Nahh,I do not do racing to get paid but with the way the system is at this moment and the elections coming. up november ,i do not think any racer will be getting or has. been getting paid..

I work full-time in the off-season as a management consultant. This year I have remained working full-time during the racing season in light of the race cancellations. I'm extremely fortunate to have a career outside of triathlon that has not been significantly impacted by the pandemic. It's actually brought more meaning to my career as I have been helping secure the North American food supply chain and ensure that staple goods are able to reach consumers across the continent. The extra time and energy I have been able to put into my job has really increased my rate of professional development and allowed me to get involved in more initiatives and projects at work. Meanwhile, I've still been able to train consistently and make significant improvements in my fitness - especially on the bike.

While I'm looking forward to getting back on the race course, I've also been enjoying this new balance in my life. In a time of extreme hardship and pain for so many, I am incredibly grateful and fortunate to have my job, my family, my friends, and my triathlon career. I am excited for us to get past this pandemic and to begin exploring what a post-pandemic world looks like in both triathlon and beyond.

---

Canadian Professional Triathlete

Instagram

HUH???

---

80/20 Endurance Ambassador

I'm looking for a part time job for the fall/winter. We moved across the country a little after the start of the pandemic so I had just ended a pretty good part time job. I've reached out to my LBS 4 or 5 times asking if I could work part time at either of their locations and always get one response saying absolutely and then after I follow up I never hear again. Kind of mind-blowing because they literally are posting help needed ads and I'm pretty sure I can sell a bike as well as anyone.

Hurts to fly down to Mexico for a race and then shit the bed and not end up recouping any $$$ at all, but that's part of the game I guess.

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

Most budding professional (tri)athletes have full-time job... It is triathlon. They should be treating it as a high-growth, high-momentum, high-cash burn startup, and are giving 100% of their available time to triathlon. If they aren't they are doing themselves and angel investors a disservice. Btw it is no different if a pro is injured and can't race.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

Those that have salaries and contracts that extend through 2020 are doing fine. But they aren't getting any bonuses and the thought of re-upping with "high dollar" salaried contracts is probably stressful.

Do sponsors typically cover any of those travel costs? And is host housing or anything provided for the pro field?

No worries if that's too personal to share, but just curious how much is truly out of pocket with the hope of winning more prize money than it cost

Shops don't really need help with bike sales at the moment. They're in need of mechanics to help service all the bikes that have come out of garages for the first time in a decade.

I'm guessing some of the more established pros have a sponsor that covers travel costs. TG could probably comment on that. For my wife and I however, we got a bit unlucky with the timing of covid (as opposed to all those people who got lucky with it) and lost one of our two sponsors paying a stipend. The sport was already short enough on sponsorship cash to go around and with companies struggling, not exactly a time where we've been able to find any additional sponsors. I'm hopeful that with the boom in outdoor activities triathlon will bounce back hard. With what could be a thinning of the pro herd happening as well, I'm optimistic on where we'll be in a few years. This is a career for me.

TLDR: 100% of our trip was out of pocket. Sometimes races organize homestays for the pros but that's about it.

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

That's fair though they were not advertising for mechanics. I'm also a pretty decent mechanic but its shop policy to only hire certified mechanics which I don't have at the moment.

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

"Do sponsors typically cover any of those travel costs? And is host housing or anything provided for the pro field?"


Depends on how good the athlete is.

random internet guy here.

I have a lot of respect for people who try to make a living in a sport that pays so little!! Good luck in finding a job that supports your training. Hopefully you will also benefit from beyond simply providing income but also in terms of your long term career outside of and/or after the sport.

It doesn't depend on the caliber of the athlete - it depends on the partnerships an individual athlete has managed to secure. There are lower level athletes with excellent sponsorship deals, and high performing athletes with not-so-great deals.

Travel costs are not typically covered, it is something one must negotiate with the right kind of sponsor (for example, bike sponsor vs law firm corporate sponsorship).

Host housing or "homestays" are provided by Ironman and Challenge at many races. This is mostly a first come, first serve service (though at some races I believe the big names get first dibs, and in advance of others).

---

Group Eleven – Websites for Athletes / mikael.racing / @mstaer

This year has been interesting with the PTO finally getting together and forming strong partnerships and establishing itself.

They managed to secure some serious funding and have done an amazing job supporting the (top ranked) athletes so far. They paid the top 100 ranked. It wasn't much, but it's something at least and makes good on their mission. Further, they have been supporting a number of races across the world with prize purses where there were none, or padding existing prize purses, allowing payments to reach top 10 where they may have only gone to top 5 or 6. At Challenge Davos, which was canceled mid-race due to weather, they divided the money equally among all competitors. At the Pro Champs invitational here in Ontario, everyone got an appearance fee and was guaranteed prize money regardless of finish.

