*WHAT IS SOMETHING I MISSED OR LEFT OUT THAT YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT???!!* I do apologize about the wind audio in the middle of the video. I should get a mic....hahaha
Maybe mention how much on average top level athletes pay for programming, coaching, etc. That could be a huge chunk of their "income" right off the top that could make it even harder to live on sponsors alone.
@@kyleb464 this would be interesting to see as well. Prices of coaches, specialty training, nutritionist, meal prep services, supplements, massages etc.. all definitely add up.
@@kyleb464 That is a true statement for sure. Sometimes, depending upon who you are, the coach or program "comps" your programming because they want to use your name as marketing.
Basically a crosffiter is like a self-employed person hired for companies. Plus you have to train a ton, and take care of the programming business, and plan, record and edit youtube videos. BUT they work in what they love. All day long. That's how I see it.
Super informative. Great answers and very well researched information. Would love to know how you 1 started CF, 2 how/why you started competing, and 3 when you realized you could be at an elite level. Also would be cool if you did some videos about each sponsor in detail. I would love to know more about each company that sponsors you, why/how they approached you or you approached them, and why you like to use their products and what products specifically you love and how you use them. Also how you would recommend the average joe crossfitter to use them. Would make for great content as well as a little boost for sponsors and look good to potential sponsors 😘 get another raise, know what I’m sayin?
Great video Jacob, well explained. Many folks wonder how it all works, this should help a lot. I work with other professional athletes and It’s essentially all the same gig. Despite what most think, it’s not as glamorous or lucrative for most athletes, only the very top household names in each sport. One important item you didn’t mention, the self employment tax. For most athletes making under 130k, its a very big difference over a W-2 job. I’m sure you’re advisors have suggested an S-Corp as an easy way to help with that. Wishing you continued success Jacob!
Hey Jacob, how did you get into crossfit and how did you make the transition into competing? How did your programming change as you progressed? What were some of your weaknesses and how did you go about getting better at them?
Great question! Maybe I'll come up with a good video on it. If I talk about "How I started/found Crossfit" what would you specifically want me to talk about?
@@JacobHeppner I would like to know how did you know, or when did you realize you had a future as a crossfit athlete or you realize you were good enough to compete
@@JacobHeppner Thanks for replying! How did you discover Crossfit? Did you start to get in shape for football or because you saw it, tried it and liked it? For me, I saw the Crossfit Games on ESPN in 2014, thought it looked cool and tried it. Did you want to compete at the level you are now from the beginning or did that decision come over time? Also, what sparked the decision for you to take competing seriously?
Jacob, thank you for the video! I’ve been trying to find an answer like that. I am 13 and planning on going to the games, being an elite athlete like you and making a living off of it.
It's so crazy that almost every video that you put out match exactly what i was thinking of that day. For example today i was out with my step brother buying him clothes for the army and i was telling him about how unsure i was about getting drafted because i have to do the army for three years and the earlier you do Crossfit the better. He was telling me a bit about ways to avoid the army but everyone in Israel (where i live) say its such an amazing experience and that you grow as a person. And the army pays for your health insurance plus it gives a alright pay but i really love Crossfit and i want to see how far i could take it. a If anyone is reading this what would you do? Anyways love the videos they really make my day.
Dude, I am telling you. Put on a weekend training camp! The benefits would be awesome for everyone. You have a big fan base that would sign up, you would make some money and I would learn a lot from one of the fittest in the game.
Timothy Sutton agree man, people don’t get how to turn their personal brand into a business. You literally could never win CrossFit and make more then Matt if u did it right
Great video, and thanks for breaking it all down. Someone on your team should reach out to SteadyMD so they can start sponsoring you (if they don't already)...that'd get rid of that medical deduction bucket :) Maybe get Whoop or Garmin too...then you can include something within your MWM programming cost to ensure people are reaching the desired goals that you've set within the context of the program. You should have way more than 41k subscribed...your videos are great! Lastly, I think people who ask this are really trying to say, "How much does CrossFit really pay?" and you're being nice by providing context to an answer without giving an answer they're probably wanting.
Garrett Roy dude had only like 30k a month or so ago it seems. Channel is growing pretty quickly. He keeps up videos like this and it’s just gonna keep blowing up!
haha best part about your statement "Someone on your team" haha its just me. I am the person doing it all. Call me a control freak if you want. Good ideas though for sure! Can you expand on your whoop/garmin statement? I'm not sure I'm understanding correctly. Don't worry we will be at 100k soon enough and you and I can laugh about the 41k comment haha! Great point, I've gotten both questions actually. "Can You Live" & "What do you Make" but you are right I wanted to explain the context of how you make money since most folks don't know.
@@chadhamel8707 hang on tight....hired a company to help...working with an editor....and got some professional video content in the works. Lets just say I'm going to turn RUclips into a full time gig soon enough!
For everyone complaining about Glassman’s direction, his actions will increase athletes ability to earn a living through CrossFit. The larger the pie gets the more athletes will be able to make a full living. Side hustles are just part of life. Top NFL football players have side companies, gigs and additional income streams.
