What if HQ has good goals and it's not about "milking," but exposing people to a more effective fitness methodology?
Personally, I believe that quality is going to drive the success or failure of CrossFit, and that's why we (and many other successful gyms) have been very devoted to making sure quality is a driver in our service.
Their behaviour can too easily be constructed into a very negative picture.
I can see Crossfit going one of two ways:
Either it will reach a high water mark and settle down to a steady-state condition. More people are coming into Crossfit, but in many markets there's a saturation of affiliates. Gyms with overheads like full-time, well-trained coaches will be partly driven out by cheaper operations with a CF1 certificate.
Alternatively, someone will construct a successful legal argument that Crossfit is a franchise operation. A subsequent class action lawsuit will turn them into a smoking hole in the ground.
On the upside, millions of people will have learnt that exercising is fun. That is definitely a positive outcome.
Oh my, this is so funny. Yes, Crossfit is in some ways better, but I personally have a corollary:
No mainstream exercise/diet technique is effective.
Do you know someone that got fit by reading "Men's Health" BS? Well, surprising isn't it? Not at all!
And they need it to make it less boring for the average Joe, also allowing a good amount of people to go, they're decreasing individual effectiveness.
The fact that the champions use a specialized approach corroborates this.
Not to mention a lot of exercises are tiring and "looks good on paper" but their effectiveness is debatable.