Athlos Will Still Pay $75K Stadium Deposit After Cancelling NYC Track Meet

The Women's track league Athlos canceled its third annual New York City event last week, yet it intends to pay a $75,000 stadium deposit for the venue. Despite the cancellation of the Oct. 2 event, Athlos is still obligated to pay $175,000 in deposits and fees as per its contract. The contract, revealed by Front Office Sports, clearly states that the deposit remains unpaid even after cancellation.

The Icahn Stadium in Randall's Island Park Alliance, a 5,000-seat stadium on New York City parkland, will receive the $75,000 deposit from Athlos. Ohanian’s company Seven Seven Six, a spokesperson, assured FOS that they will uphold all contractual obligations related to New York. Athlos, founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2024, has held events at this site each of the past two autumns, as well as a long jump event in Times Square last year.

Ohanian announced the cancellation of the event on social media, citing the challenging timing within the track calendar and promising to reschedule for athletes in the future. The league will still hold its Sept. 18 event in London, its first outside of New York. Ohanian stated that the decision was based on feedback from athletes, who found the timing to be the hardest possible place to ask them to perform at their best after a full season.

Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams and owns part of Chelsea's women's team and Angel City FC, highlighted that Athlos plans to launch a team concept and has already announced its return to New York in 2027 along with other events.