Inside The Billion-Dollar Business Behind The New York City Marathon

What's up, everyone? I'm Joe Popliano, and this is the Joe Pomp show. I hope everyone's having a great week so far. For today's podcast, we're going to break down the billion-dollar business behind the New York City Marathon. Now, this year's TCS New York City Marathon was the largest in history, with a record 59,226 finishers crossing through all five boroughs. Runners from 132 countries crossed five bridges and gained 810 feet of elevation. That means the New York City Marathon has more elevation gain than the Berlin, Chicago, and London marathons combined. In total, over 200,000 people applied to run this year's New York City Marathon. With an acceptance rate of just 2-3%, the TCS New York City Marathon now has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and every other Ivy League school. But these numbers barely tell the real story. While the New York City Marathon initially began in 1970, with just 55 finishers paying a $1 entry fee to run through Central Park, the world's most popular marathon is now a billion-dollar business. The nonprofit organization that runs the New York City Marathon, New York Roadrunners, generated a record $117 million in revenue last year. That includes tens of millions of dollars in entry fees, sponsorship deals, media rights agreements, and merchandise sales, all while raising hundreds of millions of dollars for charity. So for today's podcast, we'll dive deep into the business behind the New York City Marathon. I'll start by talking about the intimate financial details I pulled from the New York Roadrunners' recent 990 filing. But then, I want to address some of the more contentious debates, including how so many influencers are bypassing the lottery to gain access, what sponsorship deals are actually selling for, executive compensation, and more. Now, the New York Roadrunners operates a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, but its financial scale rivals many for-profit corporations. According to the most recent public filings, New York Roadrunners' operating income reached $116.7 million last year. To generate those revenues, the New York Roadrunners spent $111 million on expenses, leaving a $5.66 million surplus. During its nearly 70-year history, the New York Roadrunners has grown from a local running club to the world's premier community-running organization. New York Roadrunners now host over 60 adult and youth races annually. That includes everything from virtual runs that are free to participate in, to a one-mile race down Fifth Avenue. And, of course, the more popular half-and-full marathons in New York City, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx. In 2024, the New York Roadrunners says over 291,000 runners participated in its races. And with a total of 59,226 runners completing the organization's famous New York City Marathon last week, New York Roadrunners officially now host the world's most popular marathon, narrowly beating the 56,640 runners who finished the London Marathon this past April. Now, it's no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a surge in running. Studies show that nearly 30% of all current runners began running during the pandemic. Everyone from shoe manufacturers, like Asics, to clothing brands like Tracksmith, and even technology companies like Strava have benefited from this trend. However, no one has benefited more than race organizers. All seven of the major marathons set application records this year, with London and New York City collectively receiving 300,000 new applications in 2025. More people applying to participate in a marathon is great for event organizers. But these events still have a fixed capacity. Due to logistical constraints, the New York City Marathon can only accommodate 50,000 to 60,000 participants each year. This is why the event's acceptance rate has plummeted from 12% in 2022 to just 2-3% via the lottery in 2025. Due to the increasing demand, the New York Roadrunners has built out a multi-tiered entry system that maximizes participation while generating revenue through various channels. If you want to run the New York City Marathon, you now have 10 different options. Option #1 is the lottery. Anyone can apply to enter the New York City Marathon via the lottery. If you are accepted, you will pay $255 for New York Roadrunners or $315 for everyone else. Option #2 is the second chance drawing. If you are a New York Roadrunner member who applies for the lottery and isn't selected, you automatically get entered into a second lottery. If you are selected during the second lottery, just 4% of the people, you are then given the spot in the race. Option #3 is the 9+1 program. To encourage members to stay involved with the New York Roadrunners throughout the year, anyone who completes nine New York Roadrunner races and volunteers at at least one event during the same calendar year gets guaranteed entry into the following year's marathon. Option #4 is the official charity partner program. The New York Roadrunners partners with various charities to raise money. Depending on what charity you select, you can get guaranteed entry into the race by raising $3,000 to $10,000 for that charity. This program has raised $600 million for charities over the last 20 years. Option #5 is the International Tour Operator System. To accommodate international