r/crossfit • u/Anonymousimpreg • 8d ago
WFP thoughts....
I had a chance to attend WFP this weekend, I'm local to Arizona. Just wanted to share some of my thoughts and was curious what you guys thought if you were there.
I enjoyed the fact that you could engage with the athletes on a more personal level, lots of them did meet and greets, were walking around the venue, or taking pictures with fans after the events. I thought that was pretty neat and something I've never gotten a chance to do before.
Some of the community events were pretty good, lots of elite athletes dropping into East Valley gyms to teach, host events. Again, it was really cool to see some of the athletes up close and get pictures.
Onto the bad....
I'm genuinely curious as to how this is actually going to make money. Most of the local gyms were giving away free tickets, so I don't know anyone that actually paid for their tickets. The actual venue they were hosting WFP for Mesa is massive and from what I understand extremely expensive. Plus all the athletes were put up in hotels. I can't imagine they are making enough money to cover their expenses.
The vendor village was terrible, there was like four or five vendors, which made it quite boring in between events or when there's a big break in the middle of the day.
The actual venue inside was very small, couldn't hold more than maybe a couple thousand people, the web stream made it seem like it was very huge inside
Obvious equipment issues mentioned elsewhere.
Personally, I don't see the WFP being able to survive for another year, but that's just me.
Edited to add: I was really indifferent about WFP before I went this weekend. I did have a good time, I'm still indifferent about WFP. My comments were just that I don't know how they can survive doing this financially, that's it.
Edited again to remove comment about blue hair judge. The shuffling issue that two people were no repped about was reviewed and affirmed.
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u/Affectionate_Copy163 8d ago
I flew out from CA and paid for my tickets. I am a huge fan of all the athletes. It was absolutely worth it to watch people I admire perform.
When CrossFit started they had the same trials and tribulations that a new sport has. There are kinks to work out that you only get through experience. I don’t think being pessimistic and speculating the demise of something is useful.
Experience comes from doing the thing, having failures, making corrections, doing better the next time. It seems like people have such a hard time giving grace for experiments and beginnings. Not to mention, the veil of hatred for WFP bc it somehow takes away from the CF games.
The vendor village was absolutely awful, I totally agree. I couldn’t even get the shirt I wanted - so yes. Totally agree - that was a fail. But I knew, coming here for their first year was going to not be a buttoned up experience . I wish them the best and hope to have many ways to watch the athletes. Whatever that may be. They work hard and I hope they get all the opportunities!