Due to recent news there will now be no Regionals to qualify athletes for the Crossfit Games. Instead the Games athletes will now be comprised of only the #1 male, female, and team from each country in the world that has an active Crossfit affiliate as well as the #1 male, female, and team from 16 Crossfit sanctioned competitions throughout the year and around the world.
Because of these changes many of the top Crossfit athletes in the world will not be able to compete at future Crossfit Games. Most athletes at the top of the sport have made training for the Games their full time job so now how will they make a living off of their elite fitness?
By performing well in sanctioned events.
We are not quite sure yet what the prize money will be for Crossfit Games 2019 and on, especially since there are now hundreds of more athletes competing. What is possible however, is that some athletes may make more money competing in the 16 sanctioned events than they ever did at the Crossfit Games.
How is this possible?
Below are the cash prizes for 4 of the most popular functional fitness competitions in the world outside of the Crossfit Games, and also most likely to be a part of the 16 sanctioned events. The winner of each one of these competitions will receive an invitation to the Crossfit Games and will likely accept it.
The winner will then likely not compete in future sanctioned events as they will shift their focus to The Games, which will open the door for other athletes to snatch up spots on the podiums.
Lets start with the best chance to make a living as a functional fitness athlete outside of the Games:
DUBAI FITNESS CHAMPIONSHIP
First place: $50,000 USD
Second place: $30,000 USD
Third place: $20,000 USD
PRIZE PURSE PER WORKOUT BREAKDOWN (M&W)
First: $3,000 USD
Second: $2,000 USD
Third: $1,000 USD
ONLINE QUALIFIER CASH BREAKDOWN (M&W)
First: $9,000 USD
Second: $6,000 USD
Third: $3,000 USD
Lets take a look at how much money our 2nd place final finishers at the Dubai Fitness Championship could make. For the sake of the argument and to make things easier lets give them a second place finish in every one of the 15 workouts as well as the online qualifier and of course the final results.
FINAL: $30,000
WORKOUTS: $2,000 x 15 events = $30,000
QUALIFIER: $6,000
TOTAL: $66,000
Of course this number is entirely hypothetical, but if we attempt to break it down even more we can see that second place has a guaranteed $30,000 payout for the final result and if they are good enough to finish that high they likely also won or placed top 3 in many events as well, giving them another nice chunk of change. That competitor also probably finished 1st or 2nd in the online qualifier.
Although $30-$66k may not be enough for some people, its not a bad start for working out as your career. On to the next competition:
WODAPALOOZA
First place: $20,000 USD
Second place: $8,000 USD
Third place: $5,000 USD
Perhaps the most popular competition outside of the Crossfit Games, Wodapalooza puts on a great show and provides top Crossfit athletes a chance to make a good amount of prize money although not as much as the Dubai Fitness Championship.
Unless you win first place or are local to Miami area, this may not be a competition thats worth your time as winning $8,000 or less might only be enough to cover your travel and hotel costs.
For athletes that have sponsors or want to get sponsored this however is a phenomenal competition to showcase what level of an athlete you are as well as how you interact with fans of the sport.
THE FITTEST EXPERIENCE
First place: $8,500 USD
Second place: $3,000 USD
Third place: $1,250 USD
ONLINE QUALIFIER CASH BREAKDOWN (M&W)
First: $3,500 USD
Lets give the benefit of the doubt to our 2nd place finisher and say that they also win the online qualifier.
FINAL: $3,000
QUALIFIER: $3,500
TOTAL: $6,500
This competition obviously isn’t as big as Dubai or Wodapalooza, $6,500 is definitely not enough money to retire on but it still wouldn’t hurt to get for a weekend of “work”.
And for our final competition:
THE GRANITE GAMES
First place: $8,000 USD
Second place: $6,000 USD
Third place: $4,000 USD
Our second place finisher would have a $3,000 larger payout here than at The Fittest Experience, however they would not receive any prize money for the online qualifier.
FINAL: $6,000
TOTAL: $6,000
If the prize money remains the same, which is unlikely due to the increase in athletes, The Crossfit Games would still be the best opportunity to make an income from out of all other competitions.
Crossfit Games prize money:
First place: $300,000 USD
Second place: $100,000 USD
Third place: $75,000 USD
Fourth place: $50,000 USD
Fifth place: $35,000 USD
Sixth place: $30,000 USD
As you can see the Crossfit Games is where you want to be in the sport of functional fitness, but if that is no longer a possibility due to recent changes it is still possible for you to make a livable income from outside competitions.
For most Crossfit Games athletes that typically finish in the bottom half of The Games, they could actually increase their annual income by placing top 3 in a couple of sanctioned events rather than going to the Crossfit Games.
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