(ATR) The U.S. Olympic Committee and International Olympic Committee could announce a new revenue-sharing agreement as early as Thursday.
"We are as close as we have been since we began," says a source familiar with the talks.
Around the Rings is told that any agreement is expected to include significant concessions from the USOC, which receives 12.75 percent of U.S. broadcast rights and 20 percent of global Olympic sponsorship money.
Olympic stakeholders are unhappy with the former agreement struck in the 1990s which they believe gives the U.S. too large a share of the revenue pie.
Revenue-sharing has been cited as a reason for Chicago’s early exit from the 2016 Olympic bid race. If the USOC is seen as giving up enough in the negotiations, that could pave the way for a U.S. bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics or the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The agreement would have to be signed by Larry Probst, USOC board chairman who is en route to SportAccord, and IOC President Jacques Rogge, who is already here. The boards of both organizations would also have to sign off, but each has authorized the negotiation teams, so that is not thought to be a problem.
The current deal is in effect until 2020.
The USOC likes to point out that talks were not scheduled to be held until 2013, but the USOC agreed to speed up negotiations when it realized that the issue was hurting its international relations efforts.
The USOC already has a large team at SportAccord, including Scott Blackmun, CEO; international relations staff Chris Sullivan, who is also in charge of bids, and Dragomir Cioroslan; Patrick Sandusky, Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer and Lisa Baird, Chief Marketing Officer.
The recent disclosure of the USOC’s Form 990, which details its finances, continues to rankle sports officials from some other countries. According to the form, a total of 83 USOC staff members made at least $100,000 in 2011 and 14 had total compensation of at least $268,000, led by Blackmun who received a salary of $742,367.
Denver, Reno/Tahoe and Salt Lake City have expressed interest in bidding for the 2022 Winter Games. The U.S. could decide to hold out for a summer bid, since it has not hosted the Summer Olympics since 1996.
Although 2024 is the centenary of the Paris Olympics, the French capital is not believed to be entertaining a bid. A long-awaited African host city could wait until 2028.
Written and reported in Quebec by Karen Rosen.
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