I agree. It would make A LOT of sense. Unfortunately, I don't think it could work unless there's a bit more (and deeper) prize money involved. You need to have people want to make the move.
Offering comped entries to pros and a deeper purse would incentivize top ager's who've qualified for an elite card to take it. As it stands now, there's no point to take it for most athletes. If Tim Hola was a pro, far fewer people would have heard of him - it's in his economic best interest to stay an ager for sponsorship, etc.
In bike racing, there's money available at every level, so it would be pretty immoral to race cat 4 if you should be a 2. That would probably have the opposite effect in triathlon though. No one would upgrade.
At anyrate, MOST 'pros' in our sports are not professional like NFL or MLB players. They have nearly full time jobs and no shortage of other commitments etc. It cracks me up when people say, "Oh, I'd rather take the advice of an age grouper than a pro, because that person understands what it's like to juggle a family and a job." Newsflash, most of the "pros" are doing the same thing. The guys that can make a living exclusively racing/training are the exception, not the rule.
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