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