In the past few years triathlon has grown so much. Sure, it’s still not NBA with million dollar contracts, but more and more races are starting to pay up with large prize purses. There are literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line for the winners, but it’s all concentrating in the shorter distances. I think in the future the competition in the Olympic Distance races will get really really deep, whilst the competition in IM will only get shallower because pro athletes will all stick in the shorter distances. Even the ‘bigger’ names that said they will move up to IM are staying with the shorter distances because of the money, and the fact you can race more which means even more money. Top athletes these days can rake in well over 200k a year, and that’s without sponsorship money.
The main reason to blame is the IM corporation. Races are selling out like crazy, even at 500 dollars a pop, but for some reason the prize purses stay the same. If the IM distance wants to stay competitive, it needs to start coughing up large sums of money. Larger than the OD, because you can only race 2-3 good IMs a year max.
I think that I why I’m very, very happy that the 101 series has come on the scene.
But, I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone, besides the winner of Lifetime Fitness or HyVee “raking in over 200k a year without sponsorship.” With sponsorship, maybe a bunch more. But without, no way.
Ok maybe I overestimated a bit, but this is just the beginning. I’m sure in the futere there will be 6-8 races a year with this kind of money on the line.
Even now there are a lot of races with around 8-10k for the winners.
Why would the WTC or IMNA up the prize money if they can sell out races and get starving pros to sign up to race for the $50K prize purse that has not budged since 1991?
They wouldn’t. Ironman has become a “destination.” A “journey.” Like running a marathon. NYC marathon sells out with or without a pro field. Probably sells out faster without so that some master’s runner feels like he has a chance to win it. But I think the rate of growth for the sport will outpace the potential growth rate for Ironman. I’m hopeful that their might be some more “pro-tours,” like Les McDonald has created with the ITU. Perhaps that is the eventual niche of 101. The pro-tour for long course, with an associated age-group race. Either way, I think that Ironman will hit a peak in terms of number of races (and total number of customers that they can serve) and that it will likely be smaller than they’d like. I think someone will come in with three times as many races, and fields that are half the size, and those races will be the ones that people do (they’ll be serving 1 1/2 times as many people as IM). It will be like the big marathons. People will do one, but not make a habit of it. Or they’ll do one a year. It will continue to be a destination. But I think the future of the sport is in the smaller and shorter races, which will have an easier time growing at the speed of the sport.
Along those lines, I encourage people to give the 101 a shot. The distance is great. The organization is great. And the field sizes are manageable. I can’t wait for Halifax…
In the past few years triathlon has grown so much. Sure, it’s still not NBA with million dollar contracts, but more and more races are starting to pay up with large prize purses. There are literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line for the winners, but it’s all concentrating in the shorter distances. I think in the future the competition in the Olympic Distance races will get really really deep, whilst the competition in IM will only get shallower because pro athletes will all stick in the shorter distances. Even the ‘bigger’ names that said they will move up to IM are staying with the shorter distances because of the money, and the fact you can race more which means even more money. Top athletes these days can rake in well over 200k a year, and that’s without sponsorship money.
The main reason to blame is the IM corporation. Races are selling out like crazy, even at 500 dollars a pop, but for some reason the prize purses stay the same. If the IM distance wants to stay competitive, it needs to start coughing up large sums of money. Larger than the OD, because you can only race 2-3 good IMs a year max.
What do the oldies of ST think?
I would assume that most pro’s dont rely much on prize money for income but more on sponsorship money for most of their income. From my casual observance of US based publications it seems that there are as many or maybe more IM Pros than ITU Pros in print ads. So Im guessing that there is not much of a difference in income potential.
I do agree that IM’s and 1/2IM’s do need to up the prize purse for pro’s!
Yeah, but do you realize how many $8-10K races you have to WIN in order to come close to make any money? Lets say you win 6 and make $48-60K in prize money that year. There are still lots of 24 year old kids out there who are making that much or more in the “real-world”. What are the odds the same person is going to win races such as St. A’s, Chicago, NYC, LA, and a few high profile 70.3’s and possible a 101 race? They pretty much have to be the best of the best in order to even make $50K in prize money.
Some people get caught up in the fact that someone like TJ Tollakson got to take home $8200 after his win at Eagleman and his preme money there. Its not like he does this every month, let alone every weekend. That was probably his biggest payout ever! Despite the perception that there is a large payout purse out there for pros, there really is not. Rappstar is in a similar boat. His recent awesome performance at the 101 race in California probably netted him his largest pay day ever, but $6000 doesn’t go very far.