participants, the New York Roadrunners partners with qualified tour operators worldwide. Operators purchase entries at $625 per person, but that's only a starting point. Since hotels and round-trip flights must be included in the packages, runners who go the operator route often spend $3,000 or more to participate in the marathon. Option #6 is time qualification. Perhaps the most straightforward way to gain entry into the New York City marathon is to be a talented runner. Runners who achieve specific time standards at certified marathons can apply for guaranteed entry. These times vary depending on the year, as well as the runner's age and gender. Typically, men between 18 and 44 years old need to complete a marathon in under 3 hours, while women of the same age range need to complete a marathon in 3 hours and 15 minutes to 3.5 hours. Option #7 is marathon tours and travel VIP packages. Similar to the International Operator Program, the New York Roadrunners sells entries to membership clubs. For example, members of the 7 Continents Club. Think of this as individuals who aim to complete marathons in all 7 continents. Can purchase 3-night marathon packages for $1,500 to $3,000. Option #8 is team for climate. The New York Roadrunners offers 200 guaranteed entries every year to runners who commit to sustainability initiatives and raise funds for carbon offset projects. Option #9 is the New York Roadrunners direct donations. One of the lesser discussed ways to secure entry into the New York City marathon is to make a direct donation to the New York Roadrunners. Depending on the perks that you want, runners can make a donation of $5,000 to $10,000 directly to the New York Roadrunners for guaranteed race entry. People who take this route sometimes end up donating $2,500 with their employers matching the rest. And #10 is sponsor exemptions. In exchange for sponsoring the event, partnering brands receive entry allocations for employees, clients, or promotional purposes. Now I know that's a lot to take in, but let's double click on sponsor exemptions. This is such an interesting category because it is both necessary and controversial. In some ways, the New York City Marathon wouldn't exist without its sponsoring brands. Companies like Tata Consultee Services, Citizens, MasterCard, New Balance, United, Gatorade, Strava, and Mikulov Ultra spend millions of dollars every year on the race. As you can imagine, these sponsorships come with numerous perks. Street signage is important because more than 2 million people watch the race in person each year and millions more on TV at home. However, most of these brands also set up activations in the convention center in the days leading up to the race. The expo serves as a mandatory bib pickup location, ensuring that all 50,000 runners visit, along with thousands of family members and spectators who would never really join them. This is a win-win. The New York Roadrunners can charge brands a higher sponsorship fee when including expo activation, while brands like New Balance build massive pop-up shops featuring their products. New Balance is likely to generate a few million dollars in product sales during the expo, but it's also a valuable opportunity to showcase new products, collect customer emails, and educate visitors about its shoe technology. While this sounds like a pretty standard marketing agreement, there is one major twist. Many of these brands also receive, or purchase, guaranteed race entries. These brands can then use these race entries on employees or clients, but many of them end up allocating dozens of bibs to influencers. It's essentially another way to get more eyeballs on their brand. But that's why so many influencers have secured spots in recent years. I even personally know some people who got offered spots just a few weeks before the race. The New York Roadrunners' most recent 990 filings states that over 93% of the organization's 2024 income came from just two categories, contributions and grants, and program services. Programs and grants accounted for $54.61 million, or 46.8% of the total, while program services accounted for $54.9 million, or 47.1% of the total. Program services are straightforward. Out of the New York Roadrunners' $54.9 million in program services income last year, $49.16 million of that came from entry fees. These are the fees runners pay to enter New York Roadrunners' races. That includes the New York City Marathon, but it also includes all of their other events, like the New York City Half, Brooklyn Half, and a bunch of others. As for contributions and grants, this is sort of a catch-all category. The New York Roadrunners' $54.61 million in revenue houses everything from membership dues at $2.99 million to government grants at just $160,000. However, the overwhelming majority of this revenue sitting inside contributions and grants comes from corporate partners at $50.52 million. This includes more traditional sponsorship deals, but it also includes non-cash gifts. While title sponsor TCS has publicly stated that it spends $30 million to $40 million annually on running sponsorship deals with New York City and others, the New York City Marathon also received nearly $10 million in non-cash gifts last year. This included $8.06 million in clothing and household goods, as well as an additional $1.1 million in food. The TCS sponsorship deal itself is a fascinating case