Miramar, Florida - The homestead of the track is a familiar place for American sprint legend Michael Johnson. That's where he broke nine world records. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he evacuated two of the four Olympic golds from the competition.

Now, near Miami, he can reflect on his new mission: creating his first professional league for Olympic track and field stars.

"I take a step back every now and then, 'Yes, this looks really good. It's exactly what we want and how I envision it.'" Johnson said.

“In a sport, you have the fastest people in the world, and they don’t have a chance to prove it, but every four years,” he told NBC News. “So the orbit of the Grand Slam offers this opportunity for the best people on Earth to compete and compete with each other and fans are the beneficiaries.”

The Grand Slam track is titled with household names, such as the two-time Olympic 400-meter hurdles gold medalist and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and three-time Paris Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas.

"I don't have their place. My goodness is that I've had the Olympics in the United States and being able to build a brand and spend time at the Olympics," Johnson explained.

Unlike other professional track and field competitions, the Grand Slam Track is signing athletes to compete throughout the season: eight out of four games a year. It was held for the first time in Kingston, Jamaica last month. The other two were arranged in Philadelphia and Los Angeles after the game this weekend.

"Now, you have the opportunity to build yourself between these games and prove that I am one of the best in the world because I am part of the best league in the world," Johnson said.

Following the Olympic cycle of pandemic and condensation, running is prosperous. The 2024 New York City Marathon broke the Finaler’s record: 55,646. The next two biggest ones were also in Berlin and Paris last year.

The Grand Slam track and the investors behind it are betting. The alliance said it has received more than $30 million in financing from investors and strategic partners. More than $12 million will go to athlete bonuses, with winners of each event having a bonus of $100,000 – the most important thing to guarantee a contract salary

The stars are following the money.

The league's inaugural season has more than 30 medal winners from the Paris Olympics, who are expected to compete in every game.

Thomas told NBC News that for athletes like her, the bonus represents “the first time you can play in the regular season and make our value a reality.”

While some track stars are guaranteed to pay and pay every time they meet, other athletes will be invited to specific parties.

He qualified for the Olympic Trial while working at Walmart last year for Dylan Beard, who won the biggest payday of his career in the Prime Minister’s event in Jamaica, and he ranked second in his event panel.

"It means a lot to athletes who don't have the contract and sponsorship that they can bring over the years, and it requires us to do part-time or part-time jobs," Beard said.

For Johnson, it was to pay the racer to race.

“No one has made Gabby Thomas or any other track and field athlete a racer,” he said. “It’s like a basketball player being signed to play basketball. Football players contract with football players.”

To keep the audience engaged, Johnson’s league prioritized head-to-head races, with athletes racing in six event groups, each racing twice in each Grand Slam, while the winner was determined by their overall score.

Not every Olympic Games represent it. That didn't keep us away from our heptathlon champion Anna Hall, who stepped into a 400-meter hurdle in the latest Grand Slam.

"I'm just blessed to be honest, I'm afraid to miss it," she told NBC News before the game. "I know there aren't multiple ones here, but I want to find something to play and line up, so I'm glad to be included."

The rising star of the sport called it “an opportunity that needs and earns for a long time.”

The key to Johnson’s approach is to celebrate elite performers like them. Before the first day of the party, the racers were named after the red corpet-style "Drip Check" (after Drip Water).

Then some stars sit on the panel with their competitors and throw off their gloves before stepping onto the track, building the storyline and raising the stakes.

"It's so good for the sport. To get that kind of attention," Thomas said. "Coverage is what we need, and we're celebrating athletes and showing off our personality, which is big."

Still, not every star of Team USA joins in the league. Gold medalists including Noah Lyles and Sha'Carri Richardson.

Johnson is confident that it's just a matter of time to stay.

“That’s what the sport has evolved,” he said. “So, you know, we’re going here, we’re not going anywhere.”