Jacob Heppner I like your breakout of W2 and 1099 earned income, laying out insurance costs, and retirement benefits. You did a great job of explaining financial planning areas not everyone thinks about. These are very important when deciding to become self employer to going to work for someone else. Off topic - I heard you’re from Mountain Grove. I’m good friends with the Southards family!
@@JacobHeppner Stalking... Sounds like getting out of the friend zone straight into "the jail zone" 😂😂 But seriously, hand-written letters are the best. And so rare nowadays
Very interesting and well explained - always like a good old chart too :) I don't practice CrossFit myself but really enjoy the content you / Craig & Jas / Rory /Armen / Tommy & ButteryBros are creating. One thought - do you see another potential source of income coming from the affiliates? Gym owners (a bit like NBA / NFL team owners) for sure would love their gym names to be associated with an athlete name / image. Not sure if this is something already existing for the top athletes like yourself. Good luck for the season 2020 💪- stay rad 😎 !
Jacob... there are so many “local” comps almost every weekend with a few hundred or thousand prize purse. Are games athletes not allowed to join? That would be a decent way to get an extra $10-20k per year.
No you probably could, but sometimes you have to look at the long term goal and ask yourself is it worth it beating your body up at local competitions, because lets be real....sometimes local competitions aren't programmed very well and they are only meant to beat you up.
Cost of living to consider... living in a Sydney or New York compared to a lower cost location for example. Would a person be prepared to change location to set up their CF career, sounds tough but its the same decision all adults make regarding home ownership, jobs, schools etc...
In your opinion to get a sponsor you of course need to be good at your sport (crossfit) so the question is can you live off yes you can but at what point or a guess lets take open ranking do you think you would need to get to before sponsors start to look at you as a athlete they would want to sponsor? Like if I was rank in the top 1000 would that be a time for me to start reaching out and look for sponsors and start building my name that way or do I need to be around top 500? Again just generic guess is fine
This is super interesting man. I have one question or maybe more of a comment. Maybe something to make another video about. Everything you say sounds reasonable in the US, but how about in other countries? I was top crossfit athlete in Mexico and I know that is way lower in the scale of a top athlete in the US or Europe but still I was top 5 in the open, won 2 mayor competitions and participated in WZA. Still the money to be done from sponsors is next to zero. That is just my experience, of course I was always having a full time job so I never really went out to explore all these areas you mention. But the main point is that this information you present may not be true for places outside the United States. Sorry for the long comment. Keep up the good videos dude!
Speaking of diversifying income I feel like this is the beginnings of a seminar that could be given to all athletes not just crossfitters, and you could make some money off of doing it. It was super simple to understand. I especially like the discussion of diversify revenue streams. The only missing piece in my opinion would be a discussion of career length. In so far as, an athletes "time worked" is likely to be much shorter than you average desk jockey.
really amazing and true content! I am not expert by all mean but for future videos where you gonna talk about anything i would say changing the background would help your videos to be even more amazing. just an idea tho
Chipotle is not expensive. $6.50 for a prepared Chicken bowl with 1500 calories is an insanely good deal for people on a budget. That should be two meals right there for a normal person, and one for a crossfit athlete. What grocery store are you shopping at that you can do better than that? Even if you match the $/Cal, by going to Chipotle you save a ton of time.
I like all the advise. I've been coaching full time since 2011 and have used workshops and events of such nature to gain a "raise" every so often. My question is, is there a platform where coaches get sponsors , like that if the sponsored athlete? If so, how does one approach this?
Ya i'm sure there is. I guess it would come down to what you can "offer" the company you approach to be sponsored by. Whats in it for them? And how well you leverage your position as a coach to ensure the company feels like their are receiving value from it!
Hey mate loved this s vid. I have a slightly different point. I work with under privileged kids in a school where I am the PE teacher. I find that C F in the UK is really expensive and out of the reach of many in my school community. I would love my kids/families to be able to gain all the mental emotional social and physical benefits of CF but they can't access this. Is crossfit doing enough to help reach these people or is it fitness for a certain income bracket? Just asking. Keep up the great content.
Hi Jonny, did you know that you could open an Affiliate in your school at no cost? Providing you do not charge for membership... As a Teacher, I'm pretty sure that you get discounted CF L1 too. I realise that you still need equipment. However, you could start small and negotiate a small budget with the School and your PE department. Also, look at community sponsorship from local companies. Furthermore, fundraise. So to answer your question, CF have always done 'something' to help reach the community you serve. It just takes someone passionate and willing to put the time in.
Respect the hustle. Elephant in the room is the short shelf life. You’re a dinosaur at 35. Now you have to figure out the next 30 years. Tough gig. Definitely not ideal for the family man. Awesome few years for the guys in the top twenty before flaming out though.
Haha harsh but true. Thats why I included "Injury Plan & Retirement Plan" as a portion of the discussion. The idea is to set yourself up for success after you can't compete anymore! Why do you think this RUclips channel was created?
