The CrossFit Athlete Council (CAC) met with members of the CrossFit Games team and Bruce Edwards, CrossFit’s new CEO, in July. During that meeting the CAC presented their recommendations to restructure the competitive season for 2027.
CAC’s Recommendations:
1. Merge the CrossFit Open and Quarterfinals with one week separating the two competitions.
2. Use a “strength of field” model to invite athletes to the Semifinals level of competition.
3. Restrict athletes to only one in-person Semifinals event.
4. Increase the number of athletes who qualify to the CrossFit Games from in-person events, leaving only 1-2 athletes to qualify from Online Semifinals.
5. CrossFit should seek out new Semifinals organizers to increase the number of Semifinals events.
6. Increase the number of individual athletes competing at the Games to 40, knowing that this would mean “athlete cuts” would be part of the competition.
Following the CAC’s presentation of recommended changes, CrossFit HQ said that they would be considered but that no decisions would be made during the meeting.
CrossFit did announce the dates for the 2027 CrossFit Open. The Open will now be a week earlier than it has the past two years. The 2027 CrossFit Open will begin February 18 and run through March 8.
If CrossFit takes up the CAC’s recommendation on merging the Open and Quarterfinals, then Quarterfinals would likely begin as early as March 11.
In 2026, there were 10 in-person Semifinals for the elite individual division where 23 men and women qualified for the CrossFit Games. Another seven athletes qualified for the Games via the Online Semifinals.
There were also seven in-person Semifinals for teams and five in-person Semifinals for masters athletes.
The August CAC meeting will include a discussion around the 2027 season for teams. That discussion will be led by Angelo DiCicco, member of the CrossFit Whip team that won the 2026 CrossFit Games.
And finally, the CAC shared ideas on structuring ticket sales differently next year. The CAC recommended “early bird” pricing as part of those changes.
