USA Track & Field came out this week with a glossy headline: record audited revenue of $44.6 million for 2024, “the largest in the organization’s history” and proof, it says, of a decade-long growth story.
The audited statements and 2024 Form 990 tell a harder truth: USATF still lost money last year, still has negative net assets, and is leaning on debt and higher fees from its own community to keep the lights on.
Record revenue, but another year in the red
On paper, 2024 does look like a bounce-back year.
Total revenue jumped from about $36.7 million in 2023 to $44.6 million in 2024, a 22% increase. Expenses also climbed, from roughly $42.2 million to $45.9 million. The result was a $1.19 million operating loss, better than the $5.48 million deficit in 2023 but still another year in the red.
USATF finished 2024 with $29.7 million in assets and $35.9 million in liabilities, leaving a negative net asset balance of about –$6.1 million, worse than the –$4.9 million position at the end of 2023.
So where did the extra money come from?
The filings and independent reporting show that the big 2024 jump wasn’t driven by a wave of new corporate partners.
Sponsorship and royalty revenue was roughly flat at just under $19.5 million, dominated by Nike’s $18.17 million payment, with smaller contributions from NBC, Comcast, Toyota, Hershey, Prevagen, Hyperice, Garden of Life, Orlando Health and others.
Instead, most of the growth came from:
- A huge increase in “events and athlete program” revenue, from about $1.3 million in 2023 to $6.2 million in 2024, likely driven by the 2024 Olympic Trials on the track and the marathon Trials.
- Higher “member-based programs” revenue (membership dues and sanction fees), up from $3.85 million to $5.44 million.
- Merchandise sales more than doubling from about $1.3 million to $2.78 million in the Olympic year.
Those three buckets account for essentially all of the extra ~$7.9 million in revenue compared to 2023.
In other words, the “record revenue” story is mostly: Trials year, higher fees from the USATF community, and an Olympic-year merch bump.
Where the money went
On the expense side, USATF’s own executive summary lays out the big drivers.
The organization:
- Spent more than $10 million in 2024 on final obligations tied to hosting the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and the 2023 Diamond League Final at the Prefontaine Classic.
- Increased “sports performance” spending to $10.5 million and elite athlete competition spending to $15 million, aligning with the Paris Olympic cycle.
- Continued to pour money into Grand Prix meets and other domestic events that USATF describes as “critical, board-approved investments.”
The 990 shows that “elite athlete competitions” cost about $17.7 million in 2024, with $12.2 million of that booked as grants or allocations (things like prize money, appearance fees and travel support), and generated $19.5 million in revenue.
“Athlete support and development” added another $6.0 million in expenses and $4.0 million in revenue.
At the same time, “support services,” including administration, communications, marketing, finance, and legal, climbed by about $1.2 million compared to 2023, according to the statements. That rise, plus higher cost of goods for merchandise, essentially absorbed the benefit of the new revenue.
USATF’s summary insists the 2024 and 2023 losses were “strategic investments” in global events and athlete programs, framed as planned deficits ahead of LA 2028.
But stepping back, this isn’t a one-off blip. It’s the third straight year of red ink.
From the end of 2021 through the end of 2023, USATF’s net assets fell by about $13.46 million, flipping from a positive balance to a negative one, largely due to big outlays tied to Eugene 2022 and other event commitments. The 2024 deficit shrinks the yearly loss, but it doesn’t reverse that slide.
Executive pay vs. athlete pay
Whenever USATF’s finances come up, one issue always surfaces: executive compensation.
In 2021, CEO Max Siegel earned about $3.8 million, roughly 11% of all revenue that year, a number that drew national criticism and highlighted how much of USATF’s payroll was concentrated at the top.
The new 2024 Form 990 shows that Siegel’s package has come down from those peak levels but remains substantial:
- $1,134,565 in reportable compensation from USATF
- Plus $48,182 in “other compensation,” for a total of about $1.18 million.
The next tier of executives, think COO, general counsel, marketing, finance, sports science and others, each received between roughly $170,000 and $670,000 in total compensation, and the top group of officers and high-paid staff collectively earned more than $4.2 million.
How does that compare to what athletes actually receive?
Schedule I of the 990 shows:
- $3.66 million in athlete payments and stipends
- $831,000 in athlete travel stipends
- $535,422 in additional athlete travel support, plus about $1.6 million in non-cash travel assistance (airfare, housing, per diem)
So USATF is spending real money on athlete support, around $5 million in cash grants and stipends to U.S. athletes, plus significant in-kind travel and housing.
But the numbers also underline a tension: one executive’s compensation package is roughly a quarter of the total direct athlete cash payments listed on Schedule I. That doesn’t mean those salaries are illegitimate or that the services aren’t needed. But it does shape how the financial story feels to the athletes and coaches being asked to do more with less.
From an athlete-centric perspective, it’s hard not to feel like the system is upside-down: record revenue headlines on one side; negative net assets, heavy debt, and a shrinking domestic circuit on the other.
A more sustainable, athlete-first approach would likely look different.
It would mean rebuilding reserves rather than normalizing annual deficits, tying executive compensation and event ambitions more explicitly to long-term financial health, diversifying revenue beyond Nike, and committing that a clear share of every new dollar will go directly to athlete pay, travel, and competition opportunities.
USATF is not broke. It has cash, investments and long-term sponsorships. But it is operating with a thin cushion and a lot of promises.
Athletes, clubs and fans are being asked to trust that the record revenue headline will eventually translate into a healthier, more stable system underneath.
Right now, the numbers say that hasn’t happened yet.
