Google Trends: Searches for Crossfit over the past twelve months

For this project, I used Google Trends to determine which of Crossfit's competitive worldwide events in 2017 sparked the most searches. I compared the terms "Crossfit" (blue), "Crossfit Open" (red), "Crossfit Regionals" (green), and "Crossfit Games" (yellow) for all web searches worldwide in the past 12 months. For reference, the Crossfit Open is the worldwide qualifier for the next two stages of worldwide competition - most Crossfitters will participate, so even those individuals who don't qualify to move on will get a good idea of how they measure up in the sport as a whole. This event begins in late February, with one workout released each Thursday for five weeks. Regionals are the next step in the process - the top 40 male and female athletes as well as top 40 teams in each of the eight regions go to competitions in May and June, and the top ranking individuals and teams (a different number in each region) will go on to the Crossfit Games in August, where they will compete for the title of Fittest on Earth.

Overall, "Crossfit" is a much more popular search term than any of the individual events, with year round popularity and spikes during each of the major events. During the Crossfit Games and Crossfit Regionals, "Crossfit Games" is the most popular of the remaining terms, while "Crossfit Open" barely surpasses it during the Open. "Crossfit Open" peaks during the Open, of course, and becomes a hair more popular during the Games. Finally, "Crossfit Regionals" accounts for an insignificant number of searches, except after the Open when qualifiers are announced and during Regionals - however, "Crossfit Games" is more popular during Regionals than searches for the event itself.

It makes sense that Crossfit-related search terms would become more popular during worldwide Crossfit events - because the Games is certainly the most publicized, and probably the only event that members of the general public who are not involved in Crossfit will follow at all, its popularity is natural as more individuals are likely to perform a "Crossfit Games" web search rather than a search for any other specific event. Additionally, the Open and Regionals are run out of the same website as the Games, so searches from one will often lead to information about both. Regionals are less publicized both in and out of the Crossfit community, so the term is unlikely to garner many searches year round, and because of the way the competition cycle works, searches for "Crossfit Games" will lead to information about Regionals as well. Of course, "Crossfit" is the most popular term because it applies not only to whatever phase of the competition season is currently happening, but to all individuals curious about the sport, trying to find workouts, or trying to locate a gym near them.