For some, the prospect of competing in a stadium with spectators numbering in the thousands is enough of a reason to dish out the expensive cost of competing. For everyone else, Carson City's Home Depot Center had better live up to the hype! Those that live in the California "CrossFit bubble" may have a hard time understanding the reality of this time of year. The simple and plain? CrossFit is an expensive sport.
OPT recently wrote:
There are athletes within our community that as you know have a hard(er) time than most having the ability to afford competing or even participating in events that might change their lives.
James Fitzgerald founded a not-for-profit organization to help his athletes pay their way to the 2010 CrossFit Games. He isn't the only one who is trying to lead the charge against the rising costs of the Sport of Fitness. SICFIT recently selected eight athletes to help in a similar way. Raising the profile of a CrossFit athlete can be a frustrating, yet rewarding task. Of the major issues that these exceptional athletes face:
Issue #1
The disconnect between the importance of the sport inside of the community with the non-existant awareness of the sport outside of the community may be the most discouraging to those seeking sponsorship.
Issue #2:
If someone is aware of CrossFit, it is likely that they know of it as the boot camp, the gym, the fitness program, or the P90x relative. This means that the athlete spends an inordinate amount of time explaining the movement, the sport, the appeal. It is difficult to rebrand it as a sport while convincing potential sponsors that the cost of supporting you can be beneficial to them.
Issue #3:
CrossFit athletes are in their towns' Sentinels, Registers, Monitors, Neighborhood Posts, etc. The major print media, the ones that give an athlete credibility and clout, have yet to treat CrossFit like a sport. Until that aspect of brand visibility rises, major sponsors will not have reason to invest in either the sport nor you. There needs to be a detailed expose in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, or Boston Globe. This is something that an athlete can point to and say, "This is the type of visibility you can expect from your sponsorship."
For now, we have:
(1) Wilmington Team to Compete in the CrossFit Games
(2) Hemet Woman to Take on CrossFit Games
(3) She's One Fit Fish
Live broadcasting an event that few (outside of a micro-niche) understand will accomplish less than people would think. Internet live broadcasts can do a lot for the prestige of a media operation but in this instance, it won't help drive attention in the same magnitude that CrossFit would by gathering those spectators into a stadium. CrossFit is a sensory experience. You have to feel the energy to love it.
Can We Lower the Cost of the Games For an Athlete?
The cost of competition, hotels, airfare, and transportation should all be paid by the governing body. Many other sports with epic events help minimize or eliminate theses costs. We are not in Aromas anymore. CrossFit decided to raise the stakes and their profile along with the move to the big league. As such, this event has been ambitiously marketed like a professional sport: the stadium, the title sponsors, the pre-parties, Ticket Master's role. CrossFit HQ's live feed provider almost exclusively deals in sports/events where the performers are professional and compensated as such. Examples: the X-Games, the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the Tour de France, and the World Cup. As I like to say, we gave up our Woodstock festival for a concert at Madison Square Garden.
This being said, the 2010 Games is a high class event that we are all excited to watch. The issue that has arisen involves the many athletes who are having difficulty pulling together the funds to participate. The Sport of Fitness just isn't as popular and marketable outside of California. Generally, CrossFitter's pinch pennies to make the trip. There are several CrossFit stars that are on the governing body's payroll as certifiers and media personalities, however, the majority of the athletes have to find their way with their limited resources.
The $25,000 purse is amazing in comparison to years past. It illustrates the portrait of a growing movement. But remember, CrossFit is a prolific multi-million dollar machine. The goal should be to rise above the comparisons to lesser iterations of sport. CrossFit deserves to be up there with the X-Games. So much was made of the money and the glamour of this year's event that it becomes difficult to focus on the virtuous aspects of this competition. As funny as it may sound, the World Series of Beer Pong dished out $50,000 to the winners. Just last week, the hotdog eating tournament was home to a major audience; they paid their winner $20,000 in cash and more in sponsorships. Major League Eating, for goodness sake! Eating 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes earns you about the same as brutalizing your body for three days at the peak of summer's heat.
Can we lower the cost of the games for a CrossFit athlete? I think that we must. If the governing body can not dish out the nearly $180,000 that it would cost to transport and house the 100 athletes that we'll be watching, we need to find a way to keep winning the sport as the focus rather than just getting there to participate.
It is a privilege to participate in the 2010 CrossFit Games, sure. But we can't say that this event isn't about the money. For the athletes, it may not be. No athlete can predict that they will be lucky enough (right workouts, right order, right conditions) to win the Games and take home that $25,000 purse. This is not what moves someone to compete. We are driven by something greater. Everyone is doing this because they love it. However, if we are treating this like an "epic", "elite", and "revolutionary" sporting event, some changes can be made to broaden the sport's appeal and its audience.
The first step is making sure that the competition's athletes are ready, rested, and prepared. The second step is to move CrossFit outside the walls of its current media constraint. People that don't know or like CrossFit will like the sport when exposed to it. There has to be a bridge between this sport and the athletes/audiences of others. The third step is to utilize ALL of the talent and the networks in the community to take this great sport and community even higher. CrossFit is in a new territory, the entertainment business. After all, these athletes will be walking into a professional stadium and standing before cameras capable of telling their stories a world away.
