Economics of a SuperTour Season
Thinking about the future, big questions and lunch
Happy Labor Day All,
Autumn is personally my favorite time of year, hands down. Training is now crisper feeling, cool air mornings with warm afternoons and glimpses of the winter on the high peaks. Bozeman has already seen a sub 40 degree overnight low and the leaves are just beginning to change. Our focus in training has become much more ski specific, the intensity is beginning to ramp up with volume ramping down. This week and next we are working through 3 annual time trials and some good sharpening intensity sessions in between.
The next installment of the last season’s breakdown is the economics of racing the full US SuperTour circuit.
Dabbling in the other parts of Nordic Skiing
Mile 14 of 28 on the Beaten Path
The Cost of a complete SuperTour season:
Initial pre-season research estimated a conservative cost around $10,000 for the entire race season. Padding my estimate to $12.5k with the aim of raising $15k, I figured I would be somewhere in the middle while remaining budget conscious and not hesitating to attend all races. Estimates were based on the rough budgets of other elite teams, past personal budgets of other elite skiers I knew and my own experience with coaching. In the end, I raised a total of $10,500.
In an extreme habit of mine, I documented every cost directly related to the 2019-2020 race season and am eager to analyze the cost of a season. This is by no means a standard: it is one season, done one way, with a personal set of priorities on where money was spent and saved, and of course the fact the season was ended early due to the pandemic shut down.
Travel (airfare, vans, buses, gas for borrowed cars): $1,201.95
- Fortunately, I was able to use 99,000 airline miles as well, which was almost all of my flying
Lodging and Meals (while on the road only): $3,914.66
- Fortunately again, I was able to stay with friends at no cost for 28 of the 72 nights on the road.
Race Registration and Waxing: $1,070.19
Racing and Training Equipment (everything from race skis and HRM to roller skis and running shoes): $4,112.91
- This is a hard category to draw lines with, almost everything can be written off as “equipment”, so I kept it as strict as possible to items whose absence would directly hinder training and racing.
Physical Therapy and Body Maintenance: $772.75
- This category is a hard sell when fund raising but is a reality to be racing at the highest level your body physically can. An integral part of training and racing is recovering and aid in recovery goes a long way. And even when everything is going well, injuries still happen and dealing with them quickly and correctly is always best.
Licensing and Membership (USSA, FIS, Trail Passes, Club fees, …): $390.00
Miscellaneous (those things which inevitably pop-up but don’t fit perfectly into a line item): $380.50
Canceled Spring Series in Silver Star, BC: ~$1,800.00
Grand Total for 2019-2020 Season: $13,642.96
- The actual money spent is the total minus the canceled races bringing my personal cost of last season to $11,842.96
This shows an educating picture. Mainly, my $10k estimate was indeed conservative and the records of other athletes and teams are missing other costs somewhere in their records. Last season involved an enormous discount from the use of airline miles, staying with friends, borrowing cars, getting deals on waxing, only buying the most necessary equipment and cutting corners whenever I could. The season could have cost significantly more.
I believe it is safe to say a realistic cost of a full US Super Tour race season is $15,000 in today’s prices. Not too much when looking at other sports such as alpine or cycling and more than sports such as running or boating. But inherently limiting for a self-funded athlete when all energy is put into training. The harder you train, the more time it takes and the less time for working a job or developing funds in other ways. And needless to say, Nordic skiers aren’t exactly signing salary contracts in the US. Though, my goal next year is finding a company sponsor to end the fundraising challenges.
This upcoming season will most definitely be an anomalous season as well, leading to an unknown cost again. However, the only thing I can do is prepare for the full season and race as hard as I can every time a race happens. So begins the goal for $15k again and THANK YOU to everyone who supported me last season. Please consider support for this upcoming season, made easy though my website, if you can! I truly couldn’t be racing without you and I hope you have found the breakdown of racing expenditures enlightening.
Cheers!
Scott