We are 114 days away from the start of the 2017 CrossFit Games, but Games tickets will be available to the public beginning Thursday, April 27. There appear to be some new and interesting things shaping up for the first week of August. Let’s take a look at what we know so far.
When/Where
August 1-6. While we don’t have specifics, we can plan on the Teens/Masters competition starting on Tuesday, August 1 and wrapping up on Thursday, August 3. The Individual competition will likely begin on Wednesday, August 2 and run through the weekend. The Affiliate competition started on a Thursday in 2016 so we’re going to guess that’s the start date until we hear otherwise.
Madison, Wisconsin. Alliant Energy Center, to be exact. The CrossFit Games have left Carson, California and are moving to the Midwest. After years of getting familiar with the Home Depot StubHub Center, a new venue is in store.
CrossFit has released a map of the fairgrounds giving us a sneak peak at what we might be able to expect. The first impression, there’s a lot of indoor space. The Coliseum is where we anticipate seeing individual athletes compete for Friday Night Lights is an indoor stadium. There is also an “Age Group Pavilion” that is inside.
There does appear to be a large area north west of the main area called the “Dog Park” that is one of the competition locations. In addition, there is a North Park that currently a parking lot. What is noticeably absent, however, is a large outdoor stadium similar to the soccer stadium in Carson. It will be interesting to see how the competition fields are set up to accommodate some of the bigger elements of the Games like the Zeus Rig.
As for some of the non-competition areas, the sandy/dirt colored area in the upper right section in the aerial below is called Willow Island and will be for RV parking. There will also be a 20,000 square foot covered Beer Garden onsite as well as an indoor Vendor Village Pavilion.
Purchasing Tickets
Affiliate ticket pre-sale begins on Friday, April 21 through Wednesday, April 26. Affiliates with 12 or more athletes that participated in the 2017 Open have early access to purchase up to eight Festival + Coliseum tickets. Affiliate owners interested in purchasing tickets can find their code on their competition dashboard page.
For the general public, tickets will go on sale Thursday, April 21. Timing of this release is still unknown.
Ticket Packages
There are two ticket packages to choose from. The Festival + Coliseum package is a four-day pass that includes access to all events during the day and a reserved seat for the nightly Coliseum events. Prices range from $225 to $500.
The lower priced alternative is the Festival package. This allows a spectator to access all events except for the nightly Coliseum event. For only $99, you can see the Masters and Teen competitions and the outside events for the teams and individuals.
The Madison Club
A new feature in 2017 is the VIP section dubbed ‘The Madison Club‘. Amenities include valet parking, access to premier hospitality locations including a climate-controlled tent and an open-air sky box, full buffet for lunch and dinner, free alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and the first opportunity to renew your Madison Club passes for the 2018 CrossFit Games.
The Madison Club isn’t cheap. It’s $1,000 in addition to the purchase of your Games tickets. Email madisonclub@crossfitgames.com if you are interested.
RV and Tent Camping
For those interested in RV parking or tent camping on the grounds, there are 99 RV camping spaces on Willow Island. Each RV space is $700 for the week. For those who want to camp in a tent, a 10-by-20-foot camping space is $250 for the week.
Campers can move in and set up beginning on Wednesday, August 2 at 8am and all campers must be moved in by 5pm that same day.
Parking
There is some parking space available for $7 daily rate or $25 for a four-day pass. Passes may be purchased when ordering tickets. CrossFit does recommend that those staying nearby utilize ride-sharing (i.e. Uber or Lyft), walking or biking to the venue.
