USOC Names New Board Members, IOC Negotiations Update

New Board Members for USOC

The U.S. Olympic Committee hopes new blood provides a boost it has needed.

Five new board members are expected to strengthen the USOC in the areas of fundraising, governance, international relations, new media and marketing, says chair Larry Probst. They'll also bring more input from athletes, national governing bodies and Paralympic and disabled sports.

The five were confirmed during a six-hour meeting of the board of directors in Redwood City, Calif., where the 10 current members also approved the 2011 USOC budget and reviewed finances and strategic and marketing plans.

The new members will join the board in March at its meeting in Atlanta. They include Robbie Bach, who recently retired from Microsoft and is an expert on digital media and entertainment - both essential in appealing to the youth market. Bach has long been touted as a replacement for Stephanie Streeter, who was an independent member before resigning to take her short-lived position as acting CEO.

The other four seats fulfill the recommendations of the Paul Tagliabue committee, which was tasked with finding ways to make the USOC perform better. The USOC changed its bylaws to expand the Board.

Dave Ogrean, the executive director of USA Hockey, is one of the most highly respected National Governing Body leaders and will represent that constituency. Nina Kemppel, who will work in the interests of athletes, is a current vice-chair of the Athletes' Advisory Council and a four-time Olympian in cross-country skiing.

According to the mandate, one of the independent directors had to be involved with Paralympics or sports for the disabled, and that role is filled by James M. Benson, the past CEO of John Hancock. He will help in the creation and launch of the Paralympic Advisory Council, an initiative of the Tagliabue panel.

The other independent director, Susanne Lyons, was recently chief marketing officer for Visa USA, a longtime Olympic sponsor.

The new members seem to supply the additional voices and expertise urged by the Tagliabue report without approaching the former size of the board, which was an unwieldy 100-plus.

The 15-member board, Probst says, is "the number we see ourselves going forward with."

Probst hosted the meeting at Electronic Arts, where he is also chairman. The USOC is trying to hold costs down by asking board members to take turns providing a suitable meeting place. Mike Plant, Executive Vice President for Business Operations of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, will be the next host.

Successful Sports Cash In

The USOC did not disclose any monetary figures for its 2011 budget, although CEO Scott Blackmun indicated that it is not far from the norm. In non-Olympic years, the budget is usually about $150 million.

Blackmun said the USOC is "not looking at any meaningful changes from a head count or a program standpoint," which must come as a relief to USOC staff who remember that more than 50 co-workers lost their jobs in 2009.

He also did not announce how muchmoney the USOC would award in grants to NGBs.

"I think we'll continue to invest our dollars where it can have the greatest impact," Blackmun said, noting the "foundation sports" of swimming, track and field and gymnastics.

Less successful sports, though, will not be ignored. The USOC's mission, Blackmun said, is "about sustaining competitive excellence and it's about inspiring Americans with the stories of our athletes.

"The fact that a given sport or program may not be a medal contender in the short term isn't going to prevent us from supporting the program if they have long-term prospects or if it helps us deliver against that second piece of our mission

Marketing Update

With the revenue the USOC has projected in its budget through 2012 "already contractually secured," Blackmun said, "we have the luxury of kind of looking ahead to 2013-2016."

Blackmun added that the USOC must "lay out a clear roadmap for revenue." The focus is on sponsorship sales and development, and the USOC will determine the optimal number of sponsors.

Lisa Baird, Chief Marketing Officer, told the board about the new media plan, but Probst said details probably would not be revealed publicly until the end of the second quarter. "She's gotten some great advice from a variety of people on our board and one prospective board member," he said.

U.S. TV Rights and Revenue Sharing

Blackmun said negotiations for the 2014-2016 U.S. broadcast rights in the second quarter of 2011 are "going to be the theme that determines whether we're successful in the 2011 year."

However, the USOC will be simply an interested bystander.

"That's an IOC-led process," Blackmun said. "We have and will have discussions with the IOC about some aspects of that agreement and process that directly impact us, but the way that it's worked in the recent past is that the IOC has led that process and we're comfortable continuing with that approach."

Probst said it wasn't appropriate for the USOC to comment on how much the rights could fetch. But the amount will have some bearing on the revenue-sharing issue that is a bone of contention between the USOC and IOC. A larger rights fee means a bigger pie.

Probst said he wants to continue to build the international relationships that he and Blackmun have worked on in the past 12 months and "hopefully make some progress toward resolving the revenue-sharing issue that has existed."

According to The Colorado Springs Gazette, Probst and Blackmun will travel to Europe next month to begin talks with IOC. The agreement is supposed to be hashed out by 2013, although the new formula is not scheduled to take effect until 2020.

Probst said those issues also must be resolved before the U.S. tries to host another Olympics. He told the Gazette that the USOC has no plans to bid on the 2020 Summer Games or 2022 Winter Games. Denver and Reno-Tahoe have expressed keen interest in 2022.

Written by Karen Rosen.