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What makes Crossfit such an exciting prospect for sponsors?


Jodie Cormack - 15th August 2017 - 0 comments

The CrossFit Games: how much do you know about the competition? Over the years, CrossFit has become one of the fastest growing sports in America and all around the world. The Games is a set of gruelling tests aimed at finding the fittest on earth. Not only does the event attract thousands of athletes, but due to the thrilling obstacles and competitive spirit within, it attracts thousands of spectators and sponsors each year.

As a growing sport, the CrossFit community now includes more than 13,000 affiliates in more than 120 countries. The season is split into three stages, the Open, Regionals and the Games, all aiming to accurately test athletes’ fitness. The ranging stages over the course of the season lead to significant exposure and enhanced visibility. One avenue which has helped CrossFit become the success that it is to this day is commercial sponsorship. CrossFit’s main competition sponsor is Reebok. The brand signed a 10-year partnership and has stood side by side with the sport as it has developed from a niche pursuit to becoming a global sporting and cultural phenomenon.

Since its inception in 2007, CrossFit has been an early adopter of all social media platforms. When management considered how their members consume media, their insights showed that athletes don’t watch a lot of TV, or read a lot of traditional media. One of the main ways they consume news and updates is through social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Therefore, daily varied workouts, continued updates of athletes’ progress throughout the season, infographics and video previews are all posted on these platforms. In 2017, the Reebok CrossFit Games was live streamed on Facebook, producing significant global exposure for the sport and keeping the community up-to-date on all stages. The coverage provided behind the scenes footage, athlete interviews, the crowning of Matthew Fraser and Tia-Clair Toomey as the fittest on earth and insightful commentary from their own media broadcast show. As well as being broadcast live on social media, the weekend’s competition was also shown on CBSSports.com.

With continuous growth, you can understand why more businesses are looking at partnering up with the brand. Other proud associates include Rogue, Compex and Airrosti. Open workouts are also sponsored by companies, these being Paleothics, ROMWOD, Gatorz, Assult Fitness and Zevia. These all contribute to the prize purse, which was $2.2 million as of 2017. CrossFit has also launched several social media stars as a result of their following. Lauren Fisher, Brooke Ence, Mathew Fraser and Ricky Garard have all been able to make a significant living as a result of sponsorships and endorsement deals.

The big question to ask is what the future looks like for CrossFit. At the moment, there looks to be no stopping the growth of the competition. The sport is seeing developments in all areas including affiliate gyms, competitive athletes, sponsors and fans. With time, we can only expect the 15,000 spectators that visited the site to watch the 2017 Games to rise significantly. More partnerships between the organisation and other companies will lead to further global exposure on broadcasting and social media platforms. All of this will mean an increasing annual revenue for the corporation, resulting in the brand’s net worth rising from the current estimated figure of $4 billion.

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