Published: Dec 23, 2024 2:41 PM EST.
Spending continues to outpace revenues at USA Track & Field (USATF).
According to the organization’s 2023 Form 990—a tax form nonprofits must file and make public—USATF overspent by $5.6 million last year. The organization had $35 million in total revenues, and $40.6 million in expenses in 2023.
As a result of the 2023 shortfall, at the end of the year, total liabilities were greater than assets by $4.5 million. That gap has grown wider since 2022, when USATF was still in the black, although barely. The organization in 2022 reported $568,000 in assets.
It is not clear what is causing the shortfall. A slide shown during a presentation at the USATF annual meeting earlier this month was labeled “extraordinary expenses FY (fiscal year) 2023” and listed eight items: “world champs, insurance, prepay Olympics-track, uniform VIK (value in kind), unplanned legal, prepay Olympics-housing, Pre-DL final, Grand Prix/JTG DCO.” JTG is thought to stand for Journey to Gold, a series of high level track meets.
USATF has been slow with financial information about 2023. The Form 990 is required to be publicly posted once it is filed with the IRS. But USATF has not yet posted the form on its website; a version of it showed up on the nonprofit news site Pro Publica, which obtains data directly from the IRS. According to Pro Publica, USATF filed the return on November 14.
In Part VI of the form, which pertains to governance and disclosure, tax preparers checked the box on line 18 that indicated the organization had made the form available on its own website. In past years, USATF has posted the form before Thanksgiving, and attendees at the annual meeting in December knew what is in it before going to the meeting.
For the first time in recent years, the salary of CEO Max Siegel is not the most notable item in the return.
Siegel took home a total of $1.17 million in 2023, down from the 2022 total of $1.26 million and far below his $3.86 million pay package in 2021. His compensation caused an outcry among members of USATF, as it was more than three times the pay of any other executive in the Olympic movement.
Marketing revenues fell. In 2023, USATF reported revenues from sponsorships and royalties of $19.2 million. In 2022, the number was $23.3 million, in 2021 it was $20.2 million, and in 2020, the pandemic year, it was $20.1 million.
Runner’s World posed a series of questions about the Form 990 to USATF via email on December 23 to Siegel and two spokespeople. They did not immediately reply.
At the annual meeting, the USATF to Elect New President Amid Budget Deficit as the new president of USATF, a volunteer position. Clausen, who competed in three Olympics during his career as a race walker and is now an attorney with Major League Baseball, will oversee the board of directors, which is in turn responsible for overseeing Siegel and the national office.
In November 2023, Siegel signed a new, five-year contract to remain the CEO of USATF. In the press release announcing the deal, board member Will Leer said, “As CEO, Max has reversed the financial woes of USATF and created a strong revenue base which has provided millions of dollars in financial support to athletes.”
In 2023, the organization reported spending $6.8 million on athlete support and development, up from $3.6 million in 2022.
membership elected Curt Clausen is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World Shoes & Gear, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
