I don't think there is a good answer here. People will pay what they will pay. I don't but some people seem to think it is ok to spend a ton on a certain race. I guess we have different ideas what a race experience is worth. Some are buying an experience. We used to pay $20 for a century ride, now it is a Grand Fondo and it gets a couple hundred.
I still blame the movie Bucket List for driving up the demand on some events. I would guess the Hawaii Ironman would fill at $5,000 or more a pop if you didn't have to qualify. I know most of my friends bitched that "ironman" (there was only one at the time) was a whole $100 when it moved to the Big Island. That did seem like a lot of money then.
I know the market will get what it gets, always does. Just like anything else some peoples treasure doesn't mean much to someone else. I still always liked the Mom and Pop events more than the big time ones. I still laugh and have fond memories of some races I have done on a local level with sort of sketchy logistics. Like we did a 10k run that was a straight out race. Ran to the RDs car parked in a cane field finish. Then after a few beers from the RDs trunk, we figured out we were exactly 10 k from our car with only our feet to get us home.
I suppose the bottom line it is only money we complain about. 1st world problems, that one is.

Even though I’m not broke, (I’d consider myself in the middle class) entry fees are the sole reason I quit triathlon. It just got out of hand and was not worth it.

I still remember and miss the good old days when we could race venues like Vineman 70.3 for $250 or less.

That said, marathons like NYC are $300 now, so there’s that..

If people stop paying the fees, they will start coming down.

The end.

Same here. Not sure what is driving prices, does not seem to be demand as there are many races without full fields and they are taking longer to fill up.

Organisers always say they make nothing, so assume it is regulation. Races while not always loved by locals tend to bring a lot of activity for a week where there would otherwise be little economic activity. Residents tend to get upset at road closures.

Either way there are people choosing to do other low cost or no cost events, bike races, local run races, park runs or just competitive local bunch rides. Triathlon could consider this as more and more of us choose not to put our dollars into these high price events

In sweden we only have one im-distance and that is ironman Kalmar. The reason i have not done it yet is the entry fee. There are several non im-branded 70.3 races here that cost about 150$ and that is where i think the limit should be...

I've signed up for all my 2018 races in advance. Here's what I paid:

Local Sprint $60
Rev 3 Quassy Olympic $173
IM 70.3 Lake Placid $307

I consider the last 2 "marquee" races, so I'm ok to pay more for those. There are other olys and halfs in the New England area for less money.

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

I agree with some of what you're saying re how differently various people value experiences.

Wanted to add, I'm not against all point to point races or those with quirks. I guess it's a combo of understanding the full logistical challenges ahead of time and how my undies are sitting at the moment if I didn't have that understanding - whether in a twist or not.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

very important topic, as a younger athlete registration fees are very important in terms of which races i go for each year.

with so many races out there, i think it's tough to assign a ceiling price to a race based on distance. i agree that on paper, over 100 for a sprint race is steep, but last year i finally bit the bullet and did escape the cape sprint in NJ...if you arent familiar with it, swim starts with jump off the cape may-lewes ferry. registration for the sprint was around 180 i think...but was it worth it? YES. best race experience i've had in a good 2 or 3 years. if youre reading this and considered that race and bailed for any reason - go for it and don't look back.

as it appears that most races don't make a boatload of money, and it's a matter of overhead costs for the most part, it is just a matter of each person determining whether the reg fee is worth the experience.

fun game: dream up your perfect sprint race. mine would be within driving distance from a place i could stay for free (my house, friend/family home) a swim in a perfectly clear, clean, calm lake, rolling hills bike on closed freshly paved roads with decent scenery, and a mostly or perfectly flat trail run (and on a SATURDAY! why aren't more races on SATURDAY??). would i pay 200 for a sprint race like that? 300 if it were an oly? i think i might.

but i bet we can all think of sprint races that we wouldnt pay more than 60 for. and those races have their place as well, don't get me wrong i love a good small local sprint - but its a matter of weighing the experience of each race and deciding whether you'd pay.

I use to be an avid racer, every weekend if I could find a race within a couple of hours. If not I would just do a 10k, or 5k if that was the only thing. Then I noticed two things; prices going up to ridiculous levels, and races disappearing. First it was the duathlons that started becoming a rarity. Then the sprint tris started disappearing. In addition, local 5ks started to be priced at unimaginable levels; $75 for a pink ribbon 5k, $75 for a 5k to support fresh water in a third world country (noble causes, but didn't attract many participants). Add on the USAT membership or event fees, the extra charges for online registration, the additional charge for a dri-fit t-shirt (ok for that one), and it just becomes too expensive to do more than a handful of races.

