USOC Considering Significant Changes To Business Operations

By Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

The USOC is undertaking an internal review in an effort to draft a long-term strategic plan and is considering significant changes to its business operations, including whether or not it should seek government funding in the future. Following a BOD meeting Thursday in Chicago, USOC Chair Larry Probst said that the potential for federal funding will be examined as part of the strategic plan. Probst added, “Please don't interpret that to mean that we would seek government funding. What I'm saying is that is something that will be evaluated as part of a multi-year, long-term strategic plan.” USOC Acting CEO Stephanie Streeter said the USOC is just in the “early stages” of developing that long-term strategic plan and hopes to have a draft of the plan ready for its board at the end of the year. Streeter: “We're working right now to get a lot of input from our constituencies. There's really nothing I can report to you. ... It'd be premature to say anything other than that we're talking about it right now.” The bulk of the USOC's domestic revenues stem from sponsorships, and that revenue stream has suffered during the current economic recession as a number of sponsors including The Home Depot, General Motors and Bank of America declined to renew multi-million dollar agreements with the organization. Developing a plan to diversify its revenue streams in the future would help the organization more effectively weather future fluctuations in the economy. Streeter said the USOC is in discussions with corporations about several sponsorship categories, but said those conversations weren't far enough along to disclose what those categories are. She characterized the sponsorship market as an area that's still suffering from the recession. Streeter: “We just had a conversation where I was speaking with someone from the NFL and Major League Baseball. Both said they aren't having that much trouble with ticket sales but they're both having trouble with sponsorships. Every sports entity in America is having a tough time with sponsorships. ... We're at least getting some traction, but it's a very tough market.”

Probst Says USOC Job Has Been Hard Work

FILLING THE GAPS: Probst said the USOC plans to begin interviewing executive search firms next month to assist it in its effort to hire a permanent CEO. He added the organization hopes to begin interviewing candidates by the end of the year. Probst: “How many candidates? Typically, you narrow it down to three or four, get the board involved and figure out who you want to make the offer to.” Streeter said the USOC hopes to announce a new Communication Dir in mid-October. Former communications head Darryl Seibel left the organization June 1. Speaking about his experience to date as Chair of the USOC, Probst described it as a job that is far more complicated than he anticipated when he was hired in October '08. He said, “(There are) lots of different moving parts. Lots of history. Lots of relationships that develop over time that you need to quickly understand how those inner relationships work. It's hard work. It's more time consuming than I would have imagined. It's more travel than I would have imagined. But it's also very interesting and gratifying work when you do some good for the movement.” Probst said the challenges he's faced in the position, such as the controversies around the USOC's revenue-sharing agreement with the IOC and the USOC's plans to launch a network, “were to a degree unexpected, but solving problems can be fun.” Meanwhile, Probst said the USOC's compensation committee met Thursday and discussed “executive compensation strategy confusion” around Streeter's potential $1M compensation package, which was first reported by the Chicago Tribune. He said the organization is looking at what its compensation strategy is for not just its CEO but its entire staff going forward. Probst: “I think we're probably going to engage some people from larger more sophisticated companies that have experience in executive compensation."