Outside of the top 30, earnings are very low and generally not sustainable in a major city. Once outside of the top 100, earnings are...micro. Most will have a part time job, full time job or partner/family supporting them.

---

Group Eleven – Websites for Athletes / mikael.racing / @mstaer

Ben. I'd love to have you on the podcast. Please e-mail me if you are interested. kknnheinze@yahoo.com

---

http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Cam Wurf has got it all sorted out and may be the smartest pro triathlete of all.

Curious if you know what a typical sponsor bonus structure looks like for placement. IE how deep placement wise, is it specified IM/ Challenge branded races (now PTO sanctioned I assume) & $$ difference between IM & 70.3 races.

Not to derail, but how prevalent are angel investors these days? I'm guessing most of the time that info stays private and it's most likely families doing the investing. I used to caddy at a golf club and one of my fellow caddy friends was really good, played D1 competitively, but washed out shortly after and fell into the mini-tours down south. I talked to him and a couple guys at the club bought in on him and paid for tournaments, lessons, etc, and they had a system where X amount went back to them when he cashed in. Granted I think they were trying to help the kid out more than they were looking to make big bucks, they had money to burn and it was a rush to have a horse in a race kind of thing. I'm just curious more than anything really.

One other thing I've seen is the athlete getting a good amount of equipment that they sell at the end of the year.
I heard of one deal where an athlete got 4 top end bikes which is a fair amount of cash if they sell them.

I'm not aware of anyone that gets bonuses for anything other than top 3. The image of your athlete spraying champagne on the true podium is understandably the most marketable.

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

Yes typical 1, 2, 3 and if you think about it that is where the value was back in the day in regards to photos, coverage etc. Now with social media it is a little more self-promotion based but I think a lot of the structures were old school. Amounts can very on race based on the importance. Might be like $500/250/100 or $1000/500/250, or $2500/1500/1000, or $5000/2500/1000. The later being something like a Kona win which how many of those.

And fwiw, you always hear of a situation where some new brand makes a deal with athlete and way overpays for something by 10x. I remember a non-endemic deal back in the day with a major male pro for like 15k for the year and they wanted a female as, the female got them same 15k. I mean they could I guess have paid 15k for the same caliber female pro but instead they got a female pro with like maybe at best 1% (could argue .1%) of the same marketability as the pro. Both deals were kind of insane IMHO regardless. Triathlon is a niche a sport.

In general triathlon is a terrible sport and only a handful of athletes who are just triathletes end in the black every year.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

I definitely could have put angel in "" or pink. I mean there are just some young adults who are parental supported. Not just triathlon, but in general. Heck I just was talking to my realtor yesterday and their son (27) bought a new car and they paid $5,000 toward the car and the dad helped negotiate the deal in the first place. And we are talking about a typical middle-class family here. Anyway, I have known a few triathlon trust fund young adults. How prevalent, I just don't ask people. Usually I have to train with them to understand their financial situation. Not that I am not an open, blunt person, because I am but I just don't really care to know. If a parent were to come to me I think I would have some great ways to help their child be the best athlete they can be, but in general, from what I have seen, trust fund kids don't make good athletes over the longer haul.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

i would like to know how certain triathletes fared, to compare those who did zwift pro race series vs those who sat around on the couch.

Im sure the top guys and girls are doing ok from their endorsements

It doesn't depend on the caliber of the athlete - it depends on the partnerships an individual athlete has managed to secure.//

Not really a true statement in its entirety. I would say that all of the top athletes are doing fine with their sponsors(very top that is), and then it is about what kind of contract you negotiated. You are correct in that many non top tier athletes are getting much more that it would appear their results merit, but results are not the only arbiter of how much one gets paid.


As for the travel, at least in my day most the top athletes got travel paid for. We had contracts that allowed for a certain amount of travel, and then there was just about as much from RD's in that area. I would imagine if some really big name ran out of travel money from a sponsor, the RD would then pick it up. In fact, we used to go to the RD well first, trying to save and stretch out the paid travel from our money sponsors. I would often forgo a free hotel room for a homestay too, they were so much more fun, and it really added to the overall race experience in new areas. My guess that is still the case with most, other than a few anti social folks that just want to live in a black hole up until race time...

Summer and I are traditionally the "cheapest Airbnb with a private bathroom" type when traveling to races if we can't camp. The hosts of those places are generally quite the characters. Makes our trips fun!

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

Right.
It doesn't depend entirely on the caliber of the athlete. I think this was understood/implied. But to spell it out, being good does not mean you automatically get travel covered and inversely, being not-so-good does not mean you don't get travel covered.

Homestays are more fun for sure, especially when shared with other athletes. Sometimes they are located quite far from the race venue, so hotel can be favorable. But, beggars can't be choosers!

