The 2025 CrossFit Open begins on February 27. Register here.
Over the previous couple of weeks, we’ve got been on a journey collectively, monitoring the day-by-day numbers for the 2025 CrossFit Open registration interval.
On February 27, the Open kicks off at CrossFit Mayhem with the announcement of 25.1.
Over the previous couple of of those experiences, we’ve got touched on three of the 4 information factors I’ve been monitoring every day on Instagram (@known_knowable), which is a each day check-in from 4 totally different angles:
- Counting up from Day 0 to the ultimate day of the registration interval.
- Counting down from the primary day of registration interval to the ultimate day.
- Prize purse funding.
- Complete registration by Aggressive Area.
We beforehand focused on counting up and down, then dove into the prize purse funding, and now we end off the lead-up to 25.1 with aggressive areas.
Earlier than we soar in, listed here are the registration numbers for the previous 4 years:
| Yr | Complete | YoY Progress |
| 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% |
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Aggressive Area Evaluation
Whereas the Games season structure for 2025 doesn’t characteristic aggressive areas as considerably as prior to now, a number of In-Individual Qualifying Occasions are utilizing them to find out athlete eligibility for his or her competitions.
Thus far, the aggressive area registration seems like this:
All of our monitoring has illustrated that registration numbers are down throughout the board, however digging a bit of deeper reveals that there’s not a lot year-over-year variation by area.
- In different phrases, whereas talking with athletes, coaches, and neighborhood members, there was a sign that due to the loss of life of Lazar Ðukić, the Europe area may lag in comparison with different areas.
To date, that has not come by means of within the information:
At 9 days out from the shut of week one, here’s what it seemed like for 2024 and now 2025:
| Aggressive Area | 2024 Rely | 2024 % | 2025 Rely | 2025 % | Distinction |
| Europe | 66,796 | 33% | 39,233 | 32% | -27,563 |
| NA East | 56,490 | 28% | 35,935 | 29% | -20,555 |
| NA West | 37,868 | 19% | 24,706 | 20% | -13,162 |
| South America | 15,188 | 8% | 5,501 | 4% | -9,687 |
| Oceania | 10,736 | 5% | 7,171 | 6% | -3,565 |
| Asia | 10,383 | 5% | 8,364 | 7% | -2,019 |
| Africa | 3,880 | 2% | 2,304 | 2% | -1,576 |
Whereas the numbers are significantly down yr over yr, the European illustration in contrast globally stays the identical. European registrations symbolize one-third of registrations in each 2024 and 2025.
But when the numbers are down throughout the board, the place is everybody?
Who’s In & Who’s Out
A lot has been mentioned in regards to the prime elite athletes who’ve made posts on their standing for the 2025 Open and the following CrossFit Video games season.
That’s not what this report is about.
- The athletes could possibly attain thousands and thousands by means of social media, however it might be unimaginable to pinpoint the influence immediately attributed to posts by Annie Thorisdottir or Patrick Vellner saying they’re “Out” and by Rich Froning and Scott Panchik saying they’re “In for the Open.”
The elite Video games athletes are lower than 0.03% of the overall Open athlete inhabitants.
I need to concentrate on one thing bigger, one thing that’s the coronary heart of the neighborhood and who brings CrossFit to the plenty each day: the associates.
Within the 2024 Open, there have been 343,528 whole registrants, and the highest health club on the 2024 affiliate leaderboard was SuperForce CrossFit, with 613 registered athletes.
In 2025, CrossFit HQ has pushed to get associates extra concerned.
- Along with elevated advertising, HQ can also be providing $2,500 Rogue Health reward playing cards to the highest associates by participation and crew efficiency.
It’s additionally value noting the brand new “In-Affiliate” Semifinal can solely be accomplished throughout the 4 partitions of a CrossFit affiliate.
By the Numbers
In 2024, 307,115 affiliate members, representing 10,904 associates, participated within the Open. The opposite 36,413 have been unaffiliated. That’s 89.40% of the overall from associates and 10.60% unaffiliated.
These 10,904 associates averaged 28 athlete members collaborating within the 2024 Open.
At current, for 2025, there are 8,590 associates with a minimal of 1 athlete registered for the 2025 Open.
However what number of members do these associates have?
To set a baseline, I checked out two locations that know this effectively. The primary is the Two Mind Enterprise State of the Fitness Industry for 2024, which places the typical at 122.5 members in “Large Group” gyms.
- “Large Group” is how Two Mind Enterprise categorizes CrossFit gyms and different massive group class gyms, of which CrossFit gyms are 50 p.c of their whole respondents.
The opposite place that reveals a median variety of members is CrossFit’s Affiliate Playbook, which is publicly out there. Within the monetary planning part of the Playbook, CrossFit reveals a median of 118 members because the “minimal variety of members wanted to hit working bills and allot in your yearly take-home objectives.”
- So, for the needs of this train, we’re estimating 120 members every, on common.
Right here it’s: If 10,904 associates with a median of 120 members participated within the Open final yr and a median of 28 members per affiliate registered, that implies that a median of 23% of members signed up at these gyms.
- Value noting: Primarily based on 343,000 being 23% of whole registrations for 2024, we will roughly estimate that there are round 1.5 million members in whole throughout all CrossFit gyms.
I needed to strive one other angle on this, so I did my very own survey.
I put out a reasonably easy query to affiliate house owners on my Instagram story a couple of days in the past: “What’s the title of your affiliate? What number of members do you will have?”
