Co.
Upon reading numerous responses of this announcement, a commenter on Tess DeMeyer’s post about this announcement on the NY Times: The Athletic wrote the following:
“Nobody within the sport seems to grasp that what American fans are drawn to are the uniforms. The athletes at the NCAA championships each represent a university everyone’s heard of and relates to in some way. Those at the Olympics or world championships represent a country. You don’t have to know who the athlete is to latch onto them… Track and field has many incredible athletes, but people in the sport overestimate how many of them can attract a crowd…Put any of these athletes in a USA uniform, though, and they become instantly more relatable.”
-Didier M.
It raises the question of “how do we make track and field more spectator-friendly?”. One could infer that relatability may be the missing link and an answer to a lot of questions when it comes to viewership in individual sports. In team sports, fans are invested in the identities that are bigger than the athletes themselves, such as school name and geographical location, because they already have an emotional connection built-in with their loyalty. With that in mind, I am curious on how teams will be established in the all-new ATHLOS league. Could it be by region? Or could it be where the three athlete-owners (Richardson, Thomas, Davis-Woodhall) select athletes to compete for them? More information is expected to be presented soon.
Overall, the ATHLOS team-based competition in 2026 is heavily anticipated and a momentous step forward toward bringing more viewership to track and field. Given the high-energy response from fans, I have a feeling this could be the spark that transforms track and field into a sport that is popular year-round—not just every four years.