Rev3, the home grown East Coast and Midwest series of well regarded triathlons, has found what it thinks is a sane and balanced formula for prize money. Its 6 races taking place in 2016 will offer a purse of $5000, with an additional $2,500 bump in the purse for every bloc of 250 racers beyond a base amount of 500. This would mean that a race with 900 would feature a purse of $7,500 while a race with 1,100 would offer a purse of $10,000.
The level of the purse is based on registrations, not starters, and will include the registration totals in all of its multisport events contested on that day.
The purse will be paid to one gender per race, with 3 races paying its purse to men, 3 to pro women. It's the Olympic distance only that will feature a purse. (Rev3 Cedar Point will be a double super sprint format). Rev3 will produce 6 triathlons with prize purses.
May 22nd: Rev3 Knoxville, Knoxville, TN – Olympic distance – Pro Women Only
June 4th: Rev3 Quassy, Middlebury, CT – Olympic distance – Pro Men Only
July 10: Rev3 Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA – Olympic distance – Pro Women Only
August 7: Rev3 Pocono Mountains, Shawnee, PA – Olympic distance – Pro Men Only
August 28: Rev3 Maine, Old Orchard Beach, ME – Olympic distance – Pro Women Only
September 10: Rev3 Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH – Double Super Sprint – Pro Men Only
Rev3 announced that races will alternate genders in 2017. Rev3 is also creating a homestay network for its pros who commit to the race early. This is one of a number of initiatives that have as their theme both requiring value from pros and producing value for the pro beyond the purse offered. Said the race organization in a statement today:
"Pro athletes will be highlighted on the Rev3 website, and it will feature athlete bios as well as links back to each Pro's website and social media sites. The Rev3 website and social media will be used as a vehicle to help Pro athletes build their individual brands and provide each of them an opportunity to reach new audiences that were not available to them in the past. On race weekend, Rev3 will provide real time updates on Pro races via social media, as well as a dedicated 'live' website, which will include videos and live race splits."
Rev3 has fallen victim in the past to an uneven calibration of the purse to the strength and health of the race. The Life Time Series, Challenge races in the U.S., and HyVee are only some of the races to first overspend on the purse – based on the finances of each discrete race – only to eliminate altogether the pro purse (or have the race itself disappear entirely) once the organization scrutinized its return on its pro investment.
Rev3 has sought traction since first appearing on the scene 6 years ago. It was a mainstay for pros, paying from between $50,000 and $150,000 per race right from its beginning. But the races themselves were not large enough to support such purses, and field quality in recent years frankly did not justify the money paid. In 2014 Rev3 dropped its money to the under $5000 threshold, allowing age group racers to claim a chance at the purse. The series was raced under the Challenge banner in 2015, and bigger purses were back. But midway through 2015 the purse was cut entirely from most North American Challenge races because, again, the fields did not justify the purse and the purses were again out of scale with race finances.
Rev3's statement today reminds readers that it has paid "$2 million dollars in cash prize purses" since 2009. Its structure announced today is a more careful, and carefully calibrated, approach to its partnership with elite, money-earning triathletes. For professional triathletes its a careful step back into a national series of no-draft Olympic distance races.
