In the world of professional Jiu-Jitsu, the ADCC stands as one of the top-ranking tournaments & events in the world.
However, despite its prestigious status, the financial rewards for competitors – at least according to Craig Jones – are not as lucrative as one might expect.
Jones has openly critiqued the financial model of ADCC; pointing out the disparity between the event’s growth and the prize money awarded to its champions.
According to him, ADCC prize money has stagnated at $10,000 for division winners – despite superb growth in event attendance and visibility – and while looking at the contrast between the 2015 event in Brazil, which attracted around 2,000 attendees, and the 2022 event that sold 13,000 tickets.
He also shed light on the revenue generated from streaming rights, which were reportedly purchased by FloGrappling for over $1 million in 2022.
Despite this substantial income, Jones says that athletes see no direct benefit from this revenue stream.
Jones’s critique also extends to the lack of appearance fees or “show money” for simply competing at ADCC – a common practice in other events that offer financial incentives regardless of winning:
Prize money should match the growth of the sport.
Who knows, maybe they listen to this and change the prize money.
Maybe they already had the intention of upping the prize money.If they do that, I will take full credit.
