Chris Bumstead has over 30 million Instagram followers. I have personally seen fans wait SEVEN BLOCKS DEEP to meet him at the 2022 Natural Vitamins Epic Block Party in Ozone Park, NY. And yet for years he’s been competing for less than ONE-TENTH the prize money of OPEN BODYBUILDERS at the OLYMPIA.
Why? Why does a guy this popular and this gifted ALLOW himself to be this UNDERPAID? And furthermore, why does he allow the CLASSIC PHYSIQUE DIVISION – which is drawing a lion’s share of fans at the local, regional, and national amateur levels, while doing gangbusters on the pro circuit to be PAID SO LITTLE? Imagine if he spoke up for his fellow athletes. He hasn’t in six years, why now when he retires?
Competitors – from Level 1 amateurs all the way to the Olympia – are so well-trained. They don’t make any noise. They don’t make any trouble. So what if Bumstead is bringing in TONS of ticket-buying, supplement-using fans to the show? He’s not going to argue that he’s being screwed insofar as getting paid peanuts. He’s even said it himself, winning the Olympia does nothing for his numerous businesses. And it certainly doesn’t pay the bills, either. After expenses, including paying his coach, and paying Uncle Sam, how much of that $50k grand prize do you think actually goes in his pocket? I’m afraid to even ask.
And this is the G.O.A.T. of Classic Physique. He’s won the Classic Physique Olympia six consecutive times and all he gets is a measly fifty grand? I get it, bodybuilding is the flagship division, but that entitles them to a grand prize that’s more 10x what other divisions get? That seems pretty warped to me. Not only would I not compete under those conditions if I was the major draw Bumstead is, but I’d be rallying my fellow competitors to demand more. That said, most competitors aren’t leaders – they’re followers. And that’s exactly what Chris Bumstead has been all these years a follower. His legacy will be that of being the best champion and the best behaved.
It’s sad, though.
Bodybuilding may be the flagship division, but go to any local or regional [amateur] contest, and it’s Men’s Physique and Classic (for the men) that are keeping the promoters in business. And more and more people that are discovering fitness, are excited over Physique and Classic. How long will these two divisions have to carry bodybuilding before the prize money at these shows starts to be more commensurate with who’s bringing what to the table and less about the ways things have historically been done?