Think of where Crossfit was just 10 years ago when it first started and now think about where it will be in another 10 years from now. Whether or not people join, every household will know about Crossfit.
The number one reason why Crossfit continues to grow so quickly is due to the community aspect of it that creates freedom and camaraderie. Before Crossfit people would go to globo-gyms such as 24-hr fitness and we would hit one or two body parts a day at low heart rates, keep our headphones in to stay secluded from everyone else, get a nice pump, hit a little bit of cardio on the stairmaster and leave. The goal was to get in and get out and even though you were surrounded by people, there was nothing social about it.
Crossfit succeeds because it is the complete opposite of that. Crossfit is like a playground for adults and no one ever wants to leave. In the adult playground we’re hitting full body workouts daily at high heart rates with intensity, leaving our headphones at home, burning fat while building muscle, and peeling ourselves off the floor happy to do it again.
This month (September 2017) marks exactly one year of me doing Crossfit and from the first month in I couldn’t imagine going without it.
Crossfit is not going anywhere and I predict that these first ten years are nothing compared to what will be accomplished in the near future. Below are my predictions for the next 10 years of Crossfit:
Industry growth
The health and fitness industry is loving Crossfit right now, and for good reason. Crossfit has sparked growth for so many smaller companies and has also created new markets for products that haven’t been seen in the average gym before. If you have visited a sporting goods store within the past year or so you probably have noticed all the Crossfit related equipment and apparel popping up.
This reminds me a lot of what happened when Apple first came out with the iPhone. With the invention of the iPhone came products such as phone cases, applications, phone mounts, special wallets, accessories, etc. This is what Crossfit is causing right now.
With the creation of Crossfit comes:
- Gymnastic grips
- Knee sleeves
- Apparel
- Jump ropes, boxes, wall balls
- Packaged meal prep
- Barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells
- New recovery drinks (FitAid, KillCliff)
- Strongman equipment (Sleds, stones)
- Need for recovery services (Massages, therapy, cryo chamber)
- The list goes on.
All of these products and services existed before Crossfit, but it is no question that their business exploded with the rise of the Crossfit community. You can sell enough barbells to powerlifting gyms to be profitable, but how awesome was it when 15,000 Crossfit affiliate gyms popped up all over the world with a need for your product.
Even the globo-gyms are now incorporating rigs and kettlebells into their locations, because even they can not deny the growth.
There will be a Crossfit section in almost every sporting goods store and 24-hr fitness gym in the next 5 years.
Prize Money
When Crossfit first started back in 2007 the winner got a $500 gift card and no one knew about him/her. Now the top athlete receives a check for $285,000 and $3,000 for every event win at the Games, plus sponsorship deals galore. The prize purse for the Games is growing year over year, and I predict that by 2027, if not earlier, the prize money for first place will be $1 million.
The Games athletes of today are like the Larry Birds and Magic Johnsons of Crossfit, through their success and promotion of the sport they are growing the sport for the next generation to enjoy. Just as those two made very little money compared to that of NBA athletes today, the top athletes in Crossfit right now are not making even half of what the top Games athletes will be making in 10 years.
Even right now people are quitting their jobs to pursue their Crossfit dreams, just wait until people start making some real money.
Crossfit in schools
Crossfit will most definitely be in both colleges and high schools all around the world before 2027. You can already see a number of top universities using Crossfit style training for their football team’s off-season and it is going to expand rapidly to many high school sports. Crossfit will not only be used by certain students in their own fitness endeavors but it will most likely become a club sport in its own and probably make it’s way into the P.E. class.
There will be 14-18 year olds walking around their high schools looking like absolute “cyborgs of fitness” and soon everyone at that school will want to be doing it. The fastest growing demographic in the Opens is likely going to be the teens divisions.
Crossfit in the media
As of right now Crossfit already airs on networks such as ESPN and CBS, has 3 documentaries on Netflix, and has partnered with Facebook Live, but it is only going to get so much more prominent. I believe that not only will the Games be a constant on TV, but so will the Regionals.
To people in the Crossfit community Games athletes are household names, but for everyone else Mat Fraser, Rich Froning, and Katrin Davidsdottir are unheard of, but once these athletes start branding themselves they will become stars as the sport grows. You can see early examples of this with Brooke Ence and Christmas Abbott. Brooke Ence was recently casted in the Wonder Woman movie and Christmas Abbott has a best-selling fitness book.
You can already see big companies such as Michelob Ultra producing commercials catering to Crossfit athletes and I would guess that you will see top CF athletes starring in commercials within the next year or two.
The Opens
One of the main reasons why Crossfit is going to become so much larger than it already is, is because it is all inclusive and people can relate to it. 1% of people can relate to the professional athletes that they watch on TV, but everyone that does Crossfit knows exactly how it feels when they’re watching Games athletes suffer through Murph.
In 2016 there were 324,307 registered participants in the Opens and this year there were over 400,000. I would not be surprised if there are 1 Million participants in 2027 in what will become one of the largest worldwide fitness events of all time.
If you have any predictions of your own please leave a comment below or on the Heatonminded Facebook page. I’d be interested to hear what you guys have to say.
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