Most "professional skiers" just get free gear and travel budgets to film a segment or go to competitions.
To be a professional, you either have to be a massive dirtbag, or have a trust fund; and the former has gotten much harder these days.
Same deal for professional climbers, AFIAK.
I also disagree in that climbing seems quite affordable compared to other outdoor recreation. Shoes and ropes are the biggest wearable expenses (the latter of which you can split with your partner).
You can even get a trad rack for ~500$ that will last you a decade (minus replacing a stuck piece occasionally).
Most importantly, climbing outside is free.
When I walk out of my house to go skiing, I probably have close to 7k in gear on me, all of which has to be replaced every 2-5 seasons :(
I think very few climbers have made $1 million in a year from sponsorships. But if I had to guess, I'd say Alex Honnold and Lynn Hill have (and perhaps a handful of a few others). Sure, it's probably not $1mm every year, but I'd be surprised if they're not making that some years. Right now, the climbing "industry" is also going through a massive boom which has led to hundreds of new gear companies, so this might be the most lucrative time ever to be a sponsored rock climber.
And yes, it's not the most expensive sport either, I already acknowledged skiing is likely more expensive. As someone who climbs outside 30-50 times a year I personally would need to spend ~$400/year just to keep up with replacing helmets, harnesses, ropes, slings, shoes, and misc. lost/broken/damaged gear. It's more because I'm adding to my trad rack constantly, but I know lots of climbers who spend roughly this amount every year, none of whom climb competitively or professionally.
And you can get a trad rack for $500 (in the U.S.), but that would just be single cams from .3-3 with carabiners, a nut tool, and a handful of slings and nuts. And you'd still have to buy it used. Add in quickdraws, double cams, more nuts, and other gear (guidebooks, bouldering pads, totems, offsets, hexes, tricams, UFOs, aiders, big bros, portledges, pulleys, ascenders, haul bags), and as a non-professional climber, it can be very easy to spend >$1000/year.
Compare this with a soccer player who plays a couple of pickup games every week. Even if soccer is a much more popular sport for people to play/watch, it's easy to imagine how the same amount of money could be spent on climbing gear collectively.
You’ll build your rack slowly over a dozen years, maybe tricking in a new cam or two and the odd nut to replace stuff you’ve lost. But nobody ever retires cams, and no dirtbag climber has ever decided to spontaneously replace his entire trad rack.
Similarly, as a sport climber, I get a new rope every six or eight years if I’m trashing it, and a new rack of draws every fifteen. It’s not a regular occurrence.
I moved to Fontainebleau specifically for bouldering and am on the rocks 3 days a week. I go through 2 pairs of shoes a year and add a pad to the collection every few years. If I spend $500 on the sport in a year, that’s a big year.
Compare that to something like surfing, where I’ll spend more than that on baggage fees for one trip, and it just rounds to zero on the scale of expensive sports.
Personally I've been climbing outdoors for almost 3 years now and have had to buy a rope every year (2 ropes one year actually). I realize I'm not 'typical' of a climber, but I've probably spent $9000 USD total on equipment in the time frame. Mostly new equipment, but also mostly on sale 20-30% off retail price. But even the 'dirtbags' I know may save money by not paying rent, hitchhiking, living in vans, or camping, and still can spend $400-600 a year on climbing equipment
To be honest it’s pretty cheap living here. The little village were in isn’t on the train line to Paris, and it’s not a fashionable spot for parisien weekend houses. It’s just a farm village, with real estate priced accordingly. There’s no way you’d be able to buy so much as a tear down within 50 miles of a west coast city for the price of this house. And it wasn’t anywhere near the bottom end of the market.
You should probably come out for a season to see for yourself.
I climb ~50 days a year and I've got 5 year old draws that I'd still whip on.
I don't think soccer and climbing are even in the same ballpark when it comes to market size. I hope they never are because outdoor areas literally couldn't survive that level of popularity.
PS: Join the AAC if your aren't already. Gives you access to a bunch of discounts, including BD. Cams are in stock and 35% off rn.
But for argument's sake, let's say 5%. That's still 5% of climbers who are likely to spend more in a year on equipment than 99% of people who play soccer ever will. That's why I'm saying it's a sizable industry when you look at what people are spending.
I think your overestimating the profit margins on climbing gear (very thin) and underestimating the popularity of soccer (think every school has 20 kids buying expensive cleats that are mass produced).
Janja Garnbret has been the unquestioned top female climber since she started being a pro climber, but an American or British climber will always get more media coverage.
My wife was a sponsored rock climber when we met, and we know quite a few top level climbers (including a couple that non climbers might actually have heard of). Sponsorship keeps many of them going, but not at the level you’re thinking of.
Think “can afford to do a euro trip staying at Airbnb’s”. Which is cool, but you probably make more than any of them with your developer gig.
One of the interesting things about climbing though, is that this is often all the compensation climbers get. There aren't climbing leagues/teams that pay climbers a salary comparable to other sports (I suspect some competition climbers get paid a salary or stipend, but I doubt it's as much as a professional football/basketball player). But there is so much money to be made from selling climbing equipment, the manufacturers are heavily incentivized to get their names out. And the superstar climbers like Honnold will get sponsorships from other companies as well (Red Bull, Clif Bar, etc.)
One day hopefully.
Climbing is still a relatively niche sport (though depending on where you are, it might be one of the most popular), but I'd wager participants collectively spend as much on climbing equipment as many more popular sports. The gear is quite expensive, and for safety reasons, much of it needs to be replaced with relative regularity. You'd be hard-pressed to find a sport where people who don't compete at any level spend $500-2000 per year on equipment (though skiing might give it a run for its money, especially when other expenses of skiing are taken into consideration)
As a result, 'professional' rock climbers (many of whom counterintuitively don't participate in competitive climbing), court a wide variety of sponsorships.