Yes, you have to recoup the costs of camera gear, and yes, it's rediculously expensive, but when you're looking at 6 professional photographers taking in excess of 4k shots each, of over 3k participants, then charging $6.50 for a 3x5 print (and $3 for every one after that) or $16 for a single high-res image on disc... Assuming that only half of the participants decided to purchase a single 3x5.
that's still $9,750. This isn't, of course, counting the photos professional groups like the sponsors will be purchasing.
Kitsune, $10,000 may seem like a lot of money for one afternoon's work, but that may be deceiving. There is more to it than that. A typical freelance photog does not do this every weekend. The rest of the month may be spent processing, organizing, mailing, web mastering, accounting etc. often in excess of the typical 40-hour week. If they do this once a month, that is a yearly net income of $120,000. Wow, cool.

But factor in taxes, advertising expenses, equipment/computer costs, postage, legal and business expenses, insurance, airfare and hotels, licensing rights... all of a sudden that income may be $30-40,000.
If a photog does this often, he/she will need a slew of employees to pay for, plus a lot more in travel expenses, workmans comp, facilities, etc.

Of the prof. sports photogs I know personally (about 10) not one of them leads an extravagant lifestyle or drives a Lexus. I know a few who show up in old, beat-up clothing, choosing that new lens over their own comfort. Very, very few make a grand living at it. The remaining 95% are just trying to make a living.

BTW, I'm not sure what the stats for photogs is, but for artists, there was a survey done a few years ago. Only 7% of fine artists with art degrees can make a living at it. It's not a business for the weak of heart.

Veronica, those pics are awesome!