(ATR) After the demise of the Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics, the U.S. Olympic Committee has licked its wounds – and moves forward to re-establish the presence of the U.S. in the affairs of the Olympic Movement.
The change is taking place under the leadership of chairman Larry Probst and CEO/secretary general Scott Blackmun, a dynamic duo who are becoming regulars for the U.S. at events and meetings around the globe.
They are putting in the hard yards needed before the U.S. can launch a new bid for the Olympics, an objective still maybe a decade away.
Immediately for 2011, Probst and Blackmun will head to Lausanne in early January for the next round of discussions with the IOC over a new revenue sharing agreement. The new deal is supposed to be settled by 2013 but Probst and Blackmun are both of the mindset that sooner is better than later. The IOC/USOC agreement is a sore spot with NOCs around the globe; even big NOCs receive a fraction of what the IOC shares with the USOC.
Probst and Blackmun say the U.S. can’t bid for another Games until a new agreement is struck.
The USOC also is a factor in the upcoming bidding for the U.S. TV rights for 2014 and 2016. A medal-winning team helps build ratings and revenue for whichever of the U.S. networks will carrythe Sochi and Rio de Janeiro Olympics – added value a smooth-running USOC can provide.
Probst, 60, came to the USOC in 2008, succeeding Peter Ueberroth. Probst, chairman of game company Electronic Arts, was hand-picked by Ueberroth, despite zero Olympic experience on Probst’s resume.
Blackmun, 53, an attorney by background, has been USOC CEO for just 11 months; he took the job on the eve of the Vancouver Olympics. But he’s not a newcomer to the USOC, having served as counsel and acting CEO during a tumultuous era in the early years of the decade. He left when he was passed over for the CEO post.
Probst 2010 Ranking – 25
Blackmun not ranked
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Written by Ed Hula.
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