I would say most "pro's" have to work to pay bills or else they are trust babies. In the end unless the market is making money off of sponsorships then their budget to cary more and more athletes is not valued. It's just the realities of life....

As mentioned, many will have alternative forms of income. For example, Tim Don, who was 2nd at the 70.3 World Championship, coaches:

http://www.timdon.com/coaching.html

If a pro at the pinnacle of long course triathlon needs to supplement his/her income with coaching, that tells the story of how much money is(n't) in triathlon.

I know a couple of the local pros around me also have semi-regular jobs. I would venture to say that most pros probably coach which can be another $200/person/month in income (figure they probably have 10 athletes so $2k/mo) but they also have "regular" jobs. I know for example a couple are dietitians and others do IT or various jobs that allow them to work from home.

Coaching, sponsors, or gasp... they plan their finances a little and save money... same way someone in a seasonal sales position would. For example Realtor, Auto Sales, motorcycle dealer, bicycle shop. Winter is usually a lot leaner.

Pros that get free or heavily discounted gear, will sell a lot of last seasons gear they received from sponsors for some quick cash. I've got a real nice wet suit pretty cheap last season and might try and pick up a swim skin this year. You'll find that many of them will train on cheap box rims and gator skins as you get the most mileage out of them, then have very nice new wheels to sell... plus most don't have wheel sponsors so they need to protect their assets and use them only for races.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

I would consider me more an AG that races pro but i am an civil engineer, so just a regular joe ;)

I assume that there are tons that have a full time/part time jobs

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S�rgio Marques
When it hurts is when it feels good ;-)
Sergio-Marques.com

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Lots of people in lots of different industries do not get regular paychecks. So, whether you are a roofer, real estate agent, farmer, starting short stop for the New York Yankees, or a professional triathlete, you do one of 2 things:

a) match your yearly spending to your yearly income and save the checks you do get so you can spread out your spending through the parts of the year where you don't get paid; or

b) work a second job.

I don't see how there is any money save. You race in some far away land and your winnings are less than your expenses associated with the race, assuming you are even in the money. And then on top of that, the long course guys only race a few times a year. How does that math work?

Can most pros live off of their sponsorship money? I could see the top tier pros but wondering about the 2nd tier and lower.

As I've said a number of times here there is only a very small group of professional triathletes who are making their full amount of income, in what would be considered the professional manner - race winnings and some form of income from sponsors. After that the money drops off precipitously!

As noted - many coach. Others have "other" sorts of jobs in the business, and some even work full-time jobs completely away from the business. At the risk of being sexist, it's popular on the woman's side of things to be supported substantially by your husband or partner.

My wife raced Pro for close to 10-years. A number of top-5 finishes at various IM races around the world. Always worked full-time, running her Hair Design & Styling business. There was no where near enough money earned from the sport to consider doing it full time. The one advantage my wife had because it was her own business, and she was self-employed she had considerable flexibility to come and go as she pleased - made it easier for training, and going away to train and race.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Q: How do you get a pro triathlete to leave your porch?
A: Pay for the pizza

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

food transportation specialist.

If I recall correctly, Chris Lieto was a mortgage broker when he first turned pro and did both for a while.

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Dave Stark
dreamcatcher@astound.net
USAC & USAT level 2 certified coach

Stud Fees!!

Just like horses. You should see what a former Ironman Winner's sperm is worth!

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Austin Hardy -

How do they make a living during the regular season.....

Ba da tssssss

I see many who are married to a sugar mama, sugar daddy or married into a family/comes from a family that just has a lot of money, period. Don't underestimate the power of family money.
This goes for age groupers too (married to a sugar daddy or sugar mama)...then just train all the time. Great for them. However it needs to get done to get the fix or the goals. It's why WE have a choice how life is lived.
If you don't like something--change it.

There are more ways to earn money than just prize money. Most who really do the sport full time have some sort of base salary from sponsors plus performance bonuses. For example, I used to have bonuses for best bike split or first off bike from multiple sponsors and could walk away from a lot of races earning decent money without even having a good race.

Like others have stated you don't get rich of it unless you're one of the very top guys though.

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BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se

Don't underestimate the power of family money.

Jokes aside - many years ago, before sport became more popular and something for the masses, sport was only something that the moderately wealthy engaged in. Reason being, they were the ONLY ones with idle free-time to have the time to do anything. In the post industrial age - everyone else was working so hard and so long, they had little time for sport.

Ironically we are starting to see shades of that return. As the size of the middle class shrinks and sports participation becomes more expensive, sport is starting to again become the preserve of those who are reasonably well off.

A number of years ago I worked for a brief period of time for an agency that was tasked with raising money for Olympic Team athletes in Canada from private donors. There was the odd case, of the hard-up kid who made it, but by and large what I was noticing that many of the kids who reached national team levels in most sports, came from families that had a decent amount of money and wealth!

We definitely see that in triathlon - it may have one of the "best" demographics of any sport out there!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Waiter!

A multitude of ways. Some pro's I coach work FT or PT jobs. Some are FT athletes and they are training their ass off right now in order to maximize their earning potential during the race season.

Really depends upon the athlete and their situation.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

With sponsors and race winnings, what would a top tier athlete collect annually in their prime. Say, Rinny today, Craig Alexander in his prime, and then what would you think a lesser known pro who does "OK" makes via sponsors and winnings…perhaps someone who hangs out in the top 5-10 in the races they do. Does someone in this bracket get sponsorship money or just deals on equipment and the occasional freebie. I was talking to a couple of pretty good Pro Triathletes and was surprised to hear their bike sponsor gives them one frame a year. I was especially surprised because the better of the two (inside the top 5 pretty frequently and KQ) was still riding an older frame when their bike sponsor had come out with a newer, "faster" model, months prior to when I was speaking with them.

I have always been baffled how many Pro athletes travel all over the world and basically "hang out and train"…..based on their twitter feeds. I have a decent job and couldn't afford that today if I wanted to. I can't imagine that many of them have mom and dad paying their way into their 30's and beyond.

Bjorn-

Do you think having bonuses in your contract that were specific to fastest bike split and first off the bike effected the way you raced and could have hurt your overall finishing position? Or did you think losing out on a few finishing positions was worth the risk to get those bonuses. I would assume the bonuses probably work out to be better than the prize money a good majority of the time.

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-Brad Williams
Website | Twitter: @BW_Tri |Instagram: @BW_Tri | Strava | Co-Founder & Coach at: KIS Coaching
Partnered with: Zoot Sports | Precision Fuel &Hydration | ISM

Coaching, sponsors, or gasp... they plan their finances a little and save money... same way someone in a seasonal sales position would.

Very true.

Also, a person can live, pay rent, and train and even buy decent equipment in the US for less than $10k/year if they want to. I did it 20 years ago for ~$3k/yr... no rent though (lived in my truck).

I know many don't believe me but my goal was always to do well overall even if I failed miserably at that sometimes. During the time I had my best deals I was alone off the front in almost all races I did anyway so I didn't have to make that decision very often though. However, there were a few times I had particularly bad days and I knew early I had no chance whatsoever placing high overall and made an extra effort towards the end to distance myself from people and go for the bonus pay checks.

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BA coaching http://www.bjornandersson.se

I did it 20 years ago for ~$3k/yr... no rent though (lived in my truck).

Now that's Pro! :)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog