COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Olympic Committee increased its net assets by $47.3 million to $167.1 million last year, with $217.6 million from broadcast rights and royalties, according to the Colorado Springs-based organization’s tax filings.

It generated $280.6 million in total revenue, $133.9 million more than in 2007, helping offset $231.1 million in expenses including $71.4 million on athletes and national governing bodies of Olympic sports, $39 million on employee compensation and $25.2 million on training center costs.
Unlike nearly all the 205 national Olympic committees, the nonprofit USOC receives no government funding. It makes most of its income from a lucrative deal with NBC, which broadcast the 2008 Beijing Games, and contracts with 18 corporate partners, who use the committee’s five-ring logo.
Broadcast rights revenue totaled $123.3 million last year, and the USOC got $94.3 million from sponsors, $3 million from international games, $2.1 million from international relations and $1.7 million from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and sites in Chula Vista, Calif., and Lake Placid, N.Y.
The USOC issued $43.3 million in grants to 37 NGBs, including $4 million to U.S. Ski and Snowboard, $3.4 million to USA Swimming and $3.2 million to USA Track & Field. It spent $11.5 million on 22 Paralympic sports.
Training stipends for 1,636 athletes amounted to $12.1 million, plus 933 athletes netted $2.7 million in health insurance. The USOC rewarded 506 athletes with $6.5 million for top-eight finishes in major international competitions through “Operation Gold.”
Total compensation for 22 high-level executives equaled $6.5 million, and 66 of 473 employees collected more than $100,000 apiece. Tops were chief operating officer Norman Bellingham at $663,369, former chief executive officer Jim Scherr at $619,507 and chief communications officer Darryl Seibel at $367,779.
Former member and event services chief Courtney Harrison, the USOC’s sixth-highest-paid employee at $335,016, received a $117,840 severance package when she resigned in July. Former chief marketing officer Rick Burton, the committee’s fifth-highest-paid employee at $345,326, got $35,322 in severance when he stepped down in November.
Severances for 54 staffers the USOC laid off in March won’t be public until next year. Neither will severances for former chief information officer Damani Short, who made $323,336; former chief of sport performance Steve Roush, who made $298,524; and former government relations director Steve Bull, who made $249,067.
The USOC shelled out $17.2 million on international competitions, $7 million on sport science and technology, $6.3 million on drug control, $4.9 million on broadcast properties, $4.5 million on media relations, $3.9 million on international relations, $3.4 million on national events and $2.5 million on sports medicine.
On the administrative side, it spent $21.9 million on travel, $8.6 million on mailing, $3.9 million on advertising, $3.8 million on utilities, $3.3 million on maintenance, $3.2 million on supplies, $2.8 million on food service, $1.7 million on insurance, $1.6 million on direct mail services, $1.3 million on legal fees and $1.2 million on meetings.
The USOC’s land, buildings and equipment depreciated $5.3 million to $63.1 million, and its endowment fund dropped $1.7 million to $5.2 million. The USOC also ran a $64,827 deficit on a charity golf tournament.