New York Half Marathon Race charge non-citizens more?

W

WBH

Registered Users (C)
I run several ones (marathon and half-marathon) and never saw this

Fees

2008 fees:
$75 for U.S. residents
$100 for non-U.S. citizens
$5 processing fee for all applications


Registration

Registration for the summer 2009 running of the New York City Half Marathon will open on Friday, May 1, 2009.


Website

www.nyrr.org
 
The fee-structure doesn't give vibes of sporty spirit. Green card holders are residents, but even then, the immigration status shouldn't be discriminatory in marathon (it's not a team sport afterall). Either this is grossly unfortunate or I don't get it.
 
There probably is some amount of tax dollars that goes into operating the race, with the closing of the roads and police officers scattered along the route. Apparently the NY government doesn't like the idea of subsidizing foreigners who don't live in the US (and therefore don't pay US taxes) so they force the race organizers to charge extra to recoup some of those costs.
 
Jackolantern said:
There probably is some amount of tax dollars that goes into operating the race, with the closing of the roads and police officers scattered along the route. Apparently the NY government doesn't like the idea of subsidizing foreigners who don't live in the US (and therefore don't pay US taxes) so they force the race organizers to charge extra to recoup some of those costs.
Click to expand...

Hosting a marathon help a city economically because it attracts tourists.
Otherwise city won't post ads to promote their marathon
 
Your title says charge is more for non citizens. But your posting indicates the lower charge of $75 is for US residents. Clearly they are targeting "foreigners" who enter the US for that purpose rather than discriminate between a US citizen and a H1B/Green Card holder or even an illegal immigrant "residing" in the US.

WBH said:
Hosting a marathon help a city economically because it attracts tourists.
Otherwise city won't post ads to promote their marathon
Click to expand...
 
WBH said:
Hosting a marathon help a city economically because it attracts tourists.
Otherwise city won't post ads to promote their marathon
Click to expand...
Yes the city benefits from hosting the race, but they probably still don't like the idea of spending money to have foreign non-tax-paying runners benefiting as well. So they impose the extra $25 "tax" on nonresident noncitizens to recoup some of that cost.

What do they charge US citizens who reside outside the US? If it's the same as other nonresidents, then maybe the higher fee is for the international correspondence (e.g. sending the bib and chip overseas), and has nothing to do with discrimination or who pays what taxes where.
 
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