The entry fee for the NYC marathon is $295, so that entry fee doesn't seem that outrageous in comparison. I'd much rather do a five-borough marathon in NYC than a tri in NYC so I would pay the marathon entry fee but not the tri entry fee.

Entry fees are seriously hurting the sport, no doubt about it. Compared to other endurance sports it's so much more expensive ! When you factor in equipment pool registration it really narrow the potential entrants. The fact most races are for profit organisation is not doing any good, which in my opinion shows the limit of capitalist ventures in sport when they predate traditional associative structures.

I think the extra costs to even train for triathlon added to the costs of a race make it even worse. For running all you need is some clothes and shoes so very cheap to get into so even a $250 race fee isn't terrible considering you also don't need to spend any money to ship your bike/bring it on the plane. For triathlon you need a bike (any bike but still a cost), a pool to train in, then added running stuff on top of the crazy entry fee makes it way less appealing to do.

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This assumes that there is room for margins compression. If the margins are razor thin and there is no support from the gov't budget (ie tax breaks, etc), the event will simply fold and the capital will be redeployed somewhere else.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Then explain to me how association can pull moutain bike races for 10$ or even 130km sportive for 40$ here in france and then you could not have an ironman below 600$ because margins are too thin ? When they use so many volunteers ? Margins are very good or management is very bad. Already non branded IM are half that price, but most get bought by IM or another private race organisator at some point and fees rocket up.

do you swim and run a marathon during your $10 mtn bike race? does it get run with a consistent branding and merchandising on several continents? does it invite pro athletes? does it have a sizable media relations staff? etc.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I get that it's more complicated to run a long distance triathlon and i'm ready to pay multiple time the price for that. The problem is the lack of alternatives less "pro" less "branded" organisation but with reachable prices. In the end in long distance triathlon there are not many alternatives and there are very expensive.
In the end actual prices are simply too steep for most.

I think that I agree with the prices being too steep. It does reduce the competitiveness of the races. I did read that they run some races at a slight loss - like Kona etc.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I pay 75-100 for and olympic and 150-200 for a half from the local race directors. Then I will pick one race that I really want and register early for that and hopefully keep the cost as low as I can. This is just a hobby. I can't justify dropping $1000 just on race fees. Better to spend that on a family vacation and keep my wife happy. Then, I can continue to train.

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/23685202

I'm not sure I'd pay over $75 for a sprint. I pay ~ $150 for a 5 race local sprint series. That's a special one day deal on the day of the last race of the year. It's a no frills race but well run and fun. I might go as high as $150 for an olympic but prefer closer to $100. Half distance and full distance are tough as I understand it's hard for race organizers to manage a course and pay the fees required to keep roads closed or at least paying police to direct traffic for the length of those races. So for those I can understand the higher price. I just try to create a budget for my race year. Then look at the races. Prioritize them. Then see what I can afford. Last year I had an expensive year with an IM so this year I won't be doing any big expensive races.

I haven't paid more than $60ish for a Sprint here in Arizona. There was one recently where 6 months out the fee was $100...no way dude. I paid $120 for LifeTime Tempe and paid $370 for this upcoming NYCTri...painful, but my GF qualified for the Championship race. And we are traveling to it of course.

$115 (only because I forgot to pay $105) for the local race called CactusMan...basically the same course as LifeTime Tempe.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Parris Island sprint triathlon this year in South Carolina: $60. Good race. For an extra fee, maybe they'll get a drill sergeant to belittle you as you exit the swim. (That would probably be money well spent for me.)

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Michael

Parris Island ~ and if you're a first time triathlete, you can race for free...how bout that for building the sport!!

It all depends on where you are as to what is reasonable. Racing in a larger metropolitan area tend to be more expensive as you have less available space and more traffic (requires more personnel), driving up the prices. And then you have what is the expected cost, which tend to be higher in metropolitan areas, simply races are accepting a higher cost.

I would say $100 for a sprint is about my pain point. Above that and it better be something very special (a destination race for example could entice me to pay more). I wouldn't pay more than about $150 for an Oly. Forget 1/2 and IM... not my racing.

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"Suddenly the thought struck me. My floor is someone elses ceiling"-Nils Ferlin

Dus only, so pickings slim:

Sprint up to $80 no problem
Oly up to $100 no problem

There are $120 Olys up here, I've got to talk myself into them