Why aren't there legitimate purses for notable international tournaments?

[BruceyB]

The question came to mind seeing the US Open (Tennis) on TV and thinking about how tennis players play in several international tournaments each year in addition to the grand slams because it not only gives them opportunities to increase their world ranking, but from a quick google search, players ranked 50-100 easily clear $200,000 a year in prize money alone.

I'm asking because I don't know if there is any history or a legitimate reason why sponsors don't offer legitimate purse money to drive up the quality of entries and viewership for international tournaments. I'm not sure how much money it would take to get the majority of the top guys to buy in, but it would be unbelievable if we got to see the top 10 guys in the world enter the same bracket more than one time a year. Again, I have no idea what the viewership numbers are like for even the Worlds or Olympics nor if offering prize money could be monetarily worthwhile for the bigger brands in the sport, but seeing as tennis gets their top players together many times a year, I was curious if it would be possible for wrestling to do something to a smaller scale if sponsors were so inclined.

[LJB]

do you have any context for how much money is "won" in any of the international tourneys currently?

just curious...

[MPhillips]

Found theses numbers. but I'll defer to the more experienced.

Ranking Series Tournaments: “The gold medal winners at the four Ranking Series tournaments in 2023 will receive 1500 Swiss Francs (1800+ USD) with the silver medallists getting 750 Swiss Francs. The two bronze medallists will receive 500 Swiss Francs each.” -- [2025 Muhamet Malo Tournament].

Living the Dream Medal Fund: For American competitors, World and Olympic titles yield major private stipends. “The four World champions for Team USA—Helen Maroulis, Zahid Valencia, Trent Hidlay and Kyle Snyder—were awarded $50k each.” -- [Living The Dream Medal Fund Tops $6 Million In Athlete Distributions Since Inception; $285k Awarded To Nine Wrestlers In 2025].

https://uww.org/article/uww-award-prize-money-ranking-series-winners

Edited September 9 by MPhillips

[LJB]

i can personally tell you that Otto losing to Orta in the Pan AM finals was the difference between 3K and zero...

losing in the semi finals at one of the ranking series was the difference between 7K and zero...

they have wrestled for 700 euros before in the finals of smaller tourneys and have instead received a cordless drill for second...

trying to compare the economics of a sport like tennis and those of wrestling is apples vs typewriters...

this is the reason RAF is such a big deal...

 

[bnwtwg]

5 minutes ago, LJB said:

they have wrestled for 700 euros before in the finals of smaller tourneys and have instead received a cordless drill for second...

You obviously have no clue what you're talking about. The tourney organizers gave all silver medalists a hint plain as day that if they want to win they should drill more

[LJB]

 

to be fair, this is one of the more "clever" quips that has been made from the peanut gallery...

[RAFWiki]

ABC - Always Be Circling

Second prize is a set of steak knives

[LJB]

[LJB]

i will say, this is an interesting topic after the whining and mewling about having to pay 2.99 per month and not getting spoon fed an event...

wrestling "fans" are the "fans" that will have their kid open the backdoor at a gym so they can attend a tourney and not have to pay $5 to get in...

i just don't understand why tennis players can make a living and all but a select few wrestlers still struggle...

[LJB]

1 hour ago, BruceyB said:

but it would be unbelievable if we got to see the top 10 guys in the world enter the same bracket more than one time a year.

i will also add...

Otto's bracket at the last ranking series in Hungary had 12 of the top 20 ranked wrestlers on the planet at that weight entered...

perhaps you guys should watching the best style...

[bnwtwg]

1 hour ago, LJB said:

i will also add...

Otto's bracket at the last ranking series in Hungary had 12 of the top 20 ranked wrestlers on the planet at that weight entered...

perhaps you guys should watching the best style...

Q: What do you call 12 of the 20 best guys competing at one tournament of the second best style in the world?

 

A: NCAAs

[LJB]

you had done so well trying to be clever earlier...

perhaps you really should have left on a high note today...

[bnwtwg]

16 minutes ago, LJB said:

you had done so well trying to be clever earlier...

perhaps you really should have left on a high note today...

Is your gif the top highlight from the greco tournament you are talking about?