See | SICFIT Motivation: Are You Ready?
By Web Smith | SICFIT
The Websmith BLOG
I know this is a bit old but I'll post my experience anyway.
One of the local affiliates in my town hosted a sectional event this past year. I was very excited to go and I had been looking forward to going since it was first announced. I was also hyping up the event to an acquaintance who I thought would make an excellent CrossFitter. As the event approached I learned that the weekend would cost $50 for spectators.
I never went. I can't afford it. It's more than 1/3 of my monthly affiliate fees.
And my friend who would make a great CrossFitter - he never went and ultimately never joined an affiliate. He was turned off to the whole experience.
This article is so dead on. There is so much potential for this sport and it seems to be a little stiffled right now. If it's because as @bingo mentioned that HQ is just starting to figure out how to prepare rather than react then hopefully we can expect some major changes in the near future. Until then, promoting the athletes will be a huge prospect and you know every CrossFitter who loves the sport would be about as gracious as one can get for having the right to train at an elevated level.
http://www.crossfitstory.com
@BINGO Holy Crap. I am honored that you took the time to comment on my post. Of course I've read many of your comments and blogs over the past few years of my involvement in the CrossFit Community. I am pleased that you perceived my post as "positive" because I do all I can to prevent the "IronGarm" type of criticism that mostly only hurts feelings.
Listen, I love this community. And I would fight for it. I came on to this project out of love for this community, I can only hope that the guys and gals up top can see it the same way you have. Thanks much, Bingo. I will be competing for Team CrossFit Central and cheering my wife on as she tries to beat her dear friends Kristen Clever, Carey Kepler, and crew. We'll definitely have to link up. I look forward to it.
Sincerely,
Web Smith
Nice, well-written post Web. Everything you've said, and to a great degree all that has been said in the comments, is spot on if all you have done is simply take or have the "sports page view" of where the Games are now and where they've been, where Crossfit Inc. is now and where it's been. Indeed, one simply can't make the same observations as you have and make them criticisms if one has any shred of awareness of Crossfit in, oh say 2007. That's why your post is so good--it is wishful and hopeful and positive.
The Crossfit founders lived rather uncomplicated lives in the days of CF Santa Cruz. The Games were net money LOSERS in years 1-3. Explosive growth in the business and the movement has dramatically changed that, changed the math, but that's really only 18-24 months old. I've watched how they run the business, watched very carefully; until just 2010 the style has been purely reactive. "Holy shit...we need 2 more cert teams per weekend!" kinda reactive. It's a little different now, a little more grown up and purposeful, and my bet is that much of what you and your commenters wish for is on the drawing table for next year and beyond.
Crossfit the fitness movement and Crossfit the community (of which anyone who knows me knows is very near and dear) are different, so much so that they attract a very impressive type of individual. Bright, questioning, honest (in that call penalties on yourself golfer kind of honest). We see what's been good before, we see what can be better, and we wonder why it's not so right now. So, too, with the Games. Plus, we are so close to the time when any Crossfitter could just pick up the phone and call HQ and get "you name 'em" on the phone that we each feel very personally involved, owners of the movement if you will. It's a big place now...very few folks can still get their calls answered. And it all happened so fast.
Here's my bid, made after nearly 5 years here, 5 years of careful observation: sincere concerns and suggestions sincerely made, made with goodwill extended and assumed, are STILL heard and still frequently followed up. That's why your post will resonate, it was sincere and it was made with an underlying assumption of goodwill.
Best of luck in Carson. I hope we get to meet.
--bingo
@catch Thank you, thank you. It is from the heart and with both of us going there to compete, it has been a struggle to get things together.
@Kris Kepler That means a lot, my friend. The Smith Family will likely be right there with you in 2014. Watching the World Cup in Brazil? Now THAT's epic.
@Jud Dean Well hello big swoll brother. You are dead right about the cost of therapy and such. All they have to do is let go of the reins a little bit. The rest would take care of itself. Level 5 Leadership is doing what is best for the organization, even though it may not be what is necessarily best for you.
@Tone Yessssssssss!
@Sara Mai Conway The issue that you've mentioned is the backbone of part II. How many CrossFit "clients" will be competing at the games. Nearly none. CrossFit isn't a 5 minute workout anymore. I get to train at Central for free and even so, it is STILL hard to put in the time to reach elite levels. Thank you so much for the input.
@Kris Kepler Yep, we spend $300 a month.
@Michael Mamfeldt The UFC parallel never gets old. I had NO idea the "six figure salary" was over three years. I almost completely agree with you. I'll get into that more later.
@Justin Nicholson Very valid point. I am writing about that on (ONE) of my personal blogs, CrossFitChron.com
@KTF I look forward to the Journal article on the cost of the Games. Your idea would certainly make it easier to perform at a high level.
