If an age group race offered prize money, would that be incentive for you to race if you otherwise wouldn’t? Let’s say it was about $1500 for the overall win down to about 250 bucks (USD) for 5th place.
Yes, it’s an incentive, but not so much for the money, but because the money can bring out better competition. And, if it goes well, you can always answer “yes” when your non-triathlete friends ask sarcastically, “so, you get paid to race tris?” Tupper Lake paid three deep this year, so of course I got 4th. USAT has a pros only policy for races with $5000 and above prize money, and an equal purse for men and women, so AG purses are always going to be small. American Zofingen pays 5 deep.
I once went to a local 5k race just to watch because I had a sore achilles i was nursing. I found out there was AG prize money, entered, hobbled through and won $250 for 2nd in my AG. So, the answer is yes.
It’s not going to affect most people’s decision whether to race or not as they don’t have a prayer of placing, especially if you only pay out for the overall placings. It might draw the faster crowd to particular races.
For “elite age group” people, absolutely! It won’t pay squat compared to what I invest in the sport, but still beats a plastic trophy any day.