We examined USA Ultimate's tax documents. Here's what was interesting.
January 14, 2015 by Charlie Eisenhood in News
By law, non-profits have to file publicly available tax documents with the IRS. USA Ultimate is one of the many sports national governing bodies that does just that. The 2013 tax filings recently became available. Here are some of the most important and interesting numbers that we found.
$184,375: USA Ultimate CEO Tom Crawford’s compensation in 2013.
While it is easily the most money that the head of USAU (formerly Ultimate Players Association) has ever made, it is very much in line with salaries for CEOs at sports governing bodies, even ones much smaller than USAU.
Two years ago, I did a back-of-the-envelope analysis to compare the ratio of CEO pay to revenue at over 40 NGBs: USA Ultimate fell in the middle. High revenue NGBs like USA Tennis have very low ratios; other, smaller NGBs have much higher ratios than USAU.
1: Number of USAU employees that earn >$100,000.
By law, non-profits have to report the five highest paid employees that earn at earn least $100,000 annually. Only Crawford was listed.
$325,153: Amount USAU spent on travel in 2013.
It is not cheap to send multiple staffers, observers, and administrators around the country for sometimes weeks at a time. Operating major events is labor-intensive — and that makes for a lot of flight, car, and hotel expenses.
$1,666,087: Member dues collected in 2013.
That’s up nearly $150,000 from 2012’s dues.
$124,850: Amount spent on National Teams
You often see players lamenting the fact that USA Ultimate doesn’t pay for their airfare and travel costs to play on Team USA at international events. But USAU is spending a substantial amount for coaches, support, and bid fees. Paying for players as well is not currently within the budget.
93.6%: Revenue growth from 2009 to 2013
USA Ultimate’s revenue has nearly doubled since 2009, when they brought in ~$1.5 million. Last year, they brought in ~$2.9 million.
$92,373: Amount spent on coach and observer development programs
It takes time and money to certify coaches and observers.
