i think we're also talking gross revenue here and need to factor high expenses. \\


As in m most pro sports, the rich ususally get richer. The top people most often get all their expenses paid, either by the race director, or a sponsor. The ITU people get their expenses paid if they place high in the previous race, so the fastest continue to get the perks.. I never paid my way to any race for 15 years, and often got some money just to show up. It's the 2nd tier pros that have to pay some/all of their expenses, and of course they are the least likley to be able to afford it. It is a tough life if you are in it for the money, but a great life if you want to do something that so few get to do, and most others can only dream about. And when we talk about anybodys salaries, isn't it always about the gross? WHen Tiger woods gets 5 mil for winning an event, we don't think, let's back out his agent fee, meal money, tips for the caddy, parking ticket for his big car, ect???

Most cycling and triathlon pros do not make a lot of money, there are only a few ones who do quite well.

The money in triathlon drops off extraordinarily quickly from the top. The people right at the top do well to very well. I posted this up in another similar thread recently. It's worth putting here as well.

Let's look at the top pro long distance women in Canada. I know this group well. They all have impressive resumes. They have all either won IM races or placed in the top 5 of IM one or more times. They have all gone under 9:40. They have all qaulified for the IM World Championships at one time or another. The #1 woman does very well. I am sure that she makes very good money. Covers her costs and has a bit left over to save for the future. She is well known and does a great job at what she does and is worth all of that money to her sponsors. Go down to the 5th ranked long distance Pro in the Country and, I know that she made a grand total of a couple hundred dollars last year from her Tri racing and her Bike road racing. That's it. She works full time running her own Hair Design business. So there's the range over just 5 women, a few places and 20 odd minutes on the race course in an IM if they were all racing head-to-head.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

My intent is not to steal your thread, but one of the strange sport features of triathlon is that MANY age groupers make far more than even the best of pros and do it year after year for long careers ... often after completing a good education. No problem with the entry fees, travel,etc. The average earnings of ironman finishers has always been interesting discussion.
If you truly love triathlon, complete a good professional education and compete as an age grouper!;p
Dave

yeah but if your goal is to WIN tri's, you need to do the opposite. you don't go pro for the money

What's the difference between a pizza and a pro triathlete?

A pizza can feed a family of four.

:)

Jot

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if i'm wrong, just let me know [/reply]

Yep you are wrong.

Why is it that on ST we always have the 'experts' that just know it all. Does not matter what the subject is they know better. Do you not think the Monty knows what he is talking about. He did after all race pro for many years and has an insiders perspective to current events.

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Andrew

http://www.theyogapod.com

i used to be a windsurfer. windsurfing/triathlon are similar sports that require lots of money that don't offer lots of money to pros.

many "pro" windsurfers are trustafarians which gives an illusion of high payout from earnings/sponsorships due to their privileged lifestyles. i would imagine triathlon is the same. rich trustfunders with no visable means of support.

Yes gregX you are wrong, there is a few pro making over 500k..... not many but a few. I wont name them because i dont have the rights to do so.

I can only share my own story and dont really care for people to know some numbers. There is pro athlete like top hawaii guys that are doing well. And there is also a lower level like me that will place top 10 at ironman and win a few half ironman and some national races. This is where most of us are acutally and where the struggle is.

For someone like me, including housing, food, gas, car insurrance, traveling, equippement, registration, medical, physio, chiro, and anything that keep me alive and going for a full year....

2001-2005 about 15 000 a year of expense and very small revenu from teaching, coaching, some races but mostly borrowing money from others....
2006 17 500$ of expense for the year about 2000$ in race revenu and sponsorship together. the rest is loan, credit card, parents, friends......
2007 17 000$ of expense for the year about 14 200 in revenu. still losing money but a bit less..... very encouraging...

so i m off course in det.... i own a lot...... it s not easy to live on 17 000 a year. I havent had a place that i can call home for the past 30 months. I m at a point where i do hope to find the support to make it another 2 years in this sport so i can reach a level of making money and be viable and independente. I push the limits pretty far as to making it to here... and dont have much left. But as for now, this is my reality and i will keep living as cheap as i can and see if i can survive another 24 months that is necessary to make it to the pro level....

But with all this, i still consider myself very lucky and bless to be doing this.... i m living a dream and wont complain of the financial aspect as i definitly dont make it for money but it would be nice to be able to afford a place that i could call home!

now, this is a exemple of the level of athlete like me that is racing pro but dosnt live from the sport. Of course, there is a lot of ITU and ironman athelte that over the years have made it to a comfortable living situation.

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
Instargram

Macca races a lot almost year round and usually just the bigger races. When's the last time you saw him out of the money? He also owns a bike shop at home in Australia. I'm sure he clears over 500G's with race earnings, sponsors, and secondary income. I think the Deboom's do pretty well together, the Bennett's do. Chris Lieto does some part time real estate on the side I think. I'm sure some of these guys are doing ok. (Anyone you consistently see in the top 10 at any distance that races a lot) There are way more that are just scraping buy though.

Nice post. I think a lot of people think that if you do well at a few big races that sponsors/money starts to come your way. That is not the case. Your situation really shows that you love the sport and are very dedicated. I think this is the year you start to break through and end up on the positive side $wise.

Mike

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http://www.MikeCaiazzo.com
http://www.USProTri.com

Is that "EVEN IN US Dollars" ?

What the hell is that supposed to mean Chuck ?

Just in case your off the beaten path. Dresdner Kleinwort Benson is German and the currency denomination in Germany is the Euro which at the present moment is 1.4625/28 ( Singapore time 09.29 Friday morning ). This is the global interbank spot price.

