The USOC on Friday voted to extend CEO Scott Blackmun’s contract through June '21, giving the leader a robust vote of confidence just two months after the Boston bid for the '24 Games collapsed. Blackmun, who in a speech a day earlier called the first half of this year “the most unsettling and challenging time in my professional life,” is eligible for a four-year extension that would allow him to preside over a potential L.A. Games should that bid succeed. Blackmun escaped personal blame for the USOC's decision to choose Boston’s bid as the U.S. nominee over L.A. Boston’s bid never obtained majority support by local residents, and the USOC ended the bid and revived L.A. in late July. "It was a relatively brief discussion, and there was a unanimous opinion that it was absolutely the right thing to do,” USOC Chair Larry Probst said in a media conference call. “It’s in recognition of the great job Scott has done since he was first hired in 2010.” His contract had been set to expire after the '16 Rio Games. He made $1.04M in salary and bonuses in '14, a decline from $1.3M in '13, when he received a one-time bonus that rewarded him for staying in the job for four years.A spokesperson said Blackmun’s compensation will be unchanged from his current contract. Aside from Boston, Blackmun’s tenure has been universally praised in the Olympic movement. He helped repair frayed relations with the IOC and the Olympic sports’ NGBs. The committee projects a 16% revenue gain in the quadrennial ending after the Rio Games over the prior year.
RIDE TO CALIFORNIA: The USOC has never publicly addressed the details of the Boston decision, but Wasserman Media Group Chair & CEO Casey Wasserman, co-Chair of the LA24 bid committee, recently told the L.A. City Council that Blackmun wanted L.A. but was overruled by a narrow board vote. Blackmun, the former COO of AEG, has close professional relationships in the L.A. sports scene. Blackmun joined the USOC at a tumultuous time. He was the group’s third CEO in under a year, and the organization was reeling from Chicago’s poor showing in the bidding to host the '16 Games. “Scott has led the USOC, and really the entire U.S. Olympic and Paralympic family, with integrity and clarity these last five years and on behalf of the National Governing Bodies, we’re thrilled to know that leadership will continue,” said USA Wrestling Exec Dir and Chair of the USOC NGB Council Rich Bender.
