I was watching the Johnny Weir reality show (fun stuff!), and I was surprised when he talked about how hard it was to pay all the bills as a skater. As one of the best in the world, I would have figured he would be at least well off, if not downright rich. So I went looking in the internet to see what kind of prize money the skaters are competing for, and wow, I was really surprised.
According to what I found on the IFS Magazine site, here's the prize money breakdown at each Grand Prix event (it's for the 2008-2009 season, but I can't imagine it changed all that much in one season):
1st place: USD $18,000.00
2nd place: USD $13,000.00
3rd place: USD $ 9,000.00
4th place: USD $ 3,000.00
5th place: USD $ 2,000.00
This goes for each discipline (men, ladies, pairs, dance), and the total prize money for each event with all the disciplines is $180,000. Doesn't this strike anyone else is ridiculously low?
I compare it to my other favorite sport, tennis, and the difference is staggering. The top events on the tennis tour routinely offer total prize money of about $1,000,000, which is about the entire prize money total for ALL SIX Grand Prix events. Isn't that absurd (especially when you consider that the winner of the U.S. Open gets more than a million dollars for that event alone)? That's not to mention that top tennis players often get huge guarantees (i.e. money just for showing up) aside from the prize money.
I think it shows how tough it is for skaters, even for top ones like Weir. He estimated that his yearly expenses come out to be about $90,000. Even if he were to win both his assigned Grand Prix events and then do well at the Grand Prix finals and the World Championships, he would barely make a profit, if at all. It proves that skaters are really dependent on big-time sponsorships (which pretty much go only to Olympic medalists) and skating shows which don't really help skating be seen as a real sport.
I wish the skaters would some day try to do what tennis players did decades ago, namely band together, break free from the ISU sham-ateurism deathgrip, and take the matter into their own hands. They need to form a Pro Skating Tour that's open to everyone with a series of meaningful, competitive events in important markets (like the ISU Grand Prix but on a bigger scale with bigger fields). They need to get big-time corporate sponsors (e.g. Diet Pepsi Skating Tour) and amp up the prize money significantly so that everyone, not just the stars, can make a living from their sport. It would also allow skaters to receive attention more consistenly throughout the seasons, not just during the lead-up to the Olympics.
I used to be so frustrated when skaters seemed to almost hate skating and do things like skip the Grand Prix entirely, opt to do cheesy shows that interfered with their training, and talk over and over about how they wanted to go into acting or fashion, but I can understand their position better now. Skaters are the ones that really put in the hard work, and I feel they should be better rewarded for that.
According to what I found on the IFS Magazine site, here's the prize money breakdown at each Grand Prix event (it's for the 2008-2009 season, but I can't imagine it changed all that much in one season):
1st place: USD $18,000.00
2nd place: USD $13,000.00
3rd place: USD $ 9,000.00
4th place: USD $ 3,000.00
5th place: USD $ 2,000.00
This goes for each discipline (men, ladies, pairs, dance), and the total prize money for each event with all the disciplines is $180,000. Doesn't this strike anyone else is ridiculously low?
I compare it to my other favorite sport, tennis, and the difference is staggering. The top events on the tennis tour routinely offer total prize money of about $1,000,000, which is about the entire prize money total for ALL SIX Grand Prix events. Isn't that absurd (especially when you consider that the winner of the U.S. Open gets more than a million dollars for that event alone)? That's not to mention that top tennis players often get huge guarantees (i.e. money just for showing up) aside from the prize money.
I think it shows how tough it is for skaters, even for top ones like Weir. He estimated that his yearly expenses come out to be about $90,000. Even if he were to win both his assigned Grand Prix events and then do well at the Grand Prix finals and the World Championships, he would barely make a profit, if at all. It proves that skaters are really dependent on big-time sponsorships (which pretty much go only to Olympic medalists) and skating shows which don't really help skating be seen as a real sport.
I wish the skaters would some day try to do what tennis players did decades ago, namely band together, break free from the ISU sham-ateurism deathgrip, and take the matter into their own hands. They need to form a Pro Skating Tour that's open to everyone with a series of meaningful, competitive events in important markets (like the ISU Grand Prix but on a bigger scale with bigger fields). They need to get big-time corporate sponsors (e.g. Diet Pepsi Skating Tour) and amp up the prize money significantly so that everyone, not just the stars, can make a living from their sport. It would also allow skaters to receive attention more consistenly throughout the seasons, not just during the lead-up to the Olympics.
I used to be so frustrated when skaters seemed to almost hate skating and do things like skip the Grand Prix entirely, opt to do cheesy shows that interfered with their training, and talk over and over about how they wanted to go into acting or fashion, but I can understand their position better now. Skaters are the ones that really put in the hard work, and I feel they should be better rewarded for that.
Last edited:
And here I thought he just likes to dress well:
