USOC to keep partnership with BP, hoping company can find ‘as quick a solution as possible’

USOC: No change planned in relationship with BP

The U.S. Olympic Committee intends to maintain its partnership with BP, hoping the company that provides about $15 million in sponsorship funding through 2012 can find “as quick a solution as possible” to the crisis in the Gulf.

The USOC board discussed the embattled oil company at its quarterly meeting Monday.

“The board is monitoring the situation very carefully,” chairman Larry Probst said. He telegraphed no moves to sever ties with BP, and spokesman Patrick Sandusky confirmed there were no changes planned.

The USOC leadership has to walk a fine line on the BP issue — between appearing too cozy with an unpopular company that has potential to turn the Olympics into a lightning rod for protesters and walking away from a loyal partner and the source of about 6 to 7 percent of its sponsorship revenue.

BP signed its sponsorship deal with the USOC in February, saying the Olympics was a great opportunity to show its dedication to environmentally sustainable energy production.

But the company has been under siege since the deep-water drilling platform it was operating blew up April 20, killing 11 workers and doing untold damage to the Gulf. Since then, BP has lost more than $100 billion in market value and cleanup costs have been estimated at $2.65 billion.

The disaster happened before BP had a chance to ramp up its Olympic marketing campaign, and that effort now seems a long time off — if it happens at all.

“BP, like a lot of other sponsors, has to deal with complex issues and they’re dealing with a major issue now,” chief executive Scott Blackmun said, echoing the same statement he made seven weeks ago. “Very hopefully, they can get this resolved sooner rather than later, and we’re pulling for as quick a solution as possible.”

In addition to sponsoring the USOC, the oil company also sponsors the London 2012 organizing committee at a cost of about $58 million.

Also Monday, the USOC board discussed structural changes proposed by a task force headed by former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, but did not adopt any of the ideas because of bureaucratic reviews that have to happen beforehand. Formal action is expected sometime in the next month.

Among the proposals were to increase the size of the board from 11 to 15 members, adding the CEO as a nonvoting member of the board and extending terms of board members from two to four years to improve continuity and establish better domestic and international relationships.

The Tagliabue panel was formed last year, after several months of tumult that included two changes at CEO and Chicago’s embarrassing last-place finish in the race to host the 2016 Olympics.

The panel presented its findings in March, part of an unflinching report in which Tagliabue found the USOC “suffered from the high turnover of chief executives and others in leadership positions, from a lack of continuity in strategy, and from a lack of transparency that accompanied much of that instability.”

Probst would not discuss which of Tagliabue’s recommendations were being pushed forward.

Probst also said the leadership continued to discuss the revenue-sharing arrangement with the International Olympic Committee. He added that the IOC’s recent decision to again push back bidding for American TV rights for the 2014-2016 Olympics didn’t concern him.

In an interview with The Associated Press last week, the IOC’s TV negotiator, Richard Carrion, said the bidding wouldn’t begin until next year because of the struggling American economy and advertising market.

“We’ve talked about partnering with the IOC in those discussions and making sure any issues or concerns we might have would be presented to the IOC ahead of time so we can work collaboratively as partners,” Probst said. “They’re good with that approach.”