There really would not be a first, but a group of people right around 1982. That is the year I pretty much quit my job and soon got my contract from Nike, and the JDavid team paid salaries to a whole bunch of folks(even though it was stolen money).

That was also the year that prize money trickled into many races and we had our first national championships in Malibu. I would think there were at least a couple dozen of us that began that year to rely solely on money made from triathlon. Sponsorships, prize money, start money, and bonuses.

I would agree with Monty on the start year, and that National Championship in October of 1982 in Malibu. I would say 1983 was the first complete year that had a lot of races with prize money, and companies were offering sponsorships with stipends, performance bonuses and photo incentives for print media, which I would wager has gone the way of the dinosaur.

Ask anyone who was at that Malibu race. The surf has never been as big at any other triathlon. No wetsuits, cold water, 1/3 of the field was pulled either due to near drownings or hypothermia.

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

are you really just going to blah blah over that part?

The google is your friend...

https://www.si.com/...s-secret-sugar-daddy

https://www.upi.com/...David/6408488433600/

https://www.nytimes.com/...ominelli-affair.html

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...oct14-htmlstory.html

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I would agree with Monty on the start year, and that National Championship in October of 1982 in Malibu. I would say 1983 was the first complete year that had a lot of races with prize money, and companies were offering sponsorships with stipends, performance bonuses and photo incentives for print media, which I would wager has gone the way of the dinosaur. //

Ya, 82 saw the beginning of the USTS series where they paid I believe $500 for first, down to a $100 for 5th, and a few others like Horny Toad and Malibu. And in 83 there were probably 10 times more races with money, my LA Triathlon series, Wildflower, Big Bear, Bakersfield, Mighty Hamptons, and of course the expanded USTS series where it was now a grand for 1st place.


And I totally forgot about those photo bonuses, but you are right that they were paying a lot of bills back in the day when Triathlon and Triathlete magazine were coming out regularly, and of course the Running and Triathlon News and Competitor Magazine..

Conan the Barbarian played three sports: Cursing at Crom, driving his enemies before him, and hearing the lamenting of da women.

But the very first triathlon coach, including the first to advertise in a magazine, was....Mark Montgomery. In 1982 I remember thinking, "who would ever need a triathlon coach?"

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

I assume the Big Four made the most $ off triathlon in the '80s, but how did they rank? I'm assuming Molina earned the most prize $ because of the no. of races he did, but I'm guessing Allen got the biggest Nike contract and had the Pro Grain cereal deal, Tinley had his clothing line and also raced a lot, and Scott had the Centurion bike deal.

All 3 of those guys started with very nice JDavid contracts, and then Molina I think went with Mizuno and Allen with Nike. Mark had great Nike contracts for his entire career. I even heard he gets a pension now! Molina later went with Nike, and Dave jumped around sponsors, but had a few very lucrative per piece deals, biggest one the Dave Scott Ironman Centurion bike..

For sure Molina made the most prize money through top placings and just sheer volume. Mark made more per race than anyone, his record and smaller race schedule, enabled him to get pretty good start fees. One year for him just to show up it was $15k. Dave was kind of an enigma in the sport, stayed to himself and we didn't know too much about his training or what he was doing. But I did hear about a few of his deals because they were same companies I had deals with, or it got out.

And Tinley did not own his clothing company, think he had maybe 10% or so. It may have paid some bills while it flourished, but he did not get rich, or even semi well off when it sold and went under. He has been grinding it out like the rest of us since retiring, no one has been on easy street.

Paula probably made as much or more money than any of the men, she invested pretty wisely, but she went right to work coaching and working for WTC right after retiring too. Hopefully some of us will get to retire soon, Dave is the oldest at 64 now, I'm probably pushing the wind for the next group at 62+....

I thought Chuck Norris