Good point especially when you consider that a corporate job can really start to deliver around age 35-40. However, if a young cross fitter is doing well, they can invest their profits into money making ventures. So, it really is difficult to do this analysis for the “average” person.
Youd have to easily be top 20 in the world to live off crossfit. I'd say the top 10 in the world have it pretty good as far as the financial aspect. Still yet I would imagine youd have to really budget everything.
Nope, I have no monetary investment in C3 (Cobra Command Crossfit). Honestly from my perspective owning a gym and running it is probably one of the hardest jobs in this arena, especially when you factor in what you make. haha great name though!
Jacob Heppner very true! I run an affiliate and love every minute of it but it’s definitely a lot of work. I’d say not the best idea for someone who has to train professionally BUT definitely worth it if CrossFit is a passion and you want to run a business (key word business not hobby).
I would love to survive off of crossfit but in the ownership/coaching realm. I've been considering it as there are no crossfit gyms in the county but it is a small population and there is an abundance of regular gyms.
Location is everything! Unless your affiliate is in a large Town or City, it's tough to just get the bills paid. There is so much to consider... - Time was a huge one for me. When starting, inevitably you coach every class. - Most important lesson was our commitment to a 5 year lease. If your location isn't idea, renting a space in another business (gym) is a great way to start without major commitment. One can then expand from there.
This is all depends on the level at which you compete and your social media following right? I know some crappy 'athletes' who are sponsored but just show off their butt on instagram and get thousands of followers, and I know some pretty decent athletes with no social media following who probably deserve sponsors but have none! I imagine you either have to be a games level athlete in top 30 to make any monetary sponsors or have a huge following on social media. Correct me if I'm wrong! Great vid. 👍
That really depends on their affiliate. I don't think its really fair to make assumptions on average income from an affiliate since they vary so much. But it would be interested to see a chart of average income of affiliates for sure.
Just make another online programming program like every other single crossfitter. THEN if you want to try to be different call it something like “functional bodybuilding, or Functionality and bodybuilding hybrid, or bodybuilding functionally” or something like that then you’ll be different. But then you’ll see that you’re not different because tons of people do that already. Then you can go the RUclips route and start making videos and you’ll get tons of subs. But then you’ll realize how long videos take to edit and how much it cuts into your training and RUclips will demonitize your videos for no real reason. Then just open a gym and people will come because your popular. Then you’ll realize you need to hire someone to run the gym so you can train because running a business is more than a full time job. Boom professional CrossFitter lifestyle. Nailed it.
Jacob Heppner 😂 lol I’ve got a very blessed and positive life. I was just making a joke about how I’ve seen almost every games athlete do these things. Question: do sponsers write athletes a check? I always figured they just gave free supplements or clothes. But I’m in! Let me know when and where!
@@JacobHeppner Hmm, but at what level? How/when does a Sponsor go from 'supporting' an Athlete with FREE product, to actually paying them hard cash? Great video and discussion BTW
I think the biggest issue which you face is the same as professional athletes: you have a limited time to be a top competitor. using your example, a guy making $50k might be saving 15% for retirement, from 24 years old to 64. His working life is a little easier to map than a performance athlete.
@@JacobHeppner I think regardless of millionaire or regular guy, everyone should have an "emergency" fund (held in cash), and the amount is the monthly necessary spend x # months that it has to cover. If there is a probability that an injury would bench you for period of time, you'd sleep better at night knowing you have banked 6 months of expenses. What I actually think, is that you should consider next-career-after-Crossfit athlete, as a manager of other athletes. You are in a unique position to have credibility & reputation within your community that are valuable to others who come in. I hate hearing stories of gifted athletes/musicians etc that are broke and flipping burgers at 40.
That is correct. First of all its usually in contracts not to discuss numbers or terms of the contract. Plus its just an unspoken rule to not "kiss & tell." Great question and observation though!
Ok. But how many $50,000 sponsorships are out there? Enough to sustain say....20 marketable athletes? Of course some brands are sponsoring multiple athletes but the pool of sponsorship money is only so large. Or is a $50,000 sponsorship not even realistic? Are you suggesting in your video that a marketable athlete would have 2,3,maybe 4 sponsorships that total $50,000?
@@jensmith7826 I agree, and outside of the US it is markedly harder to obtain the same following. I would bet any athlete under 50-100k following on Instagram that also hasn't been in the top 20 at the games is not making anywhere close to 20k let alone 50k. The majority of ''sponsorships'' are Product + help with travel expenses + Prize money hen they compete. Which is still an awesome help, but it won't help the day to day so much.
To how many people you are speaking? I mean how many people relay have sponsors in CrossFit. If you not speak of games athletes. I have no idea I'm m just asking.
Great question! So first of all the video is meant to answer the question that lots of folks have. Usually the person/people asking this question aren't full time athletes, they instead are just curious on IF you can do it. There are a lot of athletes that have never been to the Games that have sponsors!
