Eric Roza Will Transition From CrossFit CEO to Board Chairman
CrossFit has experienced yet another shakeup to its leadership. Eric Roza is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer and will transition to Chairman of the Board. Roza shared the news with CrossFit employees in an email sent on Feb. 3, 2022. Per that email, Roza had the intention of moving from CEO to Board Chairman “after three years or so.” However, that timeframe was expedited by nearly a year and a half — Roza’s acquisition of CrossFit was finalized in July 2020.
“As Board Chairman, I will provide support and mentoring to the leadership team and continue to partner with them on long-term vision and strategy, while continuing to represent the brand externally, and we have begun the search process for a new CEO.”
There was no mention of any names, if any, currently in consideration for Roza’s successor. As Board Chairman, Roza “will remain deeply involved in the future of CrossFit…[and] work closely with the leadership team on the company’s objectives and plans.”
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In his email, Roza did not state any additional reasons as to why he is stepping down as CrossFit CEO other than that it was his plan to do so “from the beginning” once his team achieved his “ambitious vision,” which included the further internationalization of the sport. According to Roza:
“In 2021, we added more than 1,000 affiliates, credentialed over 15,000 new coaches, and welcomed hundreds of thousands of new members, even as COVID continues to impact many of our key markets. That is tremendous progress.”
Prior to his acquisition of CrossFit and his role as the company’s CEO, Roza led the team that built and sold consumer data collection company Datalogix to Oracle for a reported ~$1.2 billion. Additionally, he is a CrossFit Level 2 Trainer and co-founder of CrossFit Sanitas in Boulder, CO.
CrossFit Leadership
Roza’s move to Board Chairman marks the second major change to CrossFit’s leadership in 2022. Former CrossFit General Manager of Sport Dave Castro was released on Jan. 4, 2022 — seven weeks before the start of the 2022 CrossFit Open on Feb. 24, 2022. Justin Bergh replaced Castro in the role and has since announced CrossFit’s future plans of improved communication, affiliate inclusivity when making decisions, competition programming, and CrossFit HQ’s expectations going forward.
BarBend will update this article as more information is made available regarding Roza’s successor.
Featured image: @rozaeric on Instagram