The UK Athletics governing body has made an annual profit for the first time in eight years for the financial year ended March 31, 2025.
After years of financial struggle, which culminated in the body’s chair Ian Beattie being forced to deny rumors that it was at risk of bankruptcy in 2023, the organization has ended the fiscal year with a budgetary surplus of £107,588 ($144,369), its first such surplus since 2017.
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This was based on total revenue of £13.8 million. While that figure is down 17% from the £16.6 million notched a year prior, the formation of the Athletic Ventures body took ticketing sales out of the hands of UK Athletics, accounting for much of the shortfall.
That figure was outflanked by a 23% reduction in expenditure across the year, also due to the Athletic Ventures agreement, which reduced the fiscal burden of event and TV organization.
This marks a major uplift from the record loss of £3.7 million that it made in the 2023 fiscal year, a year that included losing £800,000 in one day while hosting the 2022 Diamond League meet in Birmingham.
UK Athletics has attributed the profit to a series of measures put in place across the year to cement its financial sustainability, including “tighter cost controls”, which include decreasing support for certain athletics programs and staff reductions.
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By GlobalDataThe body also claimed that the Athletic Ventures joint venture, a project established in April 2024 alongside London Marathon Events and The Great Run Company, has also yielded fiscal dividends in terms of their new “collaborative and commercially resilient” sponsorship and broadcast revenue, and event strategy.
As a commercial joint venture, it mainly works to secure brand partners for all three bodies, allowing potential investors to sponsor events from the grassroots level up to the elite tier.
Speaking on the latest fiscal results, Beattie said: “Our move into surplus is a genuine achievement, but it reflects more than just good financial management. It speaks to a new, more collaborative way of working — both internally and through our partnerships.
“The formation of Athletic Ventures has been key to this recovery, enabling us to share resources, reduce risk, and build a sustainable commercial model that benefits the whole sport.
“That partnership has already brought new sponsors such as Vita Coco and Novuna, whose multi-year title agreement supports both our major events and the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team. Alongside them, our long-standing partner Nike has continued to provide unwavering and vital support throughout this period, remaining central to the turnaround, for which we are hugely grateful.”
Indeed, that Novuna partnership was secured in June 2025, while the Vita Coco deal was struck in August.
Overall, sponsorship revenue contributed £2.2 million across the 2024-25 fiscal year, but with the Novuna partnership agreed, a significant uplift should be expected in the coming years.
Looking forward, the UK will host the European Athletics Championships in 2026, the first major event staged by Athletics Ventures, which it hopes will serve as a showcase of this new partnership model.
UK Athletics also announced its intention to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships in March, alongside the UK Sport national body.
Beattie continued: “None of this means the job is done. We are still working to reduce our accumulated deficit, rebuild reserves, and manage the challenges of reduced public funding and rising costs.
“But this is a turning point — the start of a new chapter for UKA. We are operating differently, working more collaboratively and thinking long-term. I believe we are now in a position to push on: to continue the recovery, to strengthen the sport’s foundations, and to support our athletes and coaches as we look towards the next Olympic and Paralympic cycle.”
