The other thing that you're neglecting to mention is that there are three Ironman races on the same day as IMLP, and Lake Placid has the smallest prize purse of any of them. If you were an IM pro whose first concern was prize money, why would you choose IMLP over IM Canada?
Let's compare apples to apples. The total prize purse for all IM and IM 70.3 events is vastly more than the total prize purse for all ITU events. Yet I constantly hear about how well paid ITU athletes are. The fact is that winning IM Kona pays four times as much as winning the ITU Grand Final. Finishing second or third at IM Kona still pays more than winning the ITU Grand Final. The WTC prize purse is spread out over 49 events, which means that each individual event is going to pay less than if that prize purse was concentrated over 10 or so events. It also means that the pro talent at each event is significantly watered down.
The obvious solution is to concentrate the total prize purse into fewer events, but that would probably mean that the lower tier pros would take home even less prize money than they do now.
Let's compare apples to apples. The total prize purse for all IM and IM 70.3 events is vastly more than the total prize purse for all ITU events. Yet I constantly hear about how well paid ITU athletes are. The fact is that winning IM Kona pays four times as much as winning the ITU Grand Final. Finishing second or third at IM Kona still pays more than winning the ITU Grand Final. The WTC prize purse is spread out over 49 events, which means that each individual event is going to pay less than if that prize purse was concentrated over 10 or so events. It also means that the pro talent at each event is significantly watered down.
The obvious solution is to concentrate the total prize purse into fewer events, but that would probably mean that the lower tier pros would take home even less prize money than they do now.