@Andrew I am not advocating boycotting certs or anything of the such.But if I were to detail their business model, it seems that would be close. If you look at the cert photos, it seems that they are generating about $160k/week in LEVEL 1's only. Pretty impressive.
@Rambo SICFIT offered to cover the Games live with our own live packs. It has worked tremendously well in professional and division 1 NCAA landmark events. We were going to do it for FREE with unlimited bandwidth in hopes of promoting ourselves as the place for the entire community to upload their media content. Well, that was a no. And Vimeo/Youtube are still the places to go for HQ's contracted media. That being said, there is no way that outside media will be allowed to profit on covering these events. Don't quote me on that but it seems to be the trend.
@Mike Wright You aren't alone, my friend. I am sure that they will find a solution soon. Even if it cuts into their profit margins a bit. HQ is capable of great things. We have seen it many times over. This year, things just seem to be different. We may need to revert back to the days of old, when CrossFit was just a fitness program that licensed gyms and had a sick competition every year that was just as much about community as it was about winning $500, $1,500, or $5,000.
@
My wife and I spend most every day in the box and working full time. We also spend a ton of money on nutrition. The added expence of travel would throw most families off. We do this for the love and the community. I don't honestly know which way it should go, I don't want to loose what we have with crossfit right now. But had she made it to the games it would be a different stories. We couldn't afford it!!!!
I just wondered around the Games site for a bit and I can find Links to sponsorship forms for companies to sponsor the games but not a single Link for media no media packets and no place to request press credentials.
Let's see if I get this right...
So HQ hosts these games that will be the best of the best in the sport of Crossfit. The athletes will have to pay 100% of the travel and miss work (most likely) to be there. HQ will hand out one check to the winner for $25,000.
From these games will be all kinds of new video's which show these bad ass athletes (who had to pay their own money to get there) to promote Crossfit. By promoting it'self it will lead more people to sign up for certifications which will only benefit HQ.
So can we safely say that the hard work and money spent by the atheletes to get to the Games and compete will only go to promote HQ getting more money in the end?
So much for me ever going to a cert clinic.....
I agree Web. Especially with the qualifications required for entry into this years Games. Those athletes that made it through both Regionals and Sectionals already have a lot of time and money wrapped up into the competition. Travel expenses, time off work, arrangements for family/pets, etc. I think the least that HQ could do would be to provide for travel and accommodation expenses for those that qualify for the Games. Possibly a stipend of sorts? For instance you get $2000 for qualifying for the Games, 25% of which ($500) is awarded shortly after the Sectional Qualifier. After arriving at the Games site and passing the drug screening, the balance is awarded to the athlete ($1500). Please don't mistake those figures for hard and fast numbers. They were used only for the purpose of the explanation.
In conclusion, I feel that HQ is getting a HUGE profit off of athletes that have put up a substantial amount of time and money to have their chance at the podium. It's time to give back!
Awsome post web,i deffently agree with everything you wrote.Crossfits about getting in shape, community, and bettering ones self for a healthy lifestyle and its a shame that people try to take advantage of that. Never forget why you started it and who we are.
Awesome post. I had that same feeling when hearing that the purse was 25k this year. It kinda reminds me of the UFC touting the awesomeness of a "six-figure contract" for winners of the TUF show. Never mind that we are talking about a 3 year contract and 33.3k a year isn't exactly a lot for a professional athlete at the highest level of the Sport. Obviously, Crossfit is a new sport and it would be easy to explain the relatively small purse, except for the fact that Crossfit is blowing up. Sold out certs every weekend bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars a week. I would think we could manage better. For now, owning your own box and/or doing HQ certs is the only way to go pro in Crossfit. I hate to say it, but if you really want to crown the fittest person in the world, you need to raise the purse to a level high enough that it will attract the caliber of athlete that can make millions from competition. Until then, we are basically crowning the fittest man and woman in the world (who aren't' athletic enough to make a lot more money as a pro athlete doing something else.) I hope to see the day when that changes because I love watching the competitions now and can hardly imagine the level of competition that this sport could possibly achieve.
exactly Jud, you don't even want to know what we spend monthly on nutrition, physical therapy, supplementation, etc...
Good to see someone finally talking about this. Competing is expensive, but so is training! Seems like most folks pay upwards of $100/month just to train twice a week - the elite athlete needs to be there a lot more often than that. Is that why so many competitors are CrossFit coaches/staff? And how many stellar athletes are missing out on CrossFit because the cost of entry is so high. I see many more good discussions to be had...
yesssss.......
love the post....and kris is right the cost does get pretty high, and you are not even adding in time off of work, or visits to therapy to keep your body ready to compete. This is an expensive hobby no doubt. hopefully the games continue to expand and get more events throughout the year to spread the word and sponsorships is the next phase of this sport. IT will only happen with expanded media. Great work WEB.
Excellent post Web.... and this is only the beginning. i love Crossfit and the community, but for the money Carey and I have spent through qualifications, travel, etc.. will exceed $3500, when that amount of money could have easily got me to South Africa and back with money left in my wallet. Not bitching, just stating the facts... the Kepler's will be in Brazil in 2014, or at least i will be.
Great!!!