You don’t make ur money off CrossFit . You make ur money on personal branding. Fraiser got 300k from winning and however much from sponsorship. They real money is doing coaching or monthly workout sessions with your fans. People are looking at this business wrong
@@JacobHeppner well you missed out growth. The reality is that the majority of people are going to get married, have children and have a higher level of responsibility and financial obligation. Even with the elite level athletes in the other major sports have have found that sponsors dry up. Plenty of these athletes have gone bankrupt. You must look more into long term vs short term. Financial needs of a 22-30 year old are going to be different than a 30-45 year old with 2.5 kids 2 dogs a cat 2 car payments and a mortgage.
Get a ""proper mic"" Stop shouting dont record audio in the wind Dont have sun directly behind you and in the eyes of the viewer And try to stop being so annoying. Talk like a normal human
*WHAT IS SOMETHING I MISSED OR LEFT OUT THAT YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT???!!*
I do apologize about the wind audio in the middle of the video. I should get a mic....hahaha
You didn't leave out the sun creating an angelic glow around your head!!!
Maybe mention how much on average top level athletes pay for programming, coaching, etc. That could be a huge chunk of their "income" right off the top that could make it even harder to live on sponsors alone.
@@kyleb464 this would be interesting to see as well. Prices of coaches, specialty training, nutritionist, meal prep services, supplements, massages etc.. all definitely add up.
@@kyleb464 That is a true statement for sure. Sometimes, depending upon who you are, the coach or program "comps" your programming because they want to use your name as marketing.
@@hanawilliams2625 Especially when you are 1099 and your insurance doesn't cover that much.
Jacob Heppner the Dave Ramsey of CrossFit! Well done! Give yourself a 2% raise!
Haha maybe I will!
@@JacobHeppner love your videos, glad I found these
Basically a crosffiter is like a self-employed person hired for companies. Plus you have to train a ton, and take care of the programming business, and plan, record and edit youtube videos. BUT they work in what they love. All day long. That's how I see it.
Being a responsible adult 101. Great explications!
Thanks! Have to think all the things through before making decisions!
Super informative. Great answers and very well researched information.
Would love to know how you 1 started CF, 2 how/why you started competing, and 3 when you realized you could be at an elite level.
Also would be cool if you did some videos about each sponsor in detail. I would love to know more about each company that sponsors you, why/how they approached you or you approached them, and why you like to use their products and what products specifically you love and how you use them. Also how you would recommend the average joe crossfitter to use them. Would make for great content as well as a little boost for sponsors and look good to potential sponsors 😘 get another raise, know what I’m sayin?
Haha "get another raise, know what I'm sayin?" hahaha great point! I will for sure consider that!
Loving the videos and engagement Jacob. Your personality is infectious! Very exciting to hear behind the scenes of a sport I love.
Thanks so much! I appreciate your kind words! Just trying to let folks know how it all works. "How the sausage is made" per say.
Great video Jacob, well explained. Many folks wonder how it all works, this should help a lot. I work with other professional athletes and It’s essentially all the same gig. Despite what most think, it’s not as glamorous or lucrative for most athletes, only the very top household names in each sport.
One important item you didn’t mention, the self employment tax. For most athletes making under 130k, its a very big difference over a W-2 job. I’m sure you’re advisors have suggested an S-Corp as an easy way to help with that.
Wishing you continued success Jacob!
Thanks! They sure have!
Hey Jacob, how did you get into crossfit and how did you make the transition into competing? How did your programming change as you progressed? What were some of your weaknesses and how did you go about getting better at them?
Good idea for a next video!! @jacobheppner
Great question! Maybe I'll come up with a good video on it. If I talk about "How I started/found Crossfit" what would you specifically want me to talk about?
@@milkdrinker5966 Sure is! See my question below and let me know!
@@JacobHeppner I would like to know how did you know, or when did you realize you had a future as a crossfit athlete or you realize you were good enough to compete
@@JacobHeppner Thanks for replying! How did you discover Crossfit? Did you start to get in shape for football or because you saw it, tried it and liked it? For me, I saw the Crossfit Games on ESPN in 2014, thought it looked cool and tried it. Did you want to compete at the level you are now from the beginning or did that decision come over time? Also, what sparked the decision for you to take competing seriously?
Jacob, thank you for the video! I’ve been trying to find an answer like that. I am 13 and planning on going to the games, being an elite athlete like you and making a living off of it.
It's so crazy that almost every video that you put out match exactly what i was thinking of that day. For example today i was out with my step brother buying him clothes for the army and i was telling him about how unsure i was about getting drafted because i have to do the army for three years and the earlier you do Crossfit the better. He was telling me a bit about ways to avoid the army but everyone in Israel (where i live) say its such an amazing experience and that you grow as a person. And the army pays for your health insurance plus it gives a alright pay but i really love Crossfit and i want to see how far i could take it. a If anyone is reading this what would you do?
Anyways love the videos they really make my day.
