REV3 Triathlon has cancelled the professional division and pro prize purse at its races for the remainder of 2014 and shifted focus to a newly resurrected Age Group Series for the 2014 race season. The event organiser notes that the new age group focused series will provide ‘REV3 athletes an opportunity to race against the best age groupers in the country in a season finale, championship REV3 race.’
While many age groupers will welcome the new focus on the larger mass participation element of REV3 races – and that first, second, and third place age group winners will be awarded cash prizes – the announcement will raise alarm bells among the many pro athletes looking to make a living from triathlon across the US and beyond.
Pro athletes will undoubtedly wonder on how this latest decision by REV3 will impact on the attitude to the pro circuit among other leading multisport event organisers. In tandem, age groupers may question the decision to focus less on the pros – as one of the appeals of triathlon is the ability to race on the same course as the best of the best.
Age group focus
The inaugural REV3 Championship Race will be REV3 Knoxville in 2014. REV3 races of the Olympic, Half and Full distances will serve as qualification races for the championship race. In addition, REV3 will have an age group leader board on its website.
The REV3 team will do weekly stories on age groupers competing in the series and we will provide links to these athletes’ social media pages and blogs. Lastly, REV3 will highlight the age group championship race with a video, as was previously the case with the pro races.
Prizes from our REV3 sponsors will also be awarded to our fourth and fifth place winners in each age group, to include Clydesdale and Athena athletes.
Letter to pros
REV3 recently sent out an e-mail to the many triathletes competing at its races, explaining its decision to drop the professional division of its races…
‘It is with sadness I have to share this news with you.
After May 18th in Knoxville and the Pro and Age Group Championship race, REV3 will discontinue a professional prize purse for the remaining races in 2014. I am incredibly sorry that this is being announced so late which wasn’t my intention. I know a lot of you have planned your schedules around our races and have become loyal customers of ours.
You have helped build our brand and I appreciate that more than you know. For some of you, REV3 is an important part of your earning potential so I know this will be tough news to swallow.
REV3 has formed some great relationships with you all. We hope to continue those relationships because, as we’ve learned in this business the last 6 years, this industry is moving fast and things continue to change.
Since day 1, we felt that having a substantial pro purse was one of the keys to building our brand and getting age-groupers to sign up for our races. It has worked great in some cases and not as we planned in others. REV3 is not going away! You will just see a shift in our marketing focus very soon.
In 5 years, we have given out more than [US]$2 million to pros/elites, not because we are charitable but because we saw it as a marketing investment. The return on our investment hasn’t been exactly what we expected and thus the change in focus.
I wish you all the best success for this season and long careers to come.’
