USATF statement and data on elite athlete spending: USATF will spend more than 50% of its budget and more than $15 million on elite athletes in 2015
Press Release from USATF.org
August 11, 2015
As the national governing body, USATF has the responsibility to support track & field on all levels, including youth programs, masters programs, event sanctioning, road racing, race walking, officials certification, coaches education and certification, Paralympics, national teams and elite athletes.
We are audited each year by both the USOC and by an independent, external auditor, and our tax forms are online. All revenues and expenditures are accounted for and reported.
USATF in 2015 anticipates that we will spend roughly 50 percent of our $30 million budget, or more than $15 million, on a combination of cash directly to athletes, USATF payment of athlete costs and High Performance Programs that support elite athletes. A breakdown of those expenditures may be found below:
| USATF ELITE/PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE SPENDING* | |
| Cash directly to athletes | $ 5,130,000 |
| USATF High Performance Programs | $ 7,035,000 |
| USATF Payment of athlete costs | $ 3,230,000 |
| TOTAL | $ 15,395,000 |
| * Does not include administrative or staff costs | |
| BREAKDOWN OF SPENDING BY CATEGORY | |
| CASH DIRECTLY TO ATHLETES | |
| Tier Funding | $ 1,975,000 |
| Prize money | $ 1,550,000 |
| Emerging elite & Post-collegiate support programs | $ 850,000 |
| Athlete appearances/ambassadors | $ 400,000 |
| Travel allocations | $ 340,000 |
| Health Insurance deductibles | $ 15,000 |
| TOTAL | $ 5,130,000 |
| USATF HIGH PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS | |
| USATF Championship Series events | $ 2,950,000 |
| Broadcast/webcast of elite events | $ 2,200,000 |
| Olympic Training Center | $ 575,000 |
| Sport Science | $ 550,000 |
| Sport Performance Workshops | $ 360,000 |
| Championship Officials | $ 250,000 |
| Sports Medicine | $ 150,000 |
| TOTAL | $ 7,035,000 |
| USATF payment of athlete costs | |
| International Teams & Training Camps | $ 2,200,000 |
| Athlete travel/hotel to other events | $ 350,000 |
| Grants to athlete training groups | $ 280,000 |
| Medical services | $ 250,000 |
| Coaching Stipends | $ 150,000 |
| TOTAL | $ 3,230,000 |
USATF last year publicly committed to spending an additional $9 million on elite athlete programs between now and 2020. We are working with the Athletes Advisory Committee on how best to spend that money and invest in our elite athletes.
![USATF_Logo[1]](https://www.letsrun.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/USATF_Logo1.jpg){kind=logo}
That additional spending is in concert with increases across a range of programs for which USATF is responsible, as detailed at the Opening General Session of USATF’s 2014 Annual Meeting. The State of the Sport Deck in its entirety can be found at https://www.usatf.org/usatf/files/1c/1ca109b3-08a2-4c92-94b8-ad9d1e8edb4a.pdf
USATF continues its efforts to support and grow track & field, long distance running and race walking on all levels, as dictated by our charter, while being an industry leader among national governing bodies in athlete support and sponsorship growth. That growth is achieved through strategic and aggressive sales strategies, with the goal of growing our revenue base to reinvest in all programs. Over the last three years, we have expanded the services we offer to our elite athletes, including services provided to support national teams. Most recently, USATF earlier this summer announced an unprecedented program providing medical and athletic trainers to athletes at no cost to them during Diamond League competition –http://www.usatf.org/News/USATF,-SVSP-to-keep-Team-USA-athletes-healthy-in-W.aspx.
The public representations made by third parties regarding the amount of money USATF spends, and the amount of support it provides its athletes, are not accurate. We will continue in our efforts to increase revenue and funding for all of our athletes and programs while maintaining transparency for all of our members.
Discuss this topic on our world famous messageboard: MB: USATF fires back at Nick Symmonds-USATF will spend more than 50% of its budget and $15 million on elite athletes in 2015.