​Team USA is seeking outside financing for a new commercial rights vehicle it is calling U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Ventures, chief executive Sarah Hirshland said Tuesday, as the sports governing body plans for two domestic Olympics and hopes to better monetize fan engagement.
“Sports entities are all focused on building their direct-to-consumer value proposition,” Hirshland said in an interview with Sportico. “How do we build our fan base, know who our fans are and customize offerings for those fans? How do we drive content and engagement both within our competition environment but also outside and beyond our competition environment?”More from Sportico.comSportico Invest New York: Full Slate of Panels RevealedGrant Hill, Steve Greenberg, Al Tylis Join Sportico Invest NY LineupNYAC Turns Pandemic Signup Boom Into First Winter Sport Athlete
News that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee had hired the Raine Group to explore a stake sale or debt raise was earlier reported by Sky News, which also noted that the new venture could be valued in the billions of dollars.
Hirshland declined to comment on the valuation of the new entity. When asked if the USOPC is open to investment from private equity, institutional capital or sovereign wealth funds, she said, “Our responsibility is to look at all of our options, and I would say we are doing that.”
Discussions about the new commercial venture date to 2024, Hirshland said, are developing in earnest because of a unique juncture on the Olympic calendar: The USOPC has an existing commercial partnership with the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic organizing committee that dissolves at the conclusion of that year but has not yet formed a corresponding agreement with the hosts of the 2034 Winter Games in Utah. Furthermore, beginning in January, the USOPC enters the renewal period for commercial rights that take effect in 2029 and beyond, hastening the need to finance now.
Hirshland said U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Ventures will encompass both domestic and global sponsorship and licensing deals, content distribution and direct-to-consumer sales, with the exception of the Utah 2034 ticketing and hospitality, which will remain with the organizing committee.
The USOPC and its national sport governing bodies have highly cyclical revenues depending on the Olympic cycle. According to tax filings, Team USA reported revenue of $264 million in 2025, an Olympic off-year, compared with $496 million in 2024, the period of the Paris Summer Games.
Team USA has substantial domestic commercial contracts with Comcast, Delta Air Lines, Google, Starbucks, Chase, Allstate, Honda and others. It shares global commercial revenues with IOC partners including Alibaba, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Visa.
In June, a leaked plan by global soccer governing body FIFA to sell stakes in its own commercial operations received such vociferous pushback by member organizations, especially UEFA, that it was ultimately withdrawn.