With the exception of championship events the current Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events have a total prize purse of $15,000 to $125,000 paying between 5 to 8 deep depending on the event. Over the past few years many of the professional triathletes and supporters of the sport have been asking Ironman Corporation for deeper prize purses and a payment of 10 deep at all events. Despite plenty of supporters for this proposition nothing has changed – until today. Those not in favor of larger prize purses and paying ten deep have argued that not all races even have ten athletes competing in the professional division such as Ironman Whistler this year which had only 7 women competing despite paying 8 deep.
Ironman’s announcement today to increase the 2015 professional prize payout to over $5 million creates larger prize purses in many of their events but in order to do so they decided to select only 35 of events from their 2014 schedule that will pay out. These 35 events will be the only events in the Americas offering prize money and KPR points next year. The remaining events will be designated as Age-group events only. The Pro Event Schedule for Europe and Asia Pacific Region has not been released yet.
After glancing over the 2014 schedule it looks as if about 21 current races will not been included on the professional schedule in 2015 in order to increase the prize money and create more competitive events. In 2015 27 of the 35 events on the pro schedule will pay $50,000 or more. 19 events of these will see an increased prize purse over 2014, 13 races’ prize purse will remain the same and 3 races’ prize purses will decrease. Although prize purses will increase it appears only championship races will pay 10 deep at this point.
Read the press release from Ironman below for more information on these changes.
Races not included on 2015 Pro Schedule
- IM Boulder
- IM Louisville
- IM Wisconsin
- IM Lake Tahoe
- IM Florida
- IM Lake Placid
- IM Los Cabos
- IM Muskoka
- IM Cambridge
- IM 70.3 Florida
- IM 70.3 Hawaii
- IM 70.3 Kansas
- IM 70.3 Boise
- IM 70.3 Victoria
- IM 70.3 Syracuse
- IM 70.3 Vancouver
- IM 70.3 Steelhead
- IM 70.3 Lake Stevens
- IM 70.3 Lake Tahoe
- IM 70.3 Augusta
- IM 70.3 Muskoka
2015 Professional Prize Purse Structure:
In 2015, IRONMAN will have a total professional prize payout of over $5 million – an increase from 2014. Debuting next year, IRONMAN will be shifting the Professional Prize Purse structure in the Americas at select IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 races designated for professional competition. All other races will be age-group competition only. This change will feature the following enhancements:
- Fewer focused professional races creating bigger prize purses in those races,
- All Championship races will pay first through tenth
- A meaningful and regionally fair schedule that promotes more head-to-head competition between top professional athletes
- Improved sequencing of events with consideration of World Championship
“This is a philosophical and concentrated move to provide our professional athletes with a competitive calendar and to help build rivalry and competition while generating excitement around the races,” said Andrew Messick, Chief Executive Officer for IRONMAN. “This has been an important change that we have been working towards for the past six months.”
For further details of the professional schedule please click HERE for the official Ironman event details.
