Sponsor Spotlight -- Scherr Confident USOC Can Weather Economic Downturn

Scherr Says U.S. Olympic Committee Stable Despite Loss of Sponsors

U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Jim Scherr says, in an interview with the New York Times, that the organization is still in good financial shape, despite losing a number of its biggest sponsors, including Home Depot, General Motors, Kodak and John Hancock.

"We have one of the strongest, if not the strongest, brands in the world, and we believe that we will still have the ability to achieve our domestic and international sponsorship goals," Scherr said.

The USOC president says television revenue from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Games in London – bringing in $255 million – along with a cash reserve of $100 million will help the organization make it through the economic downturn.

The committee has signed 17 sponsors through 2012 and is in negotiations to renew contracts with AT&T and Bank of America, both worth between $4 million and $5 million per year.

"Certainly, it may take a bit longer to negotiate contracts and it may take a little more effort, but we feel that we are extremely viable," Scherr said.

U.S. Sailing Creates New Sponsorship Program

U.S. Sailing has created a new commercial strategy program to attract new sponsorships for the organization.

The centerpiece of the program is the creation of a tiered program of gold, silver and bronze level partnerships built around the U.S. sailing team’s title sponsor AlphaGraphics.

"This is the next step in the evolution of U.S. Olympic sailing," chairman Dean Brenner said. "We're proud of our progress over the last four years, but we are truly excited for what the future holds – for our athletes, our program and for Olympic sailing in this country."

To implement the strategy, the Olympic Sailing Committee named former U.S. Sailing Marketing Director Dan Cooney as its first commercial director. Cooney will manage all sponsorship fulfillment elements and develop new partners for the Olympic sailing programs.

"As a lifelong sailor and club competitor, this is a great honor and I couldn’t be more excited to join this winning team," Cooney said.

Lolo Jones Signs Deal to Endorse Twinlab Fuel

Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones has signed a sponsorship deal with supplement manufacturer ISI Brands to promote their Twinlab Fuel product.

"It is a bit ironic and quite admirable that this young woman, having overcome so many hurdles in her personal life, continues to leap over them every day on the track with such sheer drive," ISI Brands CEO Bill Nicholson said. “She is an exceptional athlete both on and off the track and is a shining example of the type of extraordinary person we seek out at Twinlab."

Jones won the 100-meter hurdles at both the USA Indoor Championship and the World Indoor Championship in 2008 and achieved the fastest time of the year in that event (12.29) in the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials.

"I’m truly excited to team up with Twinlab. They have a long-standing history of being at the top of the game when it comes to sports nutrition and their products will be an important part of my training regimen as I strive to become the best athlete I can possibly be," Jones said.

Written by Greg Oshust.