After its athletes broke records at Rio 2016, Britain’s Olympic Association "is eyeing a different type of gold," according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. The BOA "is targeting a revenue boost" of as much as 60% by the time the Games head to Tokyo in 2020. While host nations have until now suffered a decline in the number of medals they have won in subsequent Olympics, Britain "enjoyed a post-host surge that puts it in a privileged position to negotiate with sponsors." BOA CEO Bill Sweeney said, "Unfortunately, we won’t be able to go home and lie in the sun for a couple of weeks. We need to strike now while the iron’s hot." Britain won 27 Golds "and a total of 67 medals." Plans to leverage that success "could include a head-to-head competition with the U.S. Olympic team." Sweeney said, "There’s talk about a possible home-and-away series where they come and compete in the U.K. and we go there." He added that the Americans "were providing advice on developing a British version of the U.S. Olympic trials." Sweeney said, "In the U.S. their viewership around the Olympic Trials is 60 million people, and they sell 600,000 tickets, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have one." The immediate focus "is on signing sponsors and creating a year-around merchandise platform that can turn Team GB into a permanent brand." Sweeney said that Britain was not able to overcome Brazilian red tape to open a merchandise store in Rio, "something the U.S. managed to do with huge success." Sweeney: "I’ve seen their numbers" (BLOOMBERG, 8/22).
