USOC Benefits From Rio TV, Sponsorship Boosts To Post $78.5M Surplus In '16

The USOC posted a $78.5M surplus on $336M in revenue during the ‘16 Rio Games year, benefitting from Games-time boosts in TV and sponsorship revenue, according to its annual IRS filing published yesterday. Team USA booked $173M in broadcast rights fees in ‘16, its share of what NBCUniversal pays the IOC for exclusive rights to the Games in the U.S., up from $1.4M in the prior, non-Olympics ‘15. Licensing and merchandise royalties grew 19% year-over-year to $121.1M. Similarly, expenses grew in line with the cost of executing the Olympic Games, up about 29% to $257.5M. Line items such as travel, occupancy and Games event expenses saw big increases. Olympics organizations plan and budget on full four-year periods that end with the Summer Games. During the quadrennial ending with Rio, Team USA booked $916M in total revenue, up 7% from the quad ending in London ’12 ($853M).

COMMERCIAL SALES STRONG: As usual, the USOC posted a surplus in the even-numbered Olympics years of ‘14 and ‘16 and a deficit in ‘13 and ‘15, but overall, the USOC cleared a $41M surplus for the four-year period. The London quad ended with a nearly $57M surplus. The USOC’s commercial sales during the quad stand out as an especially strong point. The broad catch-all category of “other revenue” -- mostly driven by sponsorship income -- grew by 37%, quad over quad, to $430.8M. Program revenue, mostly broadcast rights, was up 7%, to $324.7M, in the quad. "2016 was another successful year on and off the field for Team USA,” USOC Chief External Affairs Officer Patrick Sandusky said. "We are proud of what we have achieved and look forward to the road ahead." USOC CEO Scott Blackmun, who signed a contract extension in late ‘15, earned $1.08M in ‘16, up 10.1% from ‘15. Of that total, $645,729 is base salary. Other top-earning USOC execs are listed below. Total USOC compensation and benefits costs increased 7.7%.