USOC BOD Approves Additional $16.5M In Winter NGB Funding

Streeter Says USOC Committed To Putting Athletes First

The USOC BOD approved an additional $16.5M in funding for winter NGBs during a quarterly board meeting Friday. The funding will be channeled directly to athletes and to other sports performance programs ahead of the '10 Vancouver Olympics. It brings the total funding from the USOC to winter NGBs to $58.2M in the four years preceding Vancouver, a 55.2% increase from the four years preceding the '06 Torino Games. USOC Acting CEO Stephanie Streeter said, "Despite the economic environment, we are absolutely committed to putting our athletes first." The meeting was Streeter's first as acting CEO. In addition to budgetary issues, the organization discussed the Olympic network project, the Olympic Day promotion and its Colorado Springs HQs. Streeter said the organization continues to work on a network, but offered no update as to when it would make its debut. Streeter: "It's quite a large and complicated endeavor. There's nothing concrete to report today. It's going well. I'm optimistic." Olympic Day is a worldwide commemoration of Baron Pierre de Coubertin's June 23, 1894 convening of the first International Olympic Committee meeting at the Sorbonne in Paris. Streeter said that 100 cities were participating worldwide. On the America Supports Team USA, a campaign designed to raise funds for the USOC and create a new platform for sponsors to activate around, PSAs already are being shown on United Airlines flights. She added that the organization will have an update later this week on the funds raised since the program launched around Memorial Day. On its HQs, the organization continues to work with the city of Colorado Springs and would prefer to stay but "can't rule out looking at other options," Streeter said.

PAY SCALE: During a conference call that followed the meeting, Streeter addressed questions on the organization's executive pay packages, saying that she believes that they are justified. "We have a significant amount of talent we're trying to attract from the sports, corporate and other worlds. It's my opinion you get what you pay for." She said that the organization had done several surveys and that its pay packages were not out of line with other non-profits. When asked about her own salary, Streeter said it had been determined and would be made public in the organization's next 990 filing in May '10. Her predecessor, Jim Scherr, earned $619,507 in '08. All of the USOC's board members were present for the meeting except for John Hendricks and Mike Plant (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal).

DIAMOND RINGS: In Seattle, Ron Judd wrote under the header, "Instead Of Asking For Money, Maybe The USOC Officers Should Take A Pay Cut." The USOC's new ad campaign, "America Supports Team USA," encourages fans to donate to the organization, but "asking for disposable cash from a nation" with 10% unemployment is "poor timing, at best." According to recent tax filings, eight USOC execs earned more than $300,000 in '08, while 19 topped $200,000. Judd: "Is anyone else taken aback by those numbers? ... Is this the USOC or AIG?" (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/14).