2015 USA Swimming Convention: 2016 Budget Proposal

Today the USA Swimming Board of Directors released their proposed 2016 Budget at the Aquatic Sports Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The proposed budget features marked increases in registration fees for USA Swimming members, as well as a spike in anticipated event revenues for 2016. These increases will off-set a 67% increase in spending under the “Executive Division”, as well as more modest increases in Business Development and the National Team Division.

Membership dues remain the most significant source of revenue for USA Swimming, making up over 50% of the proposed income for the 2016 year. Looking into the finer detail, the majority of the increased revenues will come from increases in both Athlete and Non-Athlete membership. While USA Swimming usually receives a spike in membership around an Olympic year, that spike typically takes place the year after the Olympics, so it will have a relatively minor affect on revenues for 2016. From 2006-2014, USA Swimming Board of Delegates put in place a 1$ per year increase in membership dues. In 2013 a new due increase was put in place for 2015-2024, meaning that now dues will increase by $2 per year for both athlete and non-athlete members. The USA Swimming membership dues for 2015 were $52. When multiplied out across an organization that boasts somewhere in the neighborhood of 350,000 members, those $2 increases really add up.

Given that membership dues are so important to USA Swimming, members should pay attention to where all that money is headed. The proposal has the “Executive Division” ballooning from $3.5 to $5.2 million in one year. Again, a more detailed analysis reveals that the majority of this increase is under a line item titled “Documentary Film and Education” which is due to receive 1.2 million after not existing in previous years. Reading the accompanying memo, the money will be used to “produce a film about the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and the story of the U.S. Women’s Team facing the doped East German Team”. The memo also cites that there is currently a robust market for documentaries and that they expect to recoup some of that money. Given the growing controversy about doping in Swimming heading into Rio, the film is timely and should address the dearth of quality swimming documentaries available.

However, all other increases are dwarfed by the nearly $4 million projected increase in event revenue for 2016. Where does that money come from? Olympic Trials, of course. The third edition to be held in Omaha in 2016 has proven to be a money making success for USA Swimming. While many at the top of the sport think the event is bloated (around 2000 athletes participated in 2012, with only a small fraction possessing a real chance to be on the Olympic Team), the high athlete attendance also sells tickets for the event, fills hotels and is a boon for host Omaha during that week. While USA Swimming finally made some long overdue improvement of the time standards for the 2016 Trials, the meet could still very well end up around the same total of athletes.

Finally, one of the most controversial points of the budget from an outside perspective is how little of the projected budget is due to go directly to athletes. The budget for Athlete Stipends and Grants sits at $2 million, just marginally more than the $1.8 million the handful of employees that make up the USA Swimming Executive Division will take home in salary and benefits under the 2016 proposal. The $2 million figure represents just 5% of projected 2016 revenues- for comparison’s sake the most recent NBA collective bargaining agreement is paying athletes between 49-50% of total revenue.