---

Group Eleven – Websites for Athletes / mikael.racing / @mstaer

Depends. I know of several athletes - and I am sure there are many more than just the ones I don't know about - where contracts are not being paid out in full. All contracts have various termination clauses, many of which are vague enough that the absence of a meaningful race calendar alone would serve as a viable out for the business. Fundamentally, though, the story I've heard is, "Sorry, but when have t furlough our employees, we're not gonna be paying you $1-for-$1."

The existence of a contract stipulating that you are to be paid a certain salary (forgetting about bonuses for races that aren't happening) doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get 100% of that money. Putting aside the absence of legal resources to actually pursue a contract dispute, what are you going to say to the business that is itself hurting when they say that they can't pay you the full dollar value of the contract.

I've never regretted retiring when I did, but I am especially thankful that I retired before 2020... It's not easy on anyone except a few at the very, very top right now.

---

"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

How are pro triathletes doing financially?


It depends on what bucket you are in as a Pro Triathlete and what your individual situation is.

The short list of True A-Listers are doing OK. They will have substantial cash pay-outs from their primary sponsors. Prize winnings and the bonuses associated with them are gone.

B-List Triathletes are possibly in some trouble - this group may not have much upfront money paid out and depend heavily on Bonus Money and some prize Money. Some of this group have other forms of Income - Coaching, other forms of part-time or seasonal work.

C- List - those who essentially have equipment and maybe some expenses covered - they may be having a really rough time of it and will most likely have to look to get some kind of full-time other work, if they don't already.

It's a bit of a confusing situation out there right now. Race/Events are getting hammered, but many endemic businesses and brands in triathlon, say the bike companies, are having great years - best year ever in some cases. This is been driven on by Pandemic Sales, and little marketing push. In fact, they may have reflexively cut back on marketing spend, because that's what you do in "hard times" - but as mentioned these are not exactly "hard times" if you are a bike company or a maker of outdoor sporting goods and apparel. That's why I started off saying it was confusing.

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

You would have to dig around, maybe Ben would know. Virtual racing is going to be a heck of a lot more lucrative from the perspective of expenses. Racing is expensive when you factor in airplane prices, fees, hotels, rental cars etc. It is nearly impossible at most races just to break even even if you finish in the money. I have had this conversation before, but it has been a few years. Even some of the world's best athletes struggle to get very basic sponsorship of any meaningful level.

Factor in the opportunity cost of a well-educated triathlete and it isn't a sound business decision on paper. Triathlon is a labor of love and you have to somehow award the passion and love with a high dollar value to compensate for real opportunity cost of a solid career.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

There was a good patch earlier in the year where winning IM VR and Zpro races generated a reasonable income. But that has dried up now.
Basically whether this year is survivable or not comes down to prior earnings and PTO ranking when bonus paid out.

"doing fine" is of course all relative.

a good example of "male privilege" at play.

a good example of "male privilege" at play. //


???????

Have no idea what you are talking about, male privilege. All the homestay's I ever did, included the women pros too.

Have heard stories of female pros feeling uncomfortable with their homestay and requesting relocation. Being male, that's something I'd have never considered or worried about.

All the stories I heard were great from the womens. Of course that doesn't mean there are not different stories, I heard a bunch about a male from NZ back in the day. Lock up your wives!!!

And in his case, your daughter, the girl next door, your power tools and he's not sorry about the women from the bar; who is a bit "loud".

it's a bit sad that there are probably a bunch of folks on the forum now who have no idea who we are all talking about...

---

"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

I'd add a 4th category that you could call D-List or you could call B-List or C-List, depending on how you classify a level of performance. This would be the athlete that already had a full-time job that was paying the bills. These athletes won't win a major race but they can still hold a pro license and occasionally finish in the money somewhere. Of course, they're doing fine financially since they have a job but I also wonder if they've been able to make strides in their performance this year due to being able to train more consistently and not take breaks for races. For someone that can "only" train 15-20 hours a week due to work, not having to ever drop volume could be a big benefit next year, provided racing comes back, as they were able to stack many more consistent weeks together.

---

Mark Saroni
____________________________________________________________
COACHING | TRAINING PLANS
MS Kinesiology | USAT LII | USAC L3

As a consultant who was frequently on the road, WFH and Covid have provided a nice opportunity to structure more consistent training and led to some really nice performance gains.

So I imagine WFH is having the same impact on many top tier AG racers and lower tier pros. Sort of evening the playing field a bit. Should make for an interesting 2021 of races.

Similar to my thoughts. I've slept more this year than any other year and can definitely attest to the fact that sleep doping works.

---

Mark Saroni
____________________________________________________________
COACHING | TRAINING PLANS
MS Kinesiology | USAT LII | USAC L3