The U.S. Olympic Committee is spending a lot more money on people than it used to.
From 2010 to 2014, compensation and benefits expenses soared 24 percent, to $47 million — or 21 percent of the nonprofit’s costs last year, according to recently published federal tax forms.
During the same period, the USOC’s revenue picture improved, as trademark licensing and TV rights income grew, but in general, Team USA’s spending grew at a faster clip.
That included a 13.1 percent boost in direct grants to individual sport governing bodies and athletes, but also the big gains in employee costs.
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CEO Scott Blackmun’s pay declined in a year where pay raises were modest.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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Personnel costs were heavily influenced by the 2013 creation of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation and its subsequent staffing, spokesman Jon Mason said. He also noted that expenses directly related to the core mission of improving sports performance, a broader category that includes many payroll positions, grew 25 percent from 2010.
Total revenue was up 7.9 percent from 2010 to $270 million in 2014. With overall expenses of $222 million, the organization booked a $48 million surplus. The USOC typically books a surplus in even-numbered years and net losses in odd-numbered, or non-Olympic, years.
CEO Scott Blackmun earned $1.04 million in 2014, a decline from $1.3 million in 2013, a year in which his income was boosted by the conclusion of a unique, long-term incentive plan.
Four years earlier, Blackmun’s first year as CEO, the committee devoted about $918,000 in total to the CEO position, including Blackmun, temporary CEO Stephanie Streeter and former CEO Jim Scherr in severance.
In general, USOC executives received modest pay raises in 2014, with one key exception: Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Baird received a $179,295 bonus for “securing revenue for the 2016 quadrennial,” according to the report, bringing her total compensation to $711,339.
