USOC Budget Cuts Could Yield Lost Jobs, Funding Likely Unchanged

USOC CEO Jim Scherr Thursday said that funding for athletes and national governing bodies of Olympic sports "probably will not be reduced" in a USOC budget crunch, but added that job losses "remain a possibility," according to Brian Gomez of the Colorado Springs GAZETTE. Scherr "reaffirmed the chance of layoffs ... because of a global financial crisis forcing the USOC to slash an annual budget" that is around $150M. Scherr: "We're going to look at a potential reduction in our head count, where we can create efficiencies and eliminate duplication. ... We don't intend on cutting our services or programs to governing bodies and athletes, but we need to look at how we deliver those." Scherr said the USOC BOD will determine "what they feel is prudent, given the picture of our available financial resources over the next four years." Scherr also added that the USOC "has undergone belt-tightening three times in the past eight years, most recently in 2004" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 11/7).