Why are the differences in prize money for World Cup disciplines?

The World Cup umbrella expands significantly this year. Enduro (EDR) and cross country marathon (XCM) racing join Olympic cross country (XCO), short track cross country (XCC) and downhill (DH) under the new, overarching UCI Mountain Bike World Series banner.

While all give disciplines, and E-EDR, are now World Cup events, they are clearly not all equal in the eyes of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) or organizing partner, WarnerBros Discovery (WBD). That is clear in the coverage, where XCM and EDR get highlights packages instead of a full live broadcast. The newcomers also aren’t paid as much.

Looking at UCI’s list of 2023 Financial Obligations for mountain biking, and the recently-released EDR Rule Book there are clear divisions between the old guard and newcomers. At least when it comes to prize money.

Steep entry fees for 2023

Entry fees are equal across the board. Lining up to race a World Cup now costs €150 (except DH juniors, who pay €80). That’s nearly double what an XC or DH World Cup entry cost last year (€80 for elites, €40 for juniors).

While top athletes have these entry fees paid by teams, anyone racing as a privateer or through a national federation might not. For cross country racers, that can be up to €300 a weekend for racers that qualify for XCC and XCO events. Or €450, for weekends that include an XCM event. For Canadians, that’s a steep ask on top of steadily climbing international flight fares.

Team registration fees are also dramatically higher. UCI Elite MTB Teams pay between €11,000 and €23,000, depending on how many disciplines they race, compared to €3,500-€6,000 last year. UCI Teams, one tier down from Elite Teams, also see their fees doubled across the board to pay between €1,000 and €5,000.

Priority payouts

While every racer pays the same entry fees, the prize money paid out to winners is far from equal.

For the series’ overall winners, it is mostly equal. Enduro and Marathon season champions get the same €10,000 already paid to the winners of the DH, XCO and XCC overall. For EDR-E, the electric enduro series, only €5,000 goes to the champion. The difference between legacy and newcomer events is in how deep the payout…