GAMA reported a $233,293 loss for 2025, according to the organization’s 990 filing provided to ICv2, which Treasurer Jamie Mathey said was primarily due to board decisions to move GAMA Expo from Louisville to Baltimore a year before the Louisville contract as to expire, and to support legal costs related to erratic U.S. tariff policies and the Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy.
The cost to exit the contract with the convention center in Louisville was $326,000, an amount the board believes will be recovered over time from savings and incentives on the Baltimore end of the move, and legal expenses jumped $61,000. The organization also continued to add staff to support GAMA Expo and Origins Game Fair, the sources of the bulk of the organization’s revenue.
Expense growth was partially offset by increased revenue, which grew from $1.40 million in 2024 to $1.62 million in 2025, and by payroll expense that came in lower than expected due to the departures of Deputy Director Chris Materni in May and Executive Director John Stacy in October.
The organization still has substantial reserves, with around $919,000 in net assets (after liabilities) at the end of 2025.
The 2025 loss came after an $18,000 net in 2024, already a big decline from a $409,000 gain in 2023, the bounceback year after Covid (see “GAMA Net Declined Sharply in 2024”).
In 2024, Mathey told us, GAMA had added staff in education, communications, membership, and event management (after staff reductions during the pandemic) to improve the shows and member services. While those increases and rapid post-pandemic cost inflation had been a big reason for the decline in revenues less expenses (the way a non-profit measures its net), pricing was also not keeping up with costs, a factor that also affected the net in 2026.
The organization has approved another deficit budget for 2026, but is optimistic about the impact of GAMA revenues, which exceeded expectations, and Origins Game Fair, which is taking place this weekend.
In communications over the past several months, Mathey (who took on his role as Treasurer in October 2025) also responded to questions about the state of the organization’s bookkeeping and accounting functions, which were disrupted over the course of 2025 into 2026. Materni’s May departure was a blow to smooth functioning, leading to long delays in posting and paying incoming invoices, and recovery was slow.
Mathey also responded to a report ICv2 had received of a substantial cash amount found in a safe in the GAMA offices after Stacy’s departure. “In the past, many of the folks who ran games or RPGs [at Origins] were paid in cash,” he explained. “Additionally, our celebrity guests had contractual minimums that had to be covered. [Executive Director] John Stacy withdrew money in preparation of these things. The money that was not needed for these items was left in the safe, and later deposited back into our bank accounts. I should note that due to safety concerns with moving largish amounts of cash around, we will be paying by check or electronic payment wherever possible for these services in the future.”
Mathey also explained why GAMA had filed amended tax returns for two years during the pandemic (which ICv2 mentioned in its report on the 2024 990). The amended returns were filed to take advantage of Employee Retention Tax Credits which affected income after the fact.
On the positive side, this is the earliest we’ve received finalized GAMA financials for the previous year in many years, an improvement over past practice and transparency.
Source: ICV2
