The biggest game in town has got even bigger.

The Melbourne Cup carnival's claim to be Australia's most profitable sporting event received its strongest endorsement ever with the announcement by the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) of a record profit for the 2012-2013 season.

The VRC, which runs Australian racing's showpiece event, delivered a $7.5 million profit, up 200 per cent on the previous year.

The figure comes on the back of revenue of $150.5 million, a five per cent increase on 2011-2012.

The club put the profit hike down to judicious cost-cutting with the boost in turnover predominantly coming from the 2012 Cup carnival.

Unlike other major events such as the Formula One Grand Prix which survives on a state government handout, the VRC and the Cup carnival is entirely self-funding.

Club chairman Michael Burn said the profit has made the VRC debt-free, despite having invested some $10 million in racecourse improvements and increasing prizemoney to $36.4 million over the past season.

"No other self-sufficient event in Australia can claim to have such a positive effect on a local economy and government revenue," he said.

More than 350,000 people attended the 2012 Melbourne Cup carnival with more than 53,000 coming from outside Victoria. It is estimated they boosted the Victorian economy by more than $366 million.

With 30,000 members, the VRC is the world's largest member-based racing club and is also one the most ecologically friendly, having produced some 45 million litres of irrigation water from its desalination units and 25,000 Kw/h of electricity from on-site solar panels during the past racing season.

The club also provided more than five tonnes of excess food for redistribution.