There are probably a number of pros out there who make $5000-$15000 in prize money every year. That is not going to pay the bills; it might cover their triathlon expenses for the hobby they love. There might be perception that triathlon earnings can pay the bills, the reality is that the vast majority of pros work their asses off at some other job or they live a very very very modest lifestyle.
I would assume that most pro’s dont rely much on prize money for income but more on sponsorship money for most of their income. From my casual observance of US based publications it seems that there are as many or maybe more IM Pros than ITU Pros in print ads. So Im guessing that there much of a difference in income potential.
I do agree that IM’s and 1/2IM’s do need to up the prize purse for pro’s!
Not necessarily, I know I am relying on prize money from races to help me out. Alot of my sponsorships are performance based-driven as well. But either way, I will agree it would be nice to see more money for IM and 1/2IM races… especailly because when you do an IM you can’t race as often as if you are doing Olympic and ITU based racing.
Linsey Corbin
The main reason to blame is the IM corporation. Races are selling out like crazy, even at 500 dollars a pop, but for some reason the prize purses stay the same. If the IM distance wants to stay competitive, it needs to start coughing up large sums of money. Larger than the OD, because you can only race 2-3 good IMs a year max.
What do the oldies of ST think?
Sell out race by charging AGers and comp entries for Pros.
Cough up large sums of money to pay pros.
Profit?
OR
Sell out race by charging AGers.
Offer 50k pro purse.
Profit!!
WTC and NA Sports are businesses who can cash in on the prior performances of the legends of tri for a good long while. They only really need to keep Kona as a marquee pro event to give all IMs the cache AGers perceive. And that race still has enough legend surrounding it to attract big names in tri. Also, pros don’t attract the vast majority of AGers to races. Facilities, mystique, etc. do. Pro fields in NA IMs could end immediately in all races except for Kona and IMs would continue to sell out. There is zero motivation to shell out to the pros.
Also, it’s my understanding that prize purses are usually underwritten by the sponsor directly. (I could be way off base on this). If that’s true, what motivation does Ford et al. have to shell out an extra 1/2 mil? Their logo is on everything at an IM, dumping another 250k or so isn’t gonna sell another explorer, let alone enough to cover the loss.
I think that if you are an elite racer type - maybe in an area with a lot of races like the DC area - you can do races almost every weekend and win or place high in them to be in the money because so many and do not attract too much talent. During the colder months you can switch to road races and make your money there.
Clearly, you have to be good to do this and it may be frowned upon to be jumping into races for money when there isn’t a ‘pro’ division in the race, but that’s something I would do if I had the talent.
Most sports are either spectator driven (NBA, NFL, etc.) or are driven by participants’ entry fees (your local 10k). High end tri’s and marathons are a hybrid. My guess is that having a pro field adds to the prestige and maybe helps with demand from participants (more people want to do the race, and are willing to pay more). But, in most cases I’d bet it’s a small effect. The Boulder Peak could probably sell out at the same entry fee even with no pro prize purse. In that sense, the pro prize purse is basically generosity from the RD. Maybe if the race dropped the pro prize purse it would slip in prestige and eventually that would hit the RD’s pocketbook. In the meantime, on sheer economics, I doubt you could make a case that the race should pay the pros more. In some races, the pro race is held later so the AGers can at least watch it. In most races, you can’t even watch it. At the Chicago Marathon the closest I came to seeing the pro’s was in the hotel lobby. During the race itself they might as well have been on the moon.
I do not think it pays much for the Pros to race any triathlons. Does anyone really make a lot of money racing at any distance? Rumor has it that some of the higest profile athletes in triathlon can be found lacing up sneakers for age groupers these days
I did a piece on this very subject about three years ago. At that time, the dollars were about 2 to 1 in favor of Olympic distance vis a vis every other distance - and since then the ratio has gotten even larger. This year, the ITU alone has 16 world cups at $100,000 minimum each. Add in the extra $600,000 for Hy Vee, another $250,000 for worlds (8/30 in Germany), five continental championships at $20,000 minimum each, and more than 50 continental cups at $10,000 minimum each - and you’ll discover that the ITU alone puts nearly $3,000,000 in prize money on the line each year.
To that, you can add Lifetime Fitness and the major city non-drafting olys (Chicago, LA, St. Anthony’s) and you are closer to $4m than $3m. Then make a list of all events longer than oly and add up their prize purses - it will be an eye-opener.
What you guys are ignoring is the incentive based contracts these guys have signed with Zipp, HED, Speedo, Trek, Specialized, etc… (insert sponser here)
Who gives a crap if you win $5000 from the WTC when trek is going to drop you $20,000 if you win it on their bike. That’s where the money comes into play.