[LJB]

[RAFWiki]

24 minutes ago, bnwtwg said:

Is your gif the top highlight from the greco tournament you are talking about?

Swing and a miss, strike two

[The Kid]

1 hour ago, bnwtwg said:

Q: What do you call 12 of the 20 best guys competing at one tournament of the second best style in the world?

 

A: NCAAs

lol

[Sulyvahn]

Why do water polo players make pennies compared to soccer players? Popularity and wealth of the sport. Same issue applies in wrestling. 

But to entertain the comparison. The US open and the tournaments that the players on TV play are already long qualification processes with several filters that players got though. The players on TV have already made it. The actual trenches of pro tennis is the futures tour (I think they rebranded recently but it's the same). These are tournaments around the world that offer open entry to the general public in exchange for atp points (and a trivial amount of prize money). As a player, you have to pay for the flights, hotels, costs, equipment, and organize your travel all on your own. You play in front of no one usually (hey it's starting to sounds like international wrestling). The typical high level player that gives pro tennis a shot lasts about 3 futures tournaments before they hang it up and quit. It's a grinder that spits aspiring pros out quickly.  

That's different from wrestling where besides the Olympics they have no qualification process? It's really just up to whether a particular wresting federation wants to send athletes to an event. And you don't even need a trials, some countries just pick someone out of a hat. Also I think the wrestlers almost always get permission from there federation before they go to tournaments. Their travel and basic expenses are handled. I don't think anyone is self funding trips to the Spanish grand prix or Thor masters. Whereas in tennis it is absolutely up to the individual player to pay for their own travel and expenses at futures. The national federations don't help at all.  

[LJB]

I have paid for 2 trips to Thor Masters…

Valamar…

Haavisto…

Hapranda…

etc. etc. etc.

not to mention domestic tourneys…

in the US, only athletes on the senior national team are funded and those go where Team USA goes…

if you are not on the national team you can set your own schedule but you are finding ways to pay for it yourself…

[Lucho]

I think part of the problem is the fact that wrestling is in a unique position of it being an "amateur sport". It also doesn't help that the countries that are really good at wrestling have their own "professional systems" domestically (college and NIL in the US, wrestling leagues in Iran and Russia etc.) which aren't UWW sanctioned and thus don't contribute to financially supporting the majority of the athletes in the UWW circuit. At least in Iran, the guys that are sent to international tournaments are sponsored by the federation at all age groups but to get to that level I imagine it is an incredibly arduous process. I think with the rise of RAF it may cause UWW to rethink their model as there is really no financial benefit at competing at UWW tournaments for ranking points when you can earn 5-10x more wrestling one match every couple of months instead of full tournaments in the middle of nowhere.  

[LJB]

The ranking series is a relatively new thing as UWW started to seed worlds and the Olympics in the last quad or two and UWW needed a way to legitimately create seeds…

now the ranking series are an actual qualifier for an Olympic spot…

as long as the Olympics is the pinnacle of wrestling rankings series will continue to hold value…

I have no clue what the leagues in Russia and Iran are paying, but, Bundesliga in Germany were paying 6-800 per match at least as of a couple of years ago… that does not seem like much, but, it has without a doubt helped supplement wrestlers in Europe…

RAF’s emergence has created huge waves as they are able to pay real money per match… that number varies pretty wildly, but, even on the low end of what I know is being paid it is significant for wrestling…

We are already seeing athletes foregoing NCAA eligibility and international competition to focus purely on RAF… some by choice and some wrestling had already passed them by, but, the pay is enough to make it very worthwhile…

it will be extremely interesting to see if RAF’s growth continues and how it ultimately affects the international landscape…

Russia is not pumped at all that Sadulaev got injured in his match and forced a post poned wrestle off…

interesting times…

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

On 9/9/2026 at 3:41 PM, LJB said:

i can personally tell you that Otto losing to Orta in the Pan AM finals was the difference between 3K and zero...

losing in the semi finals at one of the ranking series was the difference between 7K and zero...

they have wrestled for 700 euros before in the finals of smaller tourneys and have instead received a cordless drill for second...

trying to compare the economics of a sport like tennis and those of wrestling is apples vs typewriters...

this is the reason RAF is such a big deal...

 

[LJB]

is there a point?