Report shows almost half of NGBs limited by lack of revenue

USA Taekwondo was among 10 NGBs classified in the Tier 3 category.Getty Images

Nearly half the national governing bodies that run U.S. Olympic sports chronically struggle to generate enough revenue to field competitive teams and grow their sports, according to a report commissioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The draft report, written by USOC sponsor Deloitte and obtained by Sports Business Journal, was designed to help the USOC expand its support services. The committee thinks it can lighten the load for the smaller governing bodies’ over-extended staffs by providing common back-office services centrally.

Olympics industry veterans say the report contains no surprises, but called it a helpful tool in understanding the diverse governing bodies as senior leaders and Congress weigh reforms in light of the Larry Nassar-USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal.

“Almost half our NGBs are less than 20 or 25 employees, and $10 [million] or $15 million in revenue or less, and they have constraints on their resources,” said Denise Parker, the USOC’s vice president of NGB services and former CEO of USA Archery. “From that standpoint, we think shared services makes a lot of sense.”

Parker said her efforts are likely to focus on human resources, information technology, sex abuse reporting/prevention, and governance/strategic planning. The USOC already offers some limited services to NGBs, such as website hosting.

While developing the report, Deloitte authors organized 40 governing bodies into four categories based on size and sophistication. At the top are the sports with the largest budgets, memberships and commercial appeal, like USA Swimming and the U.S. Tennis Association. At the bottom are groups such as USA Table Tennis and USA Badminton, which oversee niche sports, can’t generate meaningful sponsorship income and struggle to attract staff and members.

The Deloitte report could influence work at the USOC’s new Athlete & NGB Engagement Commission, which will consider more fundamental changes to the Olympics’ governance framework.

Derek Bouchard-Hall, CEO of USA Cycling and a member of the report’s advisory committee, said it’s not necessarily a problem that so many of the NGBs are small and aren’t able to engage in sophisticated, modern business endeavors. The system just needs to find a way to guarantee they can accomplish the non-negotiables, such as keeping athletes safe from abuse.

“I don’t come at it personally that all sports necessarily need to be run with huge resources,” Bouchard-Hall said. “It’s OK that some sports are small, niche communities and therefore the administration is going to be very light.”