Loud And Live Brings The Green

Over the December break, while most of the CrossFit world was recovering from an overload of holiday cheer, the Granite Games announced details regarding their prize payouts for the individual and team of 4 divisions this season. 

The Granite Games are one of five events that are part of the Loud And Live Sports family, and the announcement brings into focus the full scope of the financial investment through prize purses that Loud And Live Sports has made for athletes this season.

The breakdown: Wodapalooza leads the way with the biggest purse of the bunch, but new to this season is the top team prize for the Madrid CrossFit Championship which stands at $100,000 – by far the largest of any Sanctional and equal to the CrossFit Games team champions prize.

• Wodapalooza CrossFit Festival: $399,860 total prize purse.
• West Coast Classic: $323,500 total prize purse.
• Granite Games: $250,000 total prize purse.
• Madrid CrossFit Championship: $260,000 total prize purse.
• Mayan CrossFit Classic: $51,500 total prize purse.
• Cumulative total: $1,284,860 prize purse.

President of Loud And Live Sports Matt O’keefe: “We want to provide greater revenue generating opportunities for the athletes of our sport. In the process, we are striving to develop the platforms for athletes to showcase their talent and brands, many of which provide them an opportunity to earn. Simultaneously we’re providing platforms to brands and enthusiasts to interact and express themselves. We feel this approach expands on what the CrossFit Games has built; growth and support for the entire ecosystem.”

Why this matters: Reebok’s title sponsorship of the Games ends after this season and questions remain about the effect it will have on the more than three million dollars that make up the Games prize purse that Reebok covers as part of the deal.

• It’s worth noting that per the 2020 rulebook, the prize purse remained flat this season and it was the first time the purse wasn’t increased since 2012.
• Additional uncertainty around the format of the Games competition – which included drastic cuts last season that shuffled the leaderboard – also factors into how much money an athlete walks away with at season’s end.

Athletes are the lifeblood of this new system, the success of which depends on both the ability of the athletes to make a decent living, and independent Sanctionals to attract athletes to stay afloat. Investments by Sanctionals in significant prize purses check both those boxes, and fans of the sport are rewarded with deeper athlete fields and more of their favorites competing.

Invested interest: Loud And Live Sports now operates four of the top six events in terms of prize purses (Dubai and Rogue are the other two), and has established itself as a leader in the marketplace for athletes looking for quality competition and compensation.

• On average there is about a month timeframe separating each event, which affords athletes enough time to participate in at least 2-3 events if they choose depending on their qualification status for the Games.

The total prize purse investment by Loud And Live Sports may not fully replace the Games, but a 1.28 million dollar combined purse is significant enough to provide athletes alternative options for financial sustainability in a sporting environment that has largely been in flux for the past 18 months. The professional athletes of our sport deserve professionalism on all levels, and investments like this are a major step in the right direction.