“That’s not going to be possible anymore,” he said.

But Judy Frankel, a spokeswoman for the Madison Area Sports Commission which coordinates the event locally, notes the race always fills quickly and is nearly at its 2,800 entrant capacity for 2015. Ironman Wisconsin is contracted here through 2018.

“I don’t think it will have much of a negative impact on attendance,” she said. “Our race is very, very popular.”

Frankel did not have figures on the number of visitors who book hotel rooms for Ironman Wisconsin but said age-group participants, who will pay $675 in 2015 to enter, tend to bring along their friends and family.

“The hobbyists are much more likely to come with an entourage than the pros,” she says.

The move by the World Triathlon Corp. (WTC) to consolidate prize money at fewer events comes amid spectacular growth in the sport and new pressures to provide a return for its investors.