It’s still early, but 2025 looks to have softer results than 2024 so far.
The 2025 CrossFit Open begins in 30 days. Register here.
“The Open is a Barometer. It tests your fitness and can forecast the year to come.”
I wrote these words one year ago to introduce the first Open Report, and it feels like a fitting start for our second year of tracking Open registrations.
Last year’s introduction continued:
- “The Open is also reading the atmospheric pressure” on CrossFit HQ. With the last few years of ups and downs, the coming and going (and second coming) of leadership, recent changes in affiliate fees, sponsor changes, relocation of the Games, CEO Don Faul’s stated goal of 33,000,000 CrossFitters, the list goes on… a lot of eyes are on the 2024 Open to gauge if the recent changes will continue a positive climb or if a chill is in the air.
The atmosphere was looking good in March 2024.
Nearly 344,000 athletes had registered for the Open. That number represented 6.34% year-over-year growth and a return to numbers last seen in 2019.
| Year | Attendance | Percent +/-, YoY |
| 2019 | 357,000 | -14.18% |
| 2020 | 239,106 | -33.02% |
| 2021 | 263,529 | +10.21% |
| 2022 | 293,805 | +11.49% |
| 2023 | 323,014 | +9.94% |
| 2024 | 343,496 | +6.34% |
These numbers included everyone, from athletes competing in their first Open at a brand-new affiliate, like my friends at CrossFit Fairfield, to 462 athletes who had competed in every single Open since the start.
While the 2024 CrossFit Open showed a slight drop from the approximately 10% annual growth of the previous three seasons, the chart was still trending upward, making it seem like a second climb back to the peak seen in 2018.
As the 2025 CrossFit Games season begins, some of last year’s concerns remain, while new ones have emerged in the aftermath of Lazar Ðukić’s death at the 2024 Games, the subsequent investigation response, and the announcement of another overhaul in the season structure.
- CrossFitters will CrossFit, and HQ is betting heavily that this season’s registrations will bolster the broader CrossFit community. This season’s registration fees fund the CrossFit Games prize purse.
Measurable, Observable, and Repeatable
This year marks our second year of tracking the Open daily, which will allow for additional insights and comparisons year-over-year.
- Similar to tracking lifting percentages, times on benchmark workouts, or even macros, tracking for 40 days without comparison over time doesn’t provide much value.
- “The methodology that drives CrossFit is entirely empirical.” We believe that meaningful statements about safety, efficacy, and efficiency can be supported only by measurable, observable, repeatable facts, i.e., data. We call this approach ‘evidence-based fitness.’
While preparing for the “Unknown and Unknowable” is also central to CrossFit’s methodology, it was with “Measurable and Observable” in mind that we set out to track registrations last year and again this year (Repeatable).
Coach Glassman explained the necessity of this type of data:
- “The CrossFit methodology depends on full disclosure of methods, results, and criticisms, and we’ve employed the Internet and various intranets to support these values. Our charter is open source, making co-developers out of participating coaches, athletes, and trainers through a spontaneous and collaborative online community. CrossFit is empirically driven, clinically tested, and community developed.”
A running tally of daily registrations feeds insight, but it also may boost registration growth.
With registration numbers tied to the Games prize purse, more registrations mean more money for the best affiliates and athletes in the Sport of Fitness.
- Day-to-day tracking is important for affiliates, who can possibly win $2,500 gift cards from Rogue Fitness. It’s equally important for athletes planning to compete for the prize purse.
That’s where this report comes in. It provides a weekly check-in on Open registration numbers, historical context, and a breakdown of prize money funding.
Before we dive in, here are some quick dates and info for the 2025 Open:
- Registration started on January 15 at noon PT.
- CrossFit Open Workout 25.1 starts on February 27 at noon PT.
- CrossFit Open Workout 25.3 ends on March 17 at 5 p.m. PT.
That gives us 43 days during the registration period and 18 days for the Open.
The schedule can be found here, and you can register for the 2025 CrossFit Open here.
Open Report – Weekly Update 1
We are now 13 days into registration and 34 days until the Open 25.1 submission date.
Based on competitive division, the current registration progress looks like this:
Based on competitive region, the registration progress looks like this:
During the same days in 2024, the average day-over-day addition of registrations was 3.6k after the initial day one of 20,982.
| Games – Individual | $166,805.80 |
| Games – Teams | $34,042.00 |
| Open – Individual | $17,021.00 |
| Open – Affiliate | $68,084.00 |
| Masters Games | $34,042.00 |
| Adaptive Games | $10,212.60 |
| Online Semifinal | $10,212.60 |
