The $200 Million the Olympics Postponement Took From Team U.S.A.

The problem for the U.S.O.P.C. is that it does not get its share of the NBCUniversal money until after the Games occur. That money represents about 40 percent of the U.S.O.P.C.’s budget and allows it to distribute annually about $100 million, including $13 million in stipends directly to athletes and more than $75 million to the national governing bodies for their sports.

For example, in 2016, U.S.A. Cycling received $2 million from the national committee, according to U.S.O.P.C. tax filings. The U.S. Fencing Association received $900,000. U.S.A. Gymnastics received $3 million. And even though the 2018 Winter Olympics were still more than a year away at the time, U.S. Figure Skating received $1 million, U.S.A. Curling got $842,000 and the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation received more than $2 million.

Some of the organizations received more the following year.

Also, direct payments for the athletes totaled $13 million each year as well, funding that helps roughly 2,000 athletes pay their rent and eat, using stipends that range from a few thousand dollars to as much as $21,000.

There is also a discretionary fund of about $1 million to target a team or a group of athletes for whom a little extra support might make the difference between sixth place and a medal.

Max Cobb, who leads the U.S. Biathlon Association and is the chairman of the council for the national sports organizations, said all of the projects the U.S.O.P.C. funds for athletes at the elite level and the grass roots now need to be reassessed and possibly put off for a year.

In a statement Thursday, Morane Kerek, the U.S.O.P.C.’s, chief financial officer, said the organization is still evaluating the financial impact of the cancellation of the Games.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/sports/olympics/coronavirus-olympics-athletes-funding.html