UK Athletics reported record losses but stayed afloat by renegotiating its Nike kit deal

The Birmingham Diamond League, the test event for the Commonwealth Games, suffered losses of nearly £800,000. The in-house world tour lost about half a million.

Beattie continued: “We expect a loss of £1.6 million for this year, 2023-24.” “And a loss of £400,000 for next year, 2024-25 – and then moving to a break-even position in 2025-26. But we have a reasonable expectation that the company is still viable and we have spoken to insolvency practitioners to make sure we are right on this.

The source of this confidence is UKA’s long-term kit deal with Nike which has been extended until 2040 and renegotiated to pay a significant chunk up front. It allowed the organization to close the financial year with £6.5 million in cash in the bank.

“There’s a big difference between what a profit loss account shows and what a cash position does,” Beattie added. “The reason we are confident about this is because we have a strong cash position that gives us time to return to profitability before we run out of cash.

“If every organization that had net liabilities gave up and went into bankruptcy, we probably wouldn’t have as many football clubs or anything else because that’s where they are.

“But as long as they continue to have access to cash that allows them to be sure that they can repay their creditors, look to the foreseeable future, and have a reasonable expectation of that changing.

“We can and are expected to move forward on this basis and that is where we are.”

UKA lacks sponsorship revenue and a broadcast contract, meaning that while 50,000 tickets were sold for the Diamond League meeting in London in July, the event cost the governing body almost £500,000.

Bosses insist funding for the Paris Games remains limited, but unless everyone in the sport wakes up to the need to build track and field’s profile, the future is bleak.