- I obtained simply over 50 responses from affiliate house owners. Inside the request, I said that I’d not determine the health club or the proprietor. Thanks to those that participated.
The respondents (from 15 nations globally) self-reported to symbolize 8,709 members collectively, and at current, they’ve 1,703 members registered per the newest affiliate leaderboard. As of this text, that may be round 19.55% of their whole members based mostly on precise information offered by associates.
A number of the largest gyms from leaders at CrossFit are additionally lagging behind on registrations. Daniel Chaffey, Worldwide Director of CrossFit LLC, said on the Coffee Pods and Wods podcast final week that his gyms aren’t at the moment prioritizing Open registration due to the present qualifiers for his annual competitors, the French Throwdown.
Chaffey is the founding father of CrossFit Louvre in Paris, France, in addition to CrossFit Louvre II and CrossFit Louvre III. Between the three gyms, they’ve roughly 3,040 members.
At current, Open registration for CrossFit Louvre gyms:
| Affiliate | Members | Registered for Open | Share of members | Complete Registered in 2024 |
| CrossFit Louvre | 1,300 | 43 | 3.31% | 188 |
| CrossFit Louvre II | 840 | 14 | 1.66% | 37 |
| CrossFit Louvre III | 900 | 28 | 3.11% | 177 |
How Many Associates Are There, Really?
This brings us to affiliate monitoring. Let’s begin with Crossfit’s Affiliate Map.
- The map has been revamped over the previous couple of years to offer further element and generate leads for CrossFit gyms. I like to make use of it every time I’m touring to discover a health club to drop into. It’s additionally a wonderful useful resource for monitoring the overall present affiliated gyms.
Here’s what the map seems like should you zoom all the best way out.
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In whole, that’s 9,925 associates as of February 23, 2025.
By monitoring this quantity for the reason that spring of 2024, it seems that the overall quantity dropped under 10,000 associates on or round Christmas.
The final time the overall variety of associates was below 10,000 was within the aftermath of health club closures attributable to COVID-19 rules and gymnasiums that de-affiliated after the actions that resulted in Greg Glassman promoting the corporate.
Within the article, Gary Gaines, who was Common Supervisor of World Associates and Worldwide however is now not at CrossFit, said that in the beginning of 2021, there have been roughly 9,400 paid associates, and that quantity grew to 10,800 by the top of the yr.
Nonetheless, in whole, the quantity on the finish of 2021 was round 12,500 as a result of there are a big variety of non-paying associates in prisons, army installations, and faculties.
- Notice: Gaines additionally talked about in that 2022 article that “the biggest this firm has been in that paid cohort is correct round 11,715.”
Here’s a chart monitoring whole affiliate numbers starting in March 2024 with slightly below 11,400 associates. The present quantity is now under 10,000:
Of the present whole, the US has round 40 p.c of worldwide associates.
Primarily based on this information, 604 associates left previous to the beginning of the 2024 CrossFit Video games.
- For the reason that CrossFit Video games, there have been a further 857 gyms which have de-affiliated. In whole, 1,461 associates have left the model throughout this time and are now not on the affiliate map.
The 1,461 associates may end in as much as 175,320 members (utilizing our 120 members common estimate) now not in CrossFit gyms. Primarily based on the train above, 23% of these could be 40,323 members who could not compete within the Open as their health club is now not “in good standing” and affiliated with CrossFit.
Alternatively, lots of these athletes should compete with out an affiliate. At current there are 10,117 unaffiliated athletes registered. In 2024 there have been 36,372 unaffiliated athletes.
Let’s dive into this week’s numbers.
First, to set the desk, listed here are some fast dates and information for the 2025 Open:
- Registration began on January 15 at midday PT.
- CrossFit Open Exercise 25.1 begins on February 27 at midday PT.
- CrossFit Open Exercise 25.3 ends on March 17 at 5 p.m. PT.
That provides us 43 days in the course of the registration interval and 18 days as soon as the Open begins.
The schedule may be discovered here, and you’ll register for the 2025 CrossFit Open here.
Open Report – Weekly Replace 5
We at the moment are 41 days into registration and six days till the Open 25.1 submission date. The info under is thru day 40.
Primarily based on aggressive divisions, the present registration progress seems like this by means of the final seven days:
Primarily based on aggressive area, the present registration progress seems like this by means of the final seven days:
The registration whole is at the moment rising by a median of round 3.15k every day after the preliminary day-one whole of 8,904.
However what does that appear to be in comparison with earlier years?
Throughout the identical days in 2024, the typical day-over-day addition of registrations was 3.85k after the preliminary day one in every of 20,982.
- The chart above, which is a year-over-year comparability chart counting right down to the submission date for XX.1, now has 2023 information in addition to 2022.
- Notice: 2022 solely contains the ‘Open’ division, not the 14-15 or 55+ age group divisions or Adaptive divisions.
As of the publishing of this text, that may equate to $1,318,270 in whole prize cash, divided into the next classes:
| Video games – Particular person | $645,952.30 |
| Video games – Groups | $131,827.00 |
| Open – Particular person | $65,913.50 |
| Open – Affiliate | $263,654.00 |
| Masters Video games | $131,827.00 |
| Adaptive Video games | $39,548.10 |
| On-line Semifinal | $39,548.10 |
This can be our weekly monitor because the Open approaches and we undergo to 25.3. I will even proceed to publish each day check-ins at @known_knowable on Instagram.