Have you been dreaming about your gym hosting a CrossFit competition? There are a number of factors to consider when deciding whether or not to host a CrossFit competition.
Answering the following questions should help you in the process of hosting a successful event.
Determine your “Why”
CrossFit South Cherry’s goal in hosting our comp, Carolina Chaos, has always been to be one of the best competitions in the Southeast. Our “best” is determined by the number of teams competing and the level of competition. What’s your “best” determined by?
Why should Athletes come to your comp?
We decided to offer cash prizes. This aligns with our desire to be the best by attracting some of the bigger names in the area with cash to be won. Our goal is to have the prize purse grow each year as well as adding some pretty cool prizes other than cash.
What will the Division Breakdown be?
Will your competition be for individuals only, teams, or both?
Will there be different levels — Elite, Rx, Scaled, Masters?
How will you Grow Awareness of your competition?
Social media is obviously a big one here. Posting regularly on Instagram and on any local CrossFit Facebook group pages is key. Another good way to advertise is with paper flyers. Keep them short and to the point (date?, location?, divisions breakdown?, cash prizes?).
In order to maximize the value of the flyers, drop them off to gyms in your area/state/neighboring states.
Another way to increase awareness is to ask your athletes that enjoy competing to attend and compete in the other local competitions. Most competitions will provide swag bags with different goodies and coupons to all competing athletes. You’ll want to get your flyer into these athlete bags!
Determine your Expenses
Cash prizes, athlete shirts, judges shirts… etc. After you determine your expenses, you will know how much money you will need to get covered by sponsorships.
Determine your Equipment Needs
Not all gyms have a plethora of equipment. Don’t let this stop you. You could reach out to other gyms in the area and see if collaboration is an option!
Sponsors
We can’t stress this enough! This is a great way to fund your competition and cover all of your expenses. Reach out to local businesses and offer them the chance to partner financially with your competition in exchange for marketing exposure.
Set different sponsorship levels and be strategic about which businesses you target for high- and low-level sponsorship.
Examples:
- Title (1 sponsor) – $1000
- Elite (4 sponsors) – $600 each
- Rx (10 sponsors) – $300 each
- Food/drink vendors – $150
- Table at comp – $200
- Athlete shirts – cost of shirts… etc.
Set Deadlines
- Start from the competition date and work backwards.
- Consider these deadlines: When does registration begin/end?
- If registration fees increase, when?
- When do we need to have all sponsorship details in?
- How many workouts will we have and when will we release each?
- When do we need to shoot promo videos?
- When will we have a judges meeting?
Other things to consider when hosting a CrossFit competition
- Programming for the competition?
- How many judges will you have?
- Where will you get judges from?
- Having a DJ?
- Having someone or a team come and take pictures and/or a video of the day?
- Parking?
Source: Battle Cancer BerlinAs the competition happens in real time, make sure you’re posting Instagram/Facebook stories, posts, etc. This will get others at the event more involved. After the comp, post photos, stats, etc. sporadically to keep engagement going and keep the event top-of-mind throughout the year until the next one.
Lastly, HAVE FUN!
Image Sources
- bcberlin-111: Battle Cancer Berlin
- rossfit Fittest in Cape Town: Anton Geyser/South African Sports Images courtesy of CrossFit Inc.