Meaning that a "Usd$" denominated contract would be worth LESS than a "Euro" based" contract.

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn

Quote:

How much do the pro's really bring in with race winnings, sponsors, etc. ?

Craig Alexander owns a million dollar house in Sydney. He must be doing alright.

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Is that "EVEN IN US Dollars" ?

What the hell is that supposed to mean Chuck ?

Just in case your off the beaten path. Dresdner Kleinwort Benson is German and the currency denomination in Germany is the Euro which at the present moment is 1.4625/28 ( Singapore time 09.29 Friday morning ). This is the global interbank spot price.

Meaning that a "Usd$" denominated contract would be worth LESS than a "Euro" based" contract. [/reply]

settle down there junior Einstein, it was just a point of conversation, I didn't even say it was one way or the other. point is, all kinds of rumor crap floats around, without any details whatsoever (ST style)

Aside: I told this joke to my (non-triathlete) girlfriend just now, and her response was, "umm... aerodynamics?"

Hehe.

Something that I don't think has been brought up:

Wouldn't it make more sense for a struggling professional to seek out the smaller, more local events, win them, and then do it again next week? I would imagine that even an Ironman specialist could easily win the Hicksville, Indiana Sprint Triathlon and net a few hundred in prize money.

Is this something that professional triathletes ever do? Or does the travel, training and sponsorship restrictions, and time away from home preclude this option, limiting the top-tier pros to competing in a smaller number of high-profile races per season?

Craig Alexander owns a million dollar house in Sydney.

As I said, the ones at the very top are doing well to very well. However, I bet there were guys in the top 10 at IMH who finished just minutes and a few places back of Alexander that are just scraping by.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

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Something that I don't think has been brought up:

Wouldn't it make more sense for a struggling professional to seek out the smaller, more local events, win them, and then do it again next week? I would imagine that even an Ironman specialist could easily win the Hicksville, Indiana Sprint Triathlon and net a few hundred in prize money.

Is this something that professional triathletes ever do? Or does the travel, training and sponsorship restrictions, and time away from home preclude this option, limiting the top-tier pros to competing in a smaller number of high-profile races per season? [/reply]

unfortunately the majority of them don't have prize money, and it doesn't really build your results resume to win small local races in Hicksville, IN (hey, i was born there!)

Oh, you're definitely right about that--most races don't have much or any prize money. But I've done a few larger local races where the overall winner did end up netting a few hundred bucks, so maybe they could cherry-pick the few more lucrative local events that do have prize money?

    
No Mortgage
No rent or low rent (live at home w parents/with friends)
No Kids
Groceries cost $250 a month (Wal-Mart)
No cell phone
Don't go out
Don't do anything
Don't own anything
Stay at homestay or with family in hotel
Comped Entry Fees

Payed by your country (other countries pay long distance guys)
Make $ selling old equipment
Online coaching
Work Part Time
Prize Money
Sponsorship Salary
Sponsorship Bonuses



Then eventually you give it up for real life, or it becomes real life and you get fast enough to call it your Job.

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Ruble Triathlon Coaching Average of 30 coached PR's per year
Florida Triathlon Camps Train in North Americas winter training destination
Ruble Racing Events Midwest Triathlon Racing
Ruble Timing Midwest Event Timing

"Junior Einstein" , I kinda like that :)....unfortunately I'm not even in the junior league !

"Even in USD$" , brought me to that conclusion.

It just brought to mind , that the general thought pattern in the US ( as well as elsewhere ) , is that the Greenback is the underlying staple currency , due to economic strength , rather than convenience.

Historically, in the 60's and 70's , it was the case. Now ,the Greenback ,is being used less and less as the currency staple and convenience , with the shift to the Euro , Sterling and Yen being the preferred common denominator. Although , iw ould tend to think in the "America's" it will still be the preference.

Anyway, did not mean any offence , just to throw in my 2 cents :)

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn

In the seven figures for the whole contract!

And that is a 5 year contract! So divide your number by 5 and you get his income from Dresdner Kleinwort. Without bonuses for top results i.e. none in 2007! :-(

These days German newspapers speculate that Faris, Normann and Macca each get € 50.000 ($ 75.000) for their start AND finish at IM Germany 2008. (http://www.fr-online.de/...uell/?em_cnt=1261772)

In a German triathlon forum I once speculated that only a victory in Kona could, if you do good at marketing, perhaps make you financially independent for the rest of you life. Within only a few minutes Normann himself replied to tell me that this is definitely not the case for a German pro. That, by the way, was back 2005 when his second win was still to come.

Make $ selling old equipment

I always heard that it was bad karma to sell off sponsor gear for profit, but I guess you got to do what you dot to do! :)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Well start at $100K with his chkec from Kona and work on from there.

Chrissie Who must be doing pretty well. 2 IMs, 2Im wins and I would guess the two highest paying IMs in 2007 since that Bank added $150K to the purse 6 weeks before the Kore race....um,, round about exactly the same time that Brett Sutton asked CW if she was ready to do an IM. I don't think she's even completed 12 full months as a pro yet!

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TriRaceBook.com
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Hawaii Qualification Analysis

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Macca and Stadler.

It was rumored that Stadler's deal with that investment bank or whatever was 7 figures. [/reply]

In the seven figures for the whole contract!

And that is a 5 year contract! So divide your number by 5 and you get his income from Dresdner Kleinwort. [/reply]
that was my point as well, plus there are team mates included in that figure. not saying it's bad, but it's not like they're paying Norman a million bucks a year or anything as the rumor mill seems to spread ;-)

nope just pointing out that the vast majority of us on here are in the US, so when we're throwing around money rumors might want to convert it to USD so we're comparing apples to apples