Follow your dreams and don't get dragged by other's experiences or fears or likes. You are unique and your path is only yours to walk. Good luck! 😘
@@bgg7518 Great words!
So well done. So many details and transparency. The community thanks you.
Dude, I am telling you. Put on a weekend training camp! The benefits would be awesome for everyone. You have a big fan base that would sign up, you would make some money and I would learn a lot from one of the fittest in the game.
That is something we might consider in the future! Have to concentrate on the Open right now though!
Timothy Sutton agree man, people don’t get how to turn their personal brand into a business. You literally could never win CrossFit and make more then Matt if u did it right
Great, candid conversation. Thank you...
Great video, and thanks for breaking it all down. Someone on your team should reach out to SteadyMD so they can start sponsoring you (if they don't already)...that'd get rid of that medical deduction bucket :)
Maybe get Whoop or Garmin too...then you can include something within your MWM programming cost to ensure people are reaching the desired goals that you've set within the context of the program.
You should have way more than 41k subscribed...your videos are great!
Lastly, I think people who ask this are really trying to say, "How much does CrossFit really pay?" and you're being nice by providing context to an answer without giving an answer they're probably wanting.
Garrett Roy dude had only like 30k a month or so ago it seems. Channel is growing pretty quickly. He keeps up videos like this and it’s just gonna keep blowing up!
haha best part about your statement "Someone on your team" haha its just me. I am the person doing it all. Call me a control freak if you want. Good ideas though for sure! Can you expand on your whoop/garmin statement? I'm not sure I'm understanding correctly.
Don't worry we will be at 100k soon enough and you and I can laugh about the 41k comment haha!
Great point, I've gotten both questions actually. "Can You Live" & "What do you Make" but you are right I wanted to explain the context of how you make money since most folks don't know.
@@chadhamel8707 hang on tight....hired a company to help...working with an editor....and got some professional video content in the works. Lets just say I'm going to turn RUclips into a full time gig soon enough!
@@JacobHeppner just dm'd you through Insta to start the explanation
Awesome video!
Good video! Really interesting
Hey Jacob, greeting from Latvia! Loving your content, you are charismatic person and it makes your videos so easy to watch! Keep up the good work!
Thanks! I appreciate the kind words!
For everyone complaining about Glassman’s direction, his actions will increase athletes ability to earn a living through CrossFit. The larger the pie gets the more athletes will be able to make a full living. Side hustles are just part of life. Top NFL football players have side companies, gigs and additional income streams.
Great points Tyler!
Not a question but Bro I love your videos thank you for being such a great person to watch!
Well I appreciate you watching so much! Thanks for the kind words also!
Great video😄👍🏼🏋🏻♀️
As an auditor, love this video, Jacob!
Haha out of curiosity can you tell me why? I'd love to hear an auditors perspective!
Jacob Heppner I like your breakout of W2 and 1099 earned income, laying out insurance costs, and retirement benefits. You did a great job of explaining financial planning areas not everyone thinks about. These are very important when deciding to become self employer to going to work for someone else.
Off topic - I heard you’re from Mountain Grove. I’m good friends with the Southards family!
@@brycemandrell haha I know them!
Your Awesome Jacob👍🏻 Keep the Uploads Coming!!
Just for you!
This is sooo awesome!!!
I’ve been really enjoying these new types of videos like the “ego” video and this one!!
Glad you enjoy it! What is something else you'd like to hear me discuss?
How did you manage to get out of the friend zone!? You may be one of the very few guys on Earth who has been able to do so.
@@bgg7518 Persistance, Stalking, Writing Hand Written Letters
@@JacobHeppner Stalking... Sounds like getting out of the friend zone straight into "the jail zone" 😂😂
But seriously, hand-written letters are the best. And so rare nowadays
Well said!! 🙌🙌🙌
Wow dude! This was seriously enlightening. Thanks! :)
Of course!
Very interesting and well explained - always like a good old chart too :) I don't practice CrossFit myself but really enjoy the content you / Craig & Jas / Rory /Armen / Tommy & ButteryBros are creating. One thought - do you see another potential source of income coming from the affiliates? Gym owners (a bit like NBA / NFL team owners) for sure would love their gym names to be associated with an athlete name / image. Not sure if this is something already existing for the top athletes like yourself. Good luck for the season 2020 💪- stay rad 😎 !
Very well done, great information.
My question: how good at CrossFit do you have to be (in average) to be sponsored or to have that “income?”
Mat and rich are killing it then lol
Love this video! I’m just head to enjoy CrossFit but I love this behind the scenes knowledge
Glad you enjoy it! What other BTS would you like to see?
@@JacobHeppner How can a wife support hubsband's dream of pursuing fittest on Earth or a Crossfit career.
@@bgg7518 A sugar mamma. Don't we all wish we had one of those?
Jacob... there are so many “local” comps almost every weekend with a few hundred or thousand prize purse. Are games athletes not allowed to join? That would be a decent way to get an extra $10-20k per year.
