The IFBB Pro League increased the Men’s Open prize money by a total of $210,000 spread across 21 contests on February 5, 2024, according to Vice President Tyler Manion. This comes after Manion revealed the league has accepted a new corporate sponsorship with Uprising powered by MIT45.
Thanks to the new acquisition, Manion shared that the minimum prize money for every Men’s Open show has been raised by $10,000. While other contests offer additional prize money, Manion underlined that a total of $210,000 was allotted for the thriving division.
Specifically, first-place recipients’ minimum prize money moves from $10,000 to $15,000 and second place climbs from $4,000 to $9,000. The substantial increase in prize money may draw out more competitors throughout the bodybuilding season.
IFBB Pro League Announces Increase in Men’s Open Prize Money
Find Tyler Manion’s official statement below:
“We would love to welcome Uprising powered by MIT45 as our new corporate sponsor of the IFBB Pro Open Men’s Bodybuilding division. Now, what makes this even more exciting, is that because of this sponsorship, the minimum prize money for every Men’s Open show is going to be raised $10,000.”
“Of course, we have some shows that give away more than the minimum prize money but this is going to affect 21 Men’s Open Bodybuilding shows, which means $210,000 is going to be injected into the prize money for the Open Men thanks to Uprising powered by MIT45.
So first place will move from $10,000 to $15,000 and second place will move from $4,000 to $9,000 at all these shows. So this is extremely exciting for the IFBB Pro League,” Tyler Manion shared.
This added incentive comes after athletes have been criticized for their lack of participation in shows. Bodybuilding veterans such as Lee Priest called attention to the matter recently, urging competitors to remain more active. He went to the extent of proposing that the IFBB Pro League should require athletes to compete in more than one event per year.
Athletes’ rep Bob Cicherillo, who is a commentator for bodybuilding contests like the Arnold Classic and Mr. Olympia called for an increase in Men’s Open prize money. Given that it hadn’t changed for 15 years, Cicherillo thought it was best to boost the winner’s take-home to $20,000.
The Arnold Classic awards $300,000 to the Open winner and the Mr. Olympia champion receives a total of $400,000. With the new incentive, time will tell if Open competitors begin to compete more often at lower-tiered shows.
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