The Olympics May Soon Embrace Private Equity
The International Olympic Committee, the body that oversees the Olympics, is hunting for more revenue. It may soon open the door to private equity, which has been increasingly reshaping sports to squeeze every last dollar out of athletes and fans.
The International Olympic Committee is exploring new sources of financing to help cover the enormous costs of mounting the Olympic Games, and it appears to be zeroing in on private equity. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
For more than a century, the modern Olympic Games have elevated the world’s top athletes in service of peace, diversity, and shared dignity. But the Milan Cortina Winter Games are also highlighting a less celebrated reality: The Olympics are a multibillion-dollar business — one now flirting with private equity, the profit-driven investment firms that are reshaping sports and squeezing every last dollar out of athletes and fans.
Now, as Los Angeles grapples with the economic potential — as well as financial risks — of hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics, vulture capitalists seem poised to make a play.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the nongovernmental body that oversees the games, primarily relies on television broadcast licensing for revenue. NBCUniversal holds exclusive US broadcast rights under a multibillion-dollar long-term agreement, while the Worldwide Olympic Partner program grants global marketing rights to major corporations.
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