ORLANDO, Fla. – America's Athletic Classic has been named as one of 17 stops on the inaugural USATF Tour coming next year, the USA Track & Field announced last week.
 
Professional events at the 116th Drake Relays will serve as the fifth event on the USATF Tour schedule on Saturday, April 25. Tour administration developed the schedule to maximize athlete performance and provide unique competition opportunities for various disciples in the World Athletics ranking system.
 
"We are excited and eager for another iteration of America's Athletic Classic," Franklin P. Johnson Drake Relays Director Blake Boldon said. "The best collegians in the country will have the chance to compete alongside the world's premier athletes and continue the storied tradition of the Drake Relays."
 
The Tour schedule will get underway on March 28 at The Ten in San Juan Capistrano, California and conclude with a double-header, the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis, Tennessee and Sunset Tour in Los Angeles, California.
 
Other historic meets like Mt. SAC (April 18) and the Penn Relays (Apr. 25) also occupy positions on the Tour calendar.
 
As part of the collaboration, USATF will provide all costs associated with drug testing, technical delegates, sanctioning, and insurance. It will prioritize Tour meets when allocating travel funding for tiered athletes and supplement the costs of any additional disciplines to the program if needed. USATF will also support the meets with marketing and media coverage of everything from ticket sales to performance highlights. It also announced today that it will award $50,000 in prize money to the male and female athlete who earn the highest number of World Athletics performance points in their three highest scoring competitions during the series.
 
While most events will be broadcast live on USATF.tv, events with existing broadcast agreements will remain on those platforms. Ticket, broadcast, and entry information for all meets can be found here.