study. Rather than just slapping their name on the marathon to gain publicity, the New York Roadrunners has leveraged TCS's IT services to build a world-class mobile app. For example, the New York Roadrunners' app allows fans to track runners in real time by name, bib number, or running club. You can also access five live-course cameras throughout the race, receive push notifications on your phone when runners reach checkpoint, and enjoy augmented reality features for virtual participants. Between race entry fees, sponsorships, and charity partnerships, the New York Roadrunners has transformed its business over the last decade. The organization has increased its annual revenue from $60 million a year in the mid-2010s to $117 million last year. And more importantly, total assets at $184 million now outweigh liabilities at $90 million by a factor of two. From a non-profit perspective, the New York Roadrunners is a pretty clean operation. The organization often spends just a little bit less than it takes in each year, slowly creating a nest egg to pay employee salaries during non-peak seasons or in the case of another global pandemic. In fact, if you combine the New York Roadrunners' cash and cash equivalents with its publicly traded securities at $78.58 million and $47.66 million, the organization can maintain its current expenses without a single dollar of additional income for more than a year. Of course, that wouldn't happen, as a race being canceled would also meaningfully lower expenses. But you get the point, the New York Roadrunners has dramatically extended its runway over the last decade. The New York Roadrunners was able to build this nest egg because it largely keeps expenses under control. According to the New York Roadrunners' most recent financial filing, only four independent contracts were paid more than a million dollars last year. That includes $2.8 million to 45 live incorporated for race broadcast and production services, $2.4 million to strand promotional solutions for youth incentives and race products, $2.3 million to the NYPD for traffic fees, and $1.7 million to C2 imaging LLC for event signage and installation. The New York Roadrunners also keeps a pretty lean staff. Its CEO reported $532,310 in total compensation last year, with several Senior Vice Presidents earning between $260,334,000. Due to the logistical challenges that come with running large-scale in-person events, the New York Roadrunners utilized almost 24,000-person workforce last year. However, about 23,000 of those workers were volunteered, with the New York Roadrunners maintaining a full-time workforce of just 903 people. This enabled the New York Roadrunners to raise $68.1 million in charitable funds last year. Its 4.9% operating margin is in line with that of other highly rated sports nonprofits, and the organization's healthy liquidity and investment base creates an efficient cost structure. But despite its recent success, the New York Roadrunners may now be facing its most significant challenge yet. With the running surge showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, the New York City Marathon is facing serious capacity constraints. The event is already at maximum capacity, but demand continues to grow. That means the New York Roadrunners has to become even more selective than it already is, or it can offset demand by increasing its fees. But no matter what route they choose, it is clear that this event has become a cash-printing machine for the city's five boroughs. According to a recent Commission economic study from the New York Roadrunners, the organization's year-round events have contributed $934 million in incremental spending to New York City's economy last year alone. This includes $178 million on hotels, $109 million on food and beverages, $51 million in shopping, $29 million for museums and attractions, and $19 million in local transportation. The New York City Marathon also creates over 5,000 part-time jobs, resulting in $384 million in wages and $54 million in tax revenue for the city. And while you always have to take self-commissioned economic projections with a grain of salt, the New York Roadrunners' $934 million in economic impact to New York City is essentially equal to the NFL Super Bowl. In many ways, the New York City Marathon has become more than just a race. It's a cultural, an economic institution that reflects the city's spirit. What started as 55 runners looping Central Park has evolved into a global event that generates a billion dollars in economic impact and attracts hundreds of thousands of hopeful applicants each year. The scale is staggering, but the story behind it is even more impressive. A nonprofit organization that has managed the balanced community service with corporate sophistication, all while turning running into a serious business. As the sport continues to grow, the New York Roadrunners' Challenge will be maintaining that delicate balance. The organization must continue to expand access while maintaining the race's prestige. That's not an easy task, but if history is an indication, the New York City Marathon will continue to find ways to adapt by blending passion, performance, and profitability better than any other running event in the world. That's all for today. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend. Otherwise, I hope everyone has a great day and we'll talk later this week.