USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun, chairman Larry Probst and business executive Fraser Bullock travelled to the IOC’s home city of Lausanne in Switzerland to meet a delegation that included IOC marketing commission chairman Gerhard Heiberg, chief of staff Christophe De Kepper and Richard Carrion, who is responsible for negotiating Olympic TV rights in the US.
The USOC currently receives a 20% share of global sponsorship revenue and a 12.75% share of US broadcast rights deals under an agreement that will run through to 2020.
However, many within the Olympic movement have felt that the USOC’s share of the revenues has been excessive, and it is widely thought to have been a contributing factor behind Chicago being kicked out in the first round of voting for the 2016 Olympics in late 2009.
“We had a good, constructive dialogue on the overall allocation of resources,” Blackmun told The Associated Press. “We agreed to get together again.”
Blackmun, who began his tenure as CEO of the USOC just over a year ago, confirmed at last year’s SportAccord International Convention in Dubai that he was keen to discuss the issue with the IOC earlier than 2013, when the talks were initially scheduled to begin.
