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Nick Symmonds' Sponsorship Dispute With USATF Leaves Him Off Team USA

After winning his fifth consecutive 800m national title, Nick Symmonds appeared to be on top of the world. The iconic photo of Symmonds flexing his biceps while breaking the finish tape is one of the most memorable from the USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon last June.

Two months after winning the title, Symmonds found himself in a dispute with USA Track and Field over a conflict between an athlete’s personal endorsements and rules about gear that must be worn while representing Team USA at World Championships and Olympic Games. More specifically, Symmonds refused to sign USATF’s Statement of Conditions, which he referred to as a vague document that instructed an athlete to wear team gear issued by Nike, the official sponsor of Team USA, at all official team functions. Symmonds, who is sponsored by Brooks, believed that USATF failed to define exactly what “official team functions” were and that the request was in direct conflict with his own sponsor. In his blog, Symmonds said that he had offered to help USATF draft a new Statement of Conditions, but the governing body did not take the athlete up on his offer.

“I want this contract to protect their [USATF] rights as much as our rights, I’m a business man who believes that you put everything in writing, you have a contract and everybody knows what they’re responsible for,” Symmonds said after running at the FloTrack Throwdown one day prior to the contract deadline.



“I think we can all agree that the way the Statement of Conditions is written right now is just a real dog turd. I don’t even think it can be legally binding because they failed to define all the terms in it, so let’s define the terms, make it something that the athletes can be proud of and know that they’re responsible for, but let’s make sure that USATF gets in return what they’re obligated to give to Nike,” Symmonds said.

USATF informed Symmonds on Aug. 9 that he would be left off the team competing for the United States at the World Championships after the World silver medalist refused to sign the contract. In his place, fourth-place U.S. finisher Clayton Murphy was granted the final spot on Team USAÂ’s roster.

“We respect Nick’s decision not to represent the United States at the IAAF World Championships,” Chief Public Affairs Officer Jill Greer wrote in a USATF statement following the announcement.

Symmonds responded to USATF’s release with a blog in the Huffington Post that included his reason for not signing the document, and an analysis of USATF’s finances and elite athlete compensation. The financial report was conducted by sports economist and professor at Smith College Andrew Zimbalist. Some of the notable findings showed that USATF’s expected 2015 gross revenue would be $42.92 million and only eight percent of all revenue is expected to be paid to athletes. The report also revealed an “accounting inconsistency” that showed at least $3.52 million of USATF’s funds that are missing.

Symmonds concluded the blog with three goals moving forward:

1. Work with USATF to rewrite the Statement of Conditions so that it better protects the rights of all parties involved.

2. Demand that USATF increase revenue sharing with athletes to at least 50 percent of gross revenue.

3. Get some answers as to where that missing $3.52 million went.