Arnold congratulates Derek Lunsford on winning the 2025 Arnold Classic. / Arnold Sports
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on May 15 that he has again dramatically increased the top prize for the men’s open at the Arnold Classic, again leapfrogging the Mr. Olympia top prize. The Arnold winner’s payday is growing by 50% from $500,000 this year to $750,000 next year and the total purse will make a similar jump from $1 million this year to $1.5 million next year. To keep ahead of the Arnold last year, the Mr. Olympia men’s open prize money was boosted from $400,000 in 2023 to a top prize of $600,000 with a total purse of just over $1.1 million. Now, it is again your move, Olympia promoter Jake Wood. Could we see a top prize of $1 million at the Mr. Olympia?
PRIZE MONEY: ARNOLD CLASSIC VS. MR. OLYMPIA
For decades, Arnold Schwarzenegger had an agreement with the bodybuilding powers-that-be that his Arnold Classic prize money would not exceed the Mr. Olympia prize money. After all, the Mr. O is bodybuilding’s ultimate honor. The American Arnold Classic, as great as it is, is a qualifying contest for the Olympia. For awhile in the early 2000’s Arnold got around this by offering a new Hummer H1 in addition to the contest’s top cash prize, and this was enough to attract reigning Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman to the Arnold in 2001 (he won and drove the Hummer for years). But then things quieted down.
The Mr. Olympia top prize was $110,000 from 1995 to 2003. But then it started to grow. By 2009, it was $200,000, in 2012 it was $250,000, 2014 it was $275,000, and 2015 it was $400,000. Meanwhile, the Arnold Classic top paycheck had increased to only $130,000 with no more Hummer. For many years, they were both stuck there: the Mr. Olympia at $400k and the Arnold at $130k. As a result, the lineups of the Arnold were sometimes lacking, sometimes severely, frequently attracting only one Mr. O top contender and never the current champ.
Then Arnold Schwarzenegger started pumping out bigger bucks. In 2022, he offered a $200,000 top prize. In 2023, to much fanfare, he boosted it 50% to $300,000 and attracted a quartet of top names. When he announced the raise, Arnold said: “From the first time we hosted a bodybuilding championship in Columbus in 1976 [that was the Mr. Olympia], my goal has been to increase the prize money to reward these fantastic athletes. They are making year-round commitments to improving their physiques and attaining their goals, and as a former competitor who worked bricklaying jobs during the offseason and now as a promoter, I want to match that level of commitment to the sport of bodybuilding. I am excited to announce that this year’s winner of the Arnold Classic will win a record $300,000.” That top prize remained at $300,000 in 2024.
Meanwhile, the Mr. Olympia top prize money was stuck. It was at $400,000 every contest since it got there in 2015, nine long years until 2023, tying the period from 1995 to 2003 for inactivity.
| YEAR | ARNOLD CLASSIC | MR. OLYMPIA |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $130,000 | $400,000 |
| 2022 | $200,000 | $400,000 |
| 2023 | $300,000 | $400,000 |
| 2024 | $300,000 | $600,000 |
| 2025 | $500,000 | $600,000 |
| 2026 | $750,000 | ??? |
But the Arnold Classic kept moving on up. Last year, Arnold announced that the agreement to stay below the Olympia prize money was a relic of the past. (Arnold’s mentor, Joe Weider, creator and owner of the Mr. Olympia from its inception in 1965 until 2002, died in 2013.) For the good of bodybuilding, Arnold said, he was leapfrogging the Mr. Olympia top prize, going all the way to $500,000. Doing so, he attracted a stellar lineup earlier this year, including the reigning Mr. Olympia Samson Dauda and two recent Mr. O’s, Brandon Curry and Derek Lunsford (Lunsford won).
In response, the Mr. Olympia top prize finally moved up last year, and by a whopping 50%, to $600,000, staying ahead of this year’s Arnold. But that wouldn’t last.
With the announcement that next year, the Arnold Classic men’s open will grow by its own 50% to a top prize of $750,000, Arnold said, in an obvious shot at the Olympia: “I’m tired of waiting around. Let the others chase us.” (He also said the Arnold UK top prize a week later would be $250,000, so a bodybuilder could potentially earn $1 million in a week next March.)
MILLION DOLLAR TOP PRIZE?
Update: The Mr. Olympia prize money was not increased this year. If you look at the chart above, the Mr. Olympia can stay ahead of the Arnold annually by going up next year, but 2026 will be the first time an Arnold Classic will pay more than the previous year’s Mr. Olympia. Arnold is right; they have to chase him—if there’s a chase. Now it’s an open question: Will the Olympia cash prizes increase next year to stay ahead of the Arnold Classic? Olympia promoter Dan Solomon has hinted at big things. $900,000 would be another 50% growth spurt, but $1,000,000 is a nice round number. And if the Olympia doesn’t go to a million first, the Arnold will likely beat them to it. Will the 2026 Mr. Olympia winner earn seven figures for a single contest? Stay tuned…
