Elite CrossFit Athletes to Get Cut of NOBULL Jersey Sales
In a move that has been widely applauded by the CrossFit Games community, title sponsor NOBULL announced on their Instagram account that they would be compensating athletes for their replica jersey sales. Athlete’s who have replica jerseys available for purchase on NOBULL’s website and at their onsite Retail Experience store at the Games will get compensated $20 for every jersey sale.
In an exclusive interview with on the Morning Chalk Up’s Bottom Line, NOBULL’s Chief Marketing Officer Todd Meleney stated: “A key reason we partnered with the CrossFit Games is that we believe that the athletes are world class and supporting the athletes helps to professionalize the sport. Based on feedback from the PFAA, we worked with CrossFit to find additional avenues to compensate athletes. We were all excited about the unique opportunity to invest directly in athletes by connecting the sale of jerseys with compensation to the athletes themselves.”
Since the announcement on Wednesday afternoon, athletes and their managers alike have been vocal in their support of the program.
Bijan Heravi, Founder of Ripple Sports who represents many of the top athletes in the sport including NOBULL athlete Mal O’Brien and more importantly non NOBULL athletes Haley Adams, Guilherme Malheiros, Travis Mayer, Saxon Panchik and Noah Ohlsen released this statement:
“Like many of you, I still have my Kobe (Bryant), (Allen) Iverson, & (Vince) Carter jerseys in the closet. I hope kids today will look at their NOBULL CrossFit Games jerseys 20 years from now with similar nostalgia. We’re excited for a future where CrossFit Games Athletes and fans can share the same connection we as kids grew up with when wearing our favorite jerseys. Connection is good for sport. Connection means investment.”
The details: According to Meleney the program has been in the works since last year and tried to introduce it at last year’s Games but due to an abbreviated season they could not. Here are the details:
- The 2022 CrossFit Games collection which will include the athlete replica jerseys went on sale on Thursday.
- Athletes signed by NOBULL and select non-sponsored athletes will have jerseys.
- Only 14 athletes will have jerseys, however fans are able to submit a request for additional athletes’ jerseys to be made and sold according to Meleney.
- The goal is to ultimately have all individual athletes competing at the Games have jerseys available to sell in the future.
- They have placed an initial conservative order for their online pre-sales with the hopes that the jerseys will sell out with the goal to reorder those jerseys immediately.
- NOBULL is prepared to reorder jerseys that sell out prior to the Games so that they are available at their onsite Retail Experience store and for online orders after the Games.
- The goal is for athletes to make thousands of dollars off of their jersey sales.
- Athletes that had jerseys available in the initial online store are NOBULL athletes Tia Clair Toomey, Brooke Wells, Baylee Rayl, Kristi Eramo O’Connell, Mal O’Brien and Justin Medeiros.
- Non-NOBULL athletes with jerseys available for purchase are Danielle Brandon, Haley Adams, Patrick Vellner, Brent Fikowski, Laura Horvath, Guilherme Malheiros and Saxon Panchik.
- Long time NOBULL athlete and this year’s favorite to win the 35-39 age group division at the Games, Sam Dancer also has a jersey available.
- CrossFit Mayhem Freedom and CrossFit Reykjavík will also have jerseys available for sale in Madison, WI.
- All jerseys will have both men and women sizes available for purchase.
The bottom line: CrossFit and NOBULL are following the lead of other mainstream sports who through their unions have agreements in place that compensate athletes for their name, images and likeness. This is a small but significant step for the sport of CrossFit in reaching credibility and to further professionalize the sport for athletes.
“As for the athletes’ ability to earn from their jersey sales this year, this is a select group of many who make up the big show,” said Heravi. “There is a misconception that there’s resistance to increase athlete earning potential. However, in this instance, there just weren’t any profits on the jerseys to begin with. In alignment with CrossFit, NOBULL continues to advance this community. I now hope that how we steward this opportunity, together, yields a flow of opportunities alike for all who earn the right to call themselves CrossFit Games Athletes. As the tides rise, so does our potential. I’ll be buying one of each, no question!”
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