No you probably could, but sometimes you have to look at the long term goal and ask yourself is it worth it beating your body up at local competitions, because lets be real....sometimes local competitions aren't programmed very well and they are only meant to beat you up.
Cost of living to consider... living in a Sydney or New York compared to a lower cost location for example. Would a person be prepared to change location to set up their CF career, sounds tough but its the same decision all adults make regarding home ownership, jobs, schools etc...
Absolutely true! I didn't consider that!
In your opinion to get a sponsor you of course need to be good at your sport (crossfit) so the question is can you live off yes you can but at what point or a guess lets take open ranking do you think you would need to get to before sponsors start to look at you as a athlete they would want to sponsor? Like if I was rank in the top 1000 would that be a time for me to start reaching out and look for sponsors and start building my name that way or do I need to be around top 500? Again just generic guess is fine
You don't always have to be great at the sport. Instead think it terms of "Marketable" you want to be a marketable athlete.
This is surprising well thought out, though I don't know why I am surprised?!
haha I spend a lot of time thinking before I film.
Great video and insight into how all this works!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Really good insight on a topic that is rarely talked about. Thank you!
This dude is so likeable
This is super interesting man. I have one question or maybe more of a comment. Maybe something to make another video about. Everything you say sounds reasonable in the US, but how about in other countries? I was top crossfit athlete in Mexico and I know that is way lower in the scale of a top athlete in the US or Europe but still I was top 5 in the open, won 2 mayor competitions and participated in WZA. Still the money to be done from sponsors is next to zero. That is just my experience, of course I was always having a full time job so I never really went out to explore all these areas you mention. But the main point is that this information you present may not be true for places outside the United States.
Sorry for the long comment. Keep up the good videos dude!
Great point Dany! Great point. Ya maybe I'll talk about that in the future.
Speaking of diversifying income I feel like this is the beginnings of a seminar that could be given to all athletes not just crossfitters, and you could make some money off of doing it. It was super simple to understand. I especially like the discussion of diversify revenue streams.
The only missing piece in my opinion would be a discussion of career length. In so far as, an athletes "time worked" is likely to be much shorter than you average desk jockey.
really amazing and true content! I am not expert by all mean but for future videos where you gonna talk about anything i would say changing the background would help your videos to be even more amazing. just an idea tho
Find a place with no wind...haha
Jacob Heppner jaja good challenge !
Chipotle is not expensive. $6.50 for a prepared Chicken bowl with 1500 calories is an insanely good deal for people on a budget. That should be two meals right there for a normal person, and one for a crossfit athlete. What grocery store are you shopping at that you can do better than that? Even if you match the $/Cal, by going to Chipotle you save a ton of time.
I like all the advise. I've been coaching full time since 2011 and have used workshops and events of such nature to gain a "raise" every so often. My question is, is there a platform where coaches get sponsors , like that if the sponsored athlete? If so, how does one approach this?
Ya i'm sure there is. I guess it would come down to what you can "offer" the company you approach to be sponsored by. Whats in it for them? And how well you leverage your position as a coach to ensure the company feels like their are receiving value from it!
Hey mate loved this s vid. I have a slightly different point. I work with under privileged kids in a school where I am the PE teacher. I find that C F in the UK is really expensive and out of the reach of many in my school community. I would love my kids/families to be able to gain all the mental emotional social and physical benefits of CF but they can't access this. Is crossfit doing enough to help reach these people or is it fitness for a certain income bracket? Just asking. Keep up the great content.
Hi Jonny, did you know that you could open an Affiliate in your school at no cost? Providing you do not charge for membership... As a Teacher, I'm pretty sure that you get discounted CF L1 too. I realise that you still need equipment. However, you could start small and negotiate a small budget with the School and your PE department. Also, look at community sponsorship from local companies. Furthermore, fundraise.
So to answer your question, CF have always done 'something' to help reach the community you serve. It just takes someone passionate and willing to put the time in.
@@robwalker5110 Awesome mate cheers for this info. Looking into this now. Could this be a vid topic???
Respect the hustle. Elephant in the room is the short shelf life. You’re a dinosaur at 35. Now you have to figure out the next 30 years. Tough gig. Definitely not ideal for the family man. Awesome few years for the guys in the top twenty before flaming out though.
Haha harsh but true. Thats why I included "Injury Plan & Retirement Plan" as a portion of the discussion. The idea is to set yourself up for success after you can't compete anymore! Why do you think this RUclips channel was created?
Good point especially when you consider that a corporate job can really start to deliver around age 35-40. However, if a young cross fitter is doing well, they can invest their profits into money making ventures. So, it really is difficult to do this analysis for the “average” person.
Very informative, thanks.
Great breakdown, Jacob.
Damn. Stressful job. Don't envy you dude. Excellent video though.
True statement for sure.
Curious to know how many competitive athletes have any kind of sponsors, even one. Most need to have an additional job probably part-time.
I'm sure there are quite a few. Usually what I tell people is that in this sport, social media is like your job. You need to marketable to people!
I don't do crossfit, but i like your videos. great info!
