Although studies of media industries and the sports-media complex typically focus on popular mainstream sports—such as American football, soccer, basketball, or baseball—alternative sports like the CrossFit Games represent a critical divergence from the prototypical model of sports media distribution. Indeed, as legacy and emerging media corporations have paid out for multi-billion-dollar sports licenses, CrossFit Inc. under Greg Glassman pursued a more diffuse approach to sports distribution consistent with CrossFit’s lean, neoliberal approach to organizational strategy and management. Investigating this neoliberal ethos, this chapter will, first, provide a broad historical account of the distribution of the CrossFit Games from 2007 to 2022, including perspectives on US and global distribution as well as professional and independent approaches. The role of sponsorships, distribution partners like Rogue, and sponsored athletes will be considered. The changes and continuities in the Games’ distribution will also be contextualized within the changes/continuities in CrossFit’s ownership and organizational structure, with particular attention to CrossFit’s shift to an open-source broadcast in 2019 and its ownership change in 2020. In addition to this historical account, this chapter will, second, offer a qualitative analysis of independent and professional Games’ broadcasts to consider the role of normative identity constructions and commodification present in Games coverage. Third, it will consider the interlocking role that CrossFit-oriented news publications and corporate public relations play in relation to CrossFit’s media strategies by offering a discursive analysis of the Games’ coverage and CrossFit press releases. Finally, this chapter will consider the role of affiliate-produced Games’ coverage and how affiliates approach media output in general. We suggest that this type of affiliate-led content gestures toward the ethos of democratization CrossFit promotes as one of its core tenets but often fails to live up to. Altogether, we argue that CrossFit’s approach to television distribution has aligned with its broader corporate activities, many of which contradict the company’s outward mission of health, community, and affiliate freedom. In sum, this chapter offers a historical overview of the CrossFit Games’ global (television) distribution, including alternative and non-professional productions; an analysis of Games’ broadcasts along ideological, capitalist, and representational axes; a discursive analysis of independent news coverage and CrossFit HQ’s public relations; and a few select case studies of affiliate-produced media.

The CrossFit Games and the Sports-Media Complex

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发表日期：

2025年

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Peter Arne Johnson,
Kathryn G. Hartzell

摘要

Although studies of media industries and the sports-media complex typically focus on popular mainstream sports—such as American football, soccer, basketball, or baseball—alternative sports like the CrossFit Games represent a critical divergence from the prototypical model of sports media distribution. Indeed, as legacy and emerging media corporations have paid out for multi-billion-dollar sports licenses, CrossFit Inc. under Greg Glassman pursued a more diffuse approach to sports distribution consistent with CrossFit’s lean, neoliberal approach to organizational strategy and management. Investigating this neoliberal ethos, this chapter will, first, provide a broad historical account of the distribution of the CrossFit Games from 2007 to 2022, including perspectives on US and global distribution as well as professional and independent approaches. The role of sponsorships, distribution partners like Rogue, and sponsored athletes will be considered. The changes and continuities in the Games’ distribution will also be contextualized within the changes/continuities in CrossFit’s ownership and organizational structure, with particular attention to CrossFit’s shift to an open-source broadcast in 2019 and its ownership change in 2020. In addition to this historical account, this chapter will, second, offer a qualitative analysis of independent and professional Games’ broadcasts to consider the role of normative identity constructions and commodification present in Games coverage. Third, it will consider the interlocking role that CrossFit-oriented news publications and corporate public relations play in relation to CrossFit’s media strategies by offering a discursive analysis of the Games’ coverage and CrossFit press releases. Finally, this chapter will consider the role of affiliate-produced Games’ coverage and how affiliates approach media output in general. We suggest that this type of affiliate-led content gestures toward the ethos of democratization CrossFit promotes as one of its core tenets but often fails to live up to. Altogether, we argue that CrossFit’s approach to television distribution has aligned with its broader corporate activities, many of which contradict the company’s outward mission of health, community, and affiliate freedom. In sum, this chapter offers a historical overview of the CrossFit Games’ global (television) distribution, including alternative and non-professional productions; an analysis of Games’ broadcasts along ideological, capitalist, and representational axes; a discursive analysis of independent news coverage and CrossFit HQ’s public relations; and a few select case studies of affiliate-produced media.