2015 Olympia Prize Money

In 2012, the prize money was $900,000 - Not too shabby, right? In 2013, it went up to a cool $950,000, thanks to increases in the 212 showdown and bikini divisions, in addition to the actual Men's bodybuilding winner getting more. Last year, we saw the biggest cash purse to date, which was 1.1 million dollars, divided up between the 8 categories.

This year, the 51st anniversary of the Sandow, the 2015 Olympia has outdone itself once again, as the total prize money for all divisions is $1.115 million dollars!

2015 Olympia Prize Money Breakdown:
• Mr. Olympia: $805,000
• 212 Showdown: $75,000
• Fitness Olympia: $65,000
• Figure Olympia: $65,000
• Bikini Olympia: $50,000
• Men’s Physique: $27,500
• Women’s Physique: $27,500
Total: $1,115,000

The Olympia. Where Legends Are Made. Conceived by Joe Weider, the 1965 Mr. Olympia, which was comprised of past Mr. Universe winners (at the time, the highest accolade in the sport), decided once-and-for-all who was truly the best. The physiques that won on this stage, names like Scott, Schwarzenegger, Zane, Haney, Yates, Coleman, Cutler, Heath and others, will echo through the ages. Today, the Olympia is more than just the greatest bodybuilding contest in the world, it is the greatest event in the sport, representing all eight divisions of the IFBB Professional League and home to an enormous expo with hundreds of health and fitness vendors and exciting sports and exhibitions for competitors and fans alike.

Courtesy of the official npcnewsonline.com press release, 2013

My take on the prize money increase (Jaime Filer, Editor, Online):

This will be my 8th Olympia. I started going as a wide-eyed 19 year old - Which is lame because there's very little to do in Vegas if you're under 21, and have your mom with you. I've seen the expo grow, I've seen the number of competitors grow, I've seen the addition of new divisions and subtraction of other ones. With that said, nothing excites me more than to see people who work hard rewarded and compensated for their commitment to the sport of bodybuilding. I love that fact that the prize money has gone up consistently every single year. However (and this is a big however), it’s hard not to notice which categories received most of the cash increase. In 2013, the prize total for the men’s bodybuilding was $675,000, in 2014, it was $710,000, and this year, we hit a whopping $805,000. These increases are exceptionally disproportionate to let’s say bikini, which received $40,000 in  2013, and $50,000 this year. And please, don’t tell me, “Women don’t bring in the crowds the way the men do!” Have you SEEN the IFBB Bikini pros recently? They're beautiful, classy, elegant woman that men want to be with and women want to be! Have you SEEN the line up Dana Linn Bailey has? It wraps around the expo everytime! And let's not forget that Nicole Wilkins has more fans on Instagram than everyone reading this combined. Ladies are popular! As such, I believe they should be compensated more; especially since there will be no Ms. Olympia category this year, I believe all that prize money should be spread evenly throughout the other female categories (fitness, figure, women’s physique, and bikini). That’s fair, right?