Biggest purse

What was actually on the table. Listed purses only — KCBS does not publish who took home which slice of it.

$75,940 prize money listed

🥇 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest

Set Sep 27, 2023
How 487 teams cooking for it
Standing held outright
Scope national, and available by state on the record book

The top 25

#	Contest	Prize money listed	Set
1	American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 487 teams cooking for it	$75,940	Sep 27, 2023
2	31st Annual Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue (JUDGES FULL) (COMPETITORS SERIES) 97 teams cooking for it	$69,100	Oct 25, 2019
=3	40th American Royal World Series of Barbecue- OPEN CONTEST 468 teams cooking for it	$68,425	Sep 12, 2019
=3	American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 444 teams cooking for it	$68,425	Oct 30, 2024
5	Third Annual KCBS World Invitational Barbeque Competition and Judging	$68,000	Nov 11, 2021
=6	Smithfield Classic in Nashville 50 teams cooking for it	$50,000	Sep 3, 2021
=6	Saracen Casino Smoke on the Water 47 teams cooking for it	$50,000	Oct 21, 2022
=6	Smoke on the Water - Saracen Casino PB 49 teams cooking for it	$50,000	Oct 27, 2023
=6	Navy SEAL Danny Dietz Memorial Classic Cookoff 67 teams cooking for it	$50,000	Sep 13, 2024
=6	Smoke on the Water 42 teams cooking for it	$50,000	Sep 20, 2024
=6	Grand American Barbecue World Championship (Invitational) (COMPETITOR SERIES) 34 teams cooking for it	$50,000	Aug 1, 2025
=6	Danny Dietz Memorial World Championship Cookoff 75 teams cooking for it	$50,000	Sep 11, 2026
=6	La Belle MO Show Me BBQ Showdown 33 teams cooking for it	$50,000	Oct 2, 2026
14	Made for KC BBQ Championship (COMPETITORS SERIES) 44 teams cooking for it	$46,000	Jun 9, 2023
15	Poosa Q 73 teams cooking for it	$43,300	Oct 5, 2023
=16	Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que & Music Festival 54 teams cooking for it	$40,200	Sep 5, 2020
=16	Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que Music Festival 51 teams cooking for it	$40,200	Oct 14, 2022
=18	Papa Joe's Banjo-B-Que & Music Festival 72 teams cooking for it	$40,000	May 24, 2019
=18	Grand American Barbecue World Championship Invitational (COMPETITOR SERIES) 43 teams cooking for it	$40,000	May 1, 2026
=18	All American BBQ Cook-Off (Day 2) 34 teams cooking for it	$40,000	Oct 17, 2026
21	Royal Oak Invitational Only (COMPETITOR SERIES) 34 teams cooking for it	$39,100	Oct 15, 2021
=22	Royal Oak Invitational Only (COMPETITOR SERIES) 35 teams cooking for it	$38,000	Oct 21, 2022
=22	Royal Oak Invitational (COMPETITOR SERIES) (PRIVATE EVENT BY INVITATION) 35 teams cooking for it	$38,000	Oct 20, 2023
=24	40th American Royal World Series of Barbecue- INVITATIONAL CONTEST 135 teams cooking for it	$37,965	Sep 12, 2019
=24	American Royal World Series of Barbecue-INVITATIONAL CONTEST 185 teams cooking for it	$37,965	Sep 16, 2021

Rebuilt nightly from every KCBS result we can find. A record here is only as complete as the data behind it — if a contest is missing from the archive, so is anything that happened at it.

🎪 More from contests, fields & days

Records held by the contests themselves rather than by the teams.

💰 Biggest purse

The top 25

🎪 More from contests, fields & days

Biggest purse