Bob Cicherillo recently discussed the increase in prize money at the Arnold Classic and how it impacts women’s divisions.
During the 2024 Arnold Classic, it was announced that the prize money for the 2025 event would be increased. Arnold Schwarzenegger himself shared that the Men’s Open division winner would take home $500,000, which is more than the Olympia. This began a discussion about equality in the sort of bodybuilding.
Bob Cicherillo decided to weigh in on the topic during a recent edition of The Voice Of Bodybuilding.
Cicherillo began by discussing the idea of competition between the Arnold and Olympia. This could be good for bodybuilding as the prize money would just keep increasing year to year.
“Great for the athletes. A lot of speculation, what’s the Olympia gonna do? Are they gonna go above it? Whatever. That’s up to Jake Wood and the Olympia. God bless them. I think healthy competition is good for business or sports entity or anything. I applaud Arnold.”
At the same time, Cicherillo also backed the Olympia in one major way. This is the fact that the competition has four more divisions and hosts many more athletes across the board. This means that more money has to go into the event.
“I gotta defend the Olympia in a little something here. You can’t ignore the facts. The Olympia gives away about $1.2 million in prize money. The Arnold is about half of that currently. This will change the scope on things. The Olympia also has the burden of getting up to 400 athletes that qualify for the Olympia each year.”
Cicherillo eventually went into the topic of equality in the sport of bodybuilding and was able to break it down from a business aspect.
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Bob Cicherillo: “It’s All About Ad Revenue And Return”
There has been a call for equality coming from many for women’s divisions in bodybuilding. Iris Kyle made a statement on Friday calling for this as well.
Bob Cicherillo believes that it all comes down to business and money being made by each division.
“This is the biggest complaint. ‘We work as hard as the guys. We work just as hard, we’re in the gym, we’re busting our ass, we’re dieting. We deserve the same money.’ No you don’t.
As a promoter, you got to do what’s right or business and you’re not going to put on those divisions because there’s no return. And there’s not even a lot of people that come out for them. That’s how this stuff works, folks. It’s a business. Is it fair? That’s the debate.”
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Cicherillo used the example of USA Men’s and Women’s soccer teams along with LeBron James and the WNBA.
James is paid close to $50 million per year, which compared to the WNBA is an incredible amount. For comparison, the highest paid players in the WNBA are making around $240,000. The reason for this is money brought in and revenue surrounding different sports and divisions.
“It’s all about ad revenue and return.
“The fact that you work hard is great and I applaud that action but it doesn’t mean anything. The guy or girl in last place could have worked just as hard as the winner. Do they deserve equal money? No. It’s a competition. No one would argue that.”
Bob Cicherillo admitted that he would not mind if all divisions received a fair payday because it would be “a nice thing to do.” At the end of the day, he defers to the business side of it.
“Don’t go out there campaigning. I see all of this stuff out there already about that. And about how this isn’t fair and it’s bullsh*t. That is not the case. How much money is going in and how much is on the return? It’s that simple.”
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