Maybe we should start calling Heppner the professor. Dropping some serious knowledge.
Spencer Lamer maybe Heppner the Wise. “Professor” is already taken by Fokowski.
@@chadhamel8707 Now I sound like a Lord of the Rings Character.
@@chadhamel8707 I know he is. Heppner the great?
Jacob Heppner you right. Let’s just go with Grand Master Heppner 🤺🧙🏻♀️(the best I could do- they don’t make Jedi emojis)
@@chadhamel8707 Use the force Winston
Really loving the content at the moment, but you need a little intro you put at the beginning of each video. 😍
True....but then its gets old and monotonous. I'd rather jump straight into the content! Plus I don't have someone yet to create a intro for me!
@@JacobHeppner do a competition for the intro. You will get submissions that way :-)
Is Chipotle your example of a fancy dinner? hahaha
Youd have to easily be top 20 in the world to live off crossfit. I'd say the top 10 in the world have it pretty good as far as the financial aspect. Still yet I would imagine youd have to really budget everything.
Are you an owner/part owner of Cobra command? If not, any thoughts of opening your own gym? Corgi CrossFit has a good ring to it!
Nope, I have no monetary investment in C3 (Cobra Command Crossfit). Honestly from my perspective owning a gym and running it is probably one of the hardest jobs in this arena, especially when you factor in what you make. haha great name though!
Jacob Heppner very true! I run an affiliate and love every minute of it but it’s definitely a lot of work. I’d say not the best idea for someone who has to train professionally BUT definitely worth it if CrossFit is a passion and you want to run a business (key word business not hobby).
Corgi Crossfit is such a cool name! Love it! 👍
Are there any pro crossfitters who still wrk part to fulltime. Would that be possible if u can still manage to get at least two work outs in a day.
Jacob, what does it mean to be a "marketable" athlete?
I would love to survive off of crossfit but in the ownership/coaching realm. I've been considering it as there are no crossfit gyms in the county but it is a small population and there is an abundance of regular gyms.
Location is everything! Unless your affiliate is in a large Town or City, it's tough to just get the bills paid.
There is so much to consider...
- Time was a huge one for me. When starting, inevitably you coach every class.
- Most important lesson was our commitment to a 5 year lease. If your location isn't idea, renting a space in another business (gym) is a great way to start without major commitment. One can then expand from there.
@@robwalker5110 Great information! Thanks, friend!
That was really cool bro...
This is all depends on the level at which you compete and your social media following right? I know some crappy 'athletes' who are sponsored but just show off their butt on instagram and get thousands of followers, and I know some pretty decent athletes with no social media following who probably deserve sponsors but have none! I imagine you either have to be a games level athlete in top 30 to make any monetary sponsors or have a huge following on social media. Correct me if I'm wrong! Great vid. 👍
Yep A LOT of it comes back to how "Marketable" an athlete is. A few of us do A LOT of social media content (for me mostly RUclips).
Could you make a video on how to get sponsored in CrossFit through social media?
Can you break that down into more sub topics? Like overall you'd like to learn "How To Get Sponsored" but what sort of sub topics would you like hear?
Jacob Heppner yes please, how can you get sponsored?
so what was your raise for doing well at the games?
Quite a few top Crossfitters own a box. How much of an athlete's income would come from that?
That really depends on their affiliate. I don't think its really fair to make assumptions on average income from an affiliate since they vary so much. But it would be interested to see a chart of average income of affiliates for sure.
Just make another online programming program like every other single crossfitter. THEN if you want to try to be different call it something like “functional bodybuilding, or Functionality and bodybuilding hybrid, or bodybuilding functionally” or something like that then you’ll be different. But then you’ll see that you’re not different because tons of people do that already. Then you can go the RUclips route and start making videos and you’ll get tons of subs. But then you’ll realize how long videos take to edit and how much it cuts into your training and RUclips will demonitize your videos for no real reason. Then just open a gym and people will come because your popular. Then you’ll realize you need to hire someone to run the gym so you can train because running a business is more than a full time job. Boom professional CrossFitter lifestyle. Nailed it.
Dang man. You need to come hang out and get something positive in your life.
Jacob Heppner 😂 lol I’ve got a very blessed and positive life. I was just making a joke about how I’ve seen almost every games athlete do these things. Question: do sponsers write athletes a check? I always figured they just gave free supplements or clothes.
But I’m in! Let me know when and where!
@@TacticallyFitOfficial haha they do Venmo/Paypal or checks usually.
@@JacobHeppner Hmm, but at what level? How/when does a Sponsor go from 'supporting' an Athlete with FREE product, to actually paying them hard cash? Great video and discussion BTW
What pure spectrum CBD I didn't know. Any discount code?
Yep!
www.purespectrumcbd.com/?ref=373
There is the Link above and Code is "Heppner"
W2 pie chart is slightly off, 101%, Still solid content.
hahahahahhahhahahahah solid catch my friend solid catch. I'll leave it up for all the Analytical folks to find
False. You should always strive to make 101% of your income
@@joshjones6009 hahahahahhahaaha 110% would've been better!
