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  • 🚀 After Streaming the 2026 CrossFit Games, FloSports Is Just Getting Started

🚀 After Streaming the 2026 CrossFit Games, FloSports Is Just Getting Started

August 6th, 2026

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • đź“ş FloSports is betting big on CrossFit.

  • đź‘ź From Chuck Taylors to trail shoes — 20 years of Ranch-running footwear.

  • 🤝 Capra Collective helps rising CrossFit athletes through funding, mentorship, and community.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
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Our vision is to become the home of CrossFit, where we have year-round programming, so…if an event is happening, fans can tune in.”

Adam Armstrong, VP of Global Partnerships, FloSports.
INDUSTRY

Behind FloSports’ Decision to Invest Heavily in CrossFit Now and in the Future

Credit: FloSports

A week before the CrossFit Games last month, CrossFit announced an exclusive media partnership with streaming company FloSports.

  • This meant that, for the first time in CrossFit Games history, all divisions, including masters, teams, teens and adaptive athletes, were streamed globally on one single platform.

Furthermore, FloSports hosted a Daily Recap Show on YouTube during the Games, and awarded more than $25,000 in prize money via their “Performance of the Day” award, presented each day to an athlete in any division who displayed resilience and grit, a shared core value of both CrossFit and FloSports.

Remind Me

Founded in 2006, FloSports’ goal has long been to provide coverage of otherwise “underserved sports.”

  • The company — which has different channels such as FloElite, FloGrappling, FloHockey, and FloWrestling — is huge in the motorsports community, as well as track and field, wrestling, hockey, cheerleading, and college sports, which are on the rise. 

FloSports streams more than 55,000 events a year. More than 2,000 are produced by Flo, while the others, like the CrossFit Games, rely on outside production teams.

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SPEED READS

🍸➡️🏋️ Workouts Are the New Night Out: New ClassPass survey data suggests wellness is becoming a lifestyle priority, with many consumers saying they'd rather spend their free time exercising than going out for drinks or late nights.

📅🔥 The Countdown Is On: CrossFit has announced the dates for the 2027 Open, giving athletes their target as the road to next season officially begins.

🏆🏋️ The Games Aren't the Goal: CrossFit's latest Essentials article argues that while the CrossFit Games showcase extraordinary fitness, they aren't what teach most people the true value of CrossFit. The real lessons are learned through years of consistent training in an affiliate.

💪🥗 Exercise Is Becoming Part of the Prescription: Rather than viewing GLP-1 medications as a replacement for fitness, many gyms are positioning themselves as partners in helping members preserve muscle, improve movement, and build sustainable habits while on the medications. New CF CEO Bruce Edwards addressed GLP-1s and CrossFit in San Jose at the Owners and Coaches Conference. Check out his take here.

ICYMI: How the 20th CrossFit Games Restored My Faith in CrossFit's Future (Rx article)

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Sole Evolution: How the Ranch Run Shoe Game Changed Over 20 Years

Credit: CrossFit Games

Over the course of 20 years, the CrossFit Games have evolved – in setting, programming, the athletes who compete, and overall vibe. We've seen different physiques, new skills mastered, different accessories worn, and shifting styles represented.

  • One thing we've tracked in particular is footwear over the years, and it's prompted us to conduct a brief case study. The snapshot we're using: the Ranch Runs from 2007, 2016, 2020, and 2026.

In 2007, men and women showed up in Aromas, California, ready to take on three workouts to test their hand at the first-ever CrossFit proving grounds – the inaugural CrossFit Games, which featured three different workouts. 

  • In footage from that day (now almost 20 years ago), we see men in oversized cotton T-shirts and basketball shorts, women in tank tops and running shorts - most of them clad in running shoes. 

While CrossFit was born from combining movements and methodologies borrowed from other sports, so was the footwear and apparel. Reebok had not yet developed the Nano, the first CrossFit-specific shoe, and many of us were still deadlifting and squatting in our beat-up Nike Zooms or Asics Gel Nimbus.

INDUSTRY

How Capra Collective Is Rewriting the Athlete Support Model

Credit: Scott Freymond

Before Mirjam von Rohr became a two-time Games athlete, she was an Elite 15 HYROX racer. At the time, she missed several major events outside Europe, even though she had qualified, because she couldn’t afford to take time off work and cover the costs.

  • She knew she wouldn’t necessarily be fighting for a podium position, so despite the other benefits of competing (experience, connections, and visibility), she had to opt out. The financial investment was simply too high.

Today, the support around athletes is stronger, but von Rohr tells us that this dilemma still exists for many in competitive fitness – most notably those who aren’t finishing on or near the podium.

  • Financing international travel and competitions can still be extremely challenging and is keeping many up-and-comers from reaching their full potential.

Enter the Capra Collective

Capra Collective was founded on the belief that athletes need sustainable, long-term financial support to succeed. The organization began two years ago in Switzerland, after founders Julien Lazarus and Mike Bonzon saw many talented athletes with strong training programs struggle to make ends meet.

  • The Collective helps meet athletes’ practical needs so they can focus on what they do best: their sport.

HIGHLIGHTS

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