Disclaimer: Please note, this is opinion piece. There are many benefits to a solid community and I’m not dismissing that. The text below is my belief and observation on how a company has successfully monetized failure.
Why I don’t compete in the worlds largest fitness competition.
If I told you that for only $20 I would let you log into a site and post your score of a public competition for the next 5 weeks, would you whip out your credit card and pay me $20, right now? Probably not, right? Seriously, why would you give me $20 to do something so rudimentary? Ok, ok, its a competition – maybe you can win. I get it. Lets keep going.
What If I also told you that more than 98% of you who do pay me the money to compete will not make it to the next round of eliminations, would you pay me still? Probably not, right? Why wouldn’t you make it? Simply because you’re not on the same level as the top 2%. Lets assume you’re average person (most of us are), you’re not a professional athlete and this is an elite physical competition. Knowing this fact, would you still pay me $20 to log in and post your scores online? Probably not, right?
If I told you that you got nothing out of it other than seeing your name online for $20, would you still pay me $20? Probably not, right? Doesn’t make financial sense. Sure, its only $20. Big deal, Donn, its $20 – who cares?! But why waste $20 when you can write down your score and see how you rank against the others by simply comparing your score on a free public website. The thing is – $20 is not much, but most people freak out over a $4.99 app on the AppStore. In my opinion I’d recommend saving the $20 to spend it on apps and get some stuff you can actually use. If you don’t really have a chance to make it to the next elimination round, then why spend the money to compete? Thats like showing up at a NHRA race with a 76′ Ford Courier pick up truck trying to race against the nitro funny cars. I hate to tell you this my friend, you’re not going to win. Save your money and compare your best times to the pros. You’ll still have fun and you’ll save $20.
Ya see, I don’t see the point in giving a company $20 for no reason than to simply log in and post a score online. I can do that on Facebook, I can do that on Twitter. Its free. Kind of ridiculous if you think about it. Kind of seems like a scam, right? That’s how I feel.
Folks, this is exactly what the CrossFit Open does. You pay them $20 bucks so you can log in and post your score and not move to the next round (pro athletes are the exception). Let it be known, I’m a huge fan of CrossFit (I’m even L1 Certified) I’m just not competing in the games.
I simply don’t see why I’d spend the money. There is no need to. However, nearly 170,000 people at this time have paid $20 to register for the CrossFit Open. Thats nearly 3.4 Million dollars, cash, pre-paid. This is monetizing at its best. CrossFit has monetized failure. Now that, is impressive.