USA Fencing

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Despite the rising costs of travel, venue rentals, insurance premiums and more, USA Fencing continues to adjust and adapt to provide opportunities and support to our members. 

On June 10, the USA Fencing Board of Directors voted to approve the organization’s 2023-24 budget, which you can read in full here. We’re projected to end the 2023-24 fiscal year with $14,918,416 in revenue and $14,898,920 in expenses.

The 2023-24 fiscal year will be our first full season after the May 11, 2023, end of the Public Health Emergency known as COVID-19. That makes it instructive to compare the 2023-24 season to the last full season before COVID, which was 2018-19.

In those five years, the nation — and USA Fencing and its members — have faced significant challenges resulting from inflation, increased costs related to labor, airfare, hotels, software, insurance premiums, and venue rentals. Airfare, for example, is up 9.6% since 2019. Hotel costs are up 15.3%.

The costs of hosting USA Fencing national tournaments have risen year after year, and 2023-24’s budget includes our planned increase to the honorarium for all officials.

A quick aside about officials: While we always wish we could pay our hard-working officials more, it’s an under-reported fact that USA Fencing officials are among the best compensated in all of sports. Combine that with the fact that we cover their housing, flights and food (did you know we spend around $45,000 per event on food alone?), and you can see how this quickly accounts for a large portion of our tournament expenses.

The rising cost of living and an inflation rate that has climbed to 20.75% since 2018-19 further adds to these fiscal pressures. Those numbers balloon even higher in some of our key expense areas, such as travel costs.

So we thought it would be informative to discuss where our revenue comes from and exactly how it is spent.

The expected revenue for USA Fencing in 2023-2024 is approximately $14.92 million. 

This funding comes from a variety of sources. Nearly half (49%) of the revenue is sourced from national events, with membership fees contributing a further 20%. Sport Performance and Communications/DEIB each account for 9%, while Development provides 8%. The remaining 5% is gathered from General Administration, U.S. International Events, and Board and Committee operations.

To meet these rising costs, membership prices have increased across several categories. Individuals will now pay $99, International Competitive members $115, and Access members $29. The price for the Coach membership has risen to $150, and the Life Membership is now $1,500 (or 10 annual payments of $150). A new measure has also been implemented where members will pay the credit card transaction fees when renewing their memberships.

So where does all that money go? 

The expenses for USA Fencing in the fiscal year 2023-2024 are projected to total around $14.9 million. The largest portion of these expenses, 41%, goes to National Events. Sport Performance expenses comprise 28%, while Membership and Communications/DEIB each account for 11%. Development constitutes 7%, and the remainder of the costs, about 2%, is allocated for Executive Office, General Administration, U.S. International Events, and Board and Committee expenses.

While USA Fencing-hosted national tournaments generate revenue that USA Fencing is able to reinvest in our members, USA Fencing-hosted international tournaments are a different story. 

We expect to see deficits from hosting the FIE Foil Grand Prix and FIE World Veteran Championships in the 2023-24 season. Like all summer National Governing Bodies, we’re also projecting a large expense from the Olympics and Paralympics, which should be offset in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Despite the rising costs of doing business, USA Fencing has sought to make strategic adjustments to mitigate the financial strain. 

One of the most significant changes is in the pricing structure for club memberships. While the list price for club membership is now $825, several types of clubs, such as school or university clubs, after-school clubs, high school clubs, and startup clubs, will be able to purchase the club membership at a discounted price of $199.

In addition, the fee structure for National Events has been adjusted. The tournament fee will increase by $15 per registration, a change which is expected to add about $255,000 in revenue to help offset the rising costs.

Lastly, changes have been made to the Regional Bid Fees. These adjustments will more accurately spread bid costs to organizers based on event size/type, rather than the current structure which is a flat fee per bid. Insurance rates and administrative costs have gone up, leading to the increase of the Tournament Sanction Fee to $9 per tournament, up from $6 per tournament.