I think the biggest issue which you face is the same as professional athletes: you have a limited time to be a top competitor. using your example, a guy making $50k might be saving 15% for retirement, from 24 years old to 64. His working life is a little easier to map than a performance athlete.
Very true statement. This is exactly why I spoke on injury/retirement plan for my 4th and final point! What were your thoughts on it?
@@JacobHeppner I think regardless of millionaire or regular guy, everyone should have an "emergency" fund (held in cash), and the amount is the monthly necessary spend x # months that it has to cover. If there is a probability that an injury would bench you for period of time, you'd sleep better at night knowing you have banked 6 months of expenses. What I actually think, is that you should consider next-career-after-Crossfit athlete, as a manager of other athletes. You are in a unique position to have credibility & reputation within your community that are valuable to others who come in. I hate hearing stories of gifted athletes/musicians etc that are broke and flipping burgers at 40.
No one every talks about their actual contract dollars. I remember Mat dodging the question in an interview. I’m guessing they have you sign NDAs?
That is correct. First of all its usually in contracts not to discuss numbers or terms of the contract. Plus its just an unspoken rule to not "kiss & tell." Great question and observation though!
But how reasonable is it to obtain a $50,000 sponsor? Is that typical? Is anyone beyond the top 10 making this kind of money?
I don't really think the "Top 10" means anything to be honest. It comes down to "how marketable an athlete is." Thats the true test.
If you arent on the podium multiple times, it's 100% based on Instagram following.
Ok. But how many $50,000 sponsorships are out there? Enough to sustain say....20 marketable athletes? Of course some brands are sponsoring multiple athletes but the pool of sponsorship money is only so large. Or is a $50,000 sponsorship not even realistic? Are you suggesting in your video that a marketable athlete would have 2,3,maybe 4 sponsorships that total $50,000?
@@jensmith7826 I'm suggesting multiple sponsorships to equal up to an annual "salary" of 50k
@@jensmith7826 I agree, and outside of the US it is markedly harder to obtain the same following.
I would bet any athlete under 50-100k following on Instagram that also hasn't been in the top 20 at the games is not making anywhere close to 20k let alone 50k.
The majority of ''sponsorships'' are Product + help with travel expenses + Prize money hen they compete. Which is still an awesome help, but it won't help the day to day so much.
Jacob wearing the hickeys with pride!
hahaha ya don't you love it when a rough barbell makes it look like a hickey
You look like you are in a green screen, great content!!
My driveway is "picture perfect" haha thankfully I mowed a few days ago.
This video was brought to you by Chipotle, RPM Fitness, Pure Spectrum and RUclips 💲💲👍👍
50K in sponsors is wayyyy tooo high . Only the top 3% see that
20% taxes, 3% insurance and 78% take home? That is 101%! If you got 101% in the Crossfit side I'll make more sense ^^
spotted winston at 11:49
hahaha he was hanging around!
I guess in Scandinavia with free healthcare it is more profitable to be pro crossfitter
This should be titled "Can You Make A Living Off Crossfit" or "How Much Money Do Crossfit Games Athletes Make?"... Great video man.
To how many people you are speaking? I mean how many people relay have sponsors in CrossFit. If you not speak of games athletes. I have no idea I'm m just asking.
Great question! So first of all the video is meant to answer the question that lots of folks have. Usually the person/people asking this question aren't full time athletes, they instead are just curious on IF you can do it. There are a lot of athletes that have never been to the Games that have sponsors!
You don’t make ur money off CrossFit . You make ur money on personal branding. Fraiser got 300k from winning and however much from sponsorship. They real money is doing coaching or monthly workout sessions with your fans. People are looking at this business wrong
After competitive fitness is done aren't most if not all will find other work.
Probably true, unless you find a reason to stay "employed" in the sport. That is my discussion topic about "injury plan or retirement plan"
15% taxes?😂
Can you survive on Crossfit? ... Mat Fraser says ....
Mat Fraser say, “Hell Yeah!”
Jacob. I can teach u a way you can have a raise. Hit me if want to know
Hey just saw your IG message. I'll respond back to ya.
lol show me the tax law.
No
Why do you think that is?
@@JacobHeppner well you missed out growth. The reality is that the majority of people are going to get married, have children and have a higher level of responsibility and financial obligation. Even with the elite level athletes in the other major sports have have found that sponsors dry up. Plenty of these athletes have gone bankrupt. You must look more into long term vs short term. Financial needs of a 22-30 year old are going to be different than a 30-45 year old with 2.5 kids 2 dogs a cat 2 car payments and a mortgage.
@@bc1953 Absolutely true! Thats what I covered in my 4th overall point - Injury/Retirement plan.
Get a ""proper mic""
Stop shouting
dont record audio in the wind
Dont have sun directly behind you and in the eyes of the viewer
And try to stop being so annoying. Talk like a normal human
Chris Howe stop