US Olympic committee considers selling stake in Team USA commercial rights

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee is considering selling investors a stake in Team USA’s commercial rights, according to reports published on November 3 and 4, 2026, as the United States prepares to stage the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.¹²

A new commercial structure

The committee is well advanced in preparing an entity through which it could raise capital in exchange for a share of those rights. Both reports identify the proposed company as United States Olympic and Paralympic Ventures. The Guardian says that name appears in minutes of a USOPC board meeting.¹²

The work remains under consideration rather than a completed sale. Chief executive Sarah Hirshland described it as “very much in progress”, according to the Guardian. The committee says it is examining different commercial arrangements intended to increase the resources available for its mission, including support for athletes and national sports governing bodies.¹²

According to the Guardian, investment bank Raine Group is advising the committee, and the venture could have a valuation running into billions of dollars. The newspaper also reports that the USOPC depends substantially on sponsorship, licensing and other commercial income, rather than government funding.²

The post-Los Angeles transition

The proposed structure comes as the committee prepares for the end of its commercial partnership with the Los Angeles organisers. That arrangement, United States Olympic and Paralympic Properties, ends after the Games. The BBC reports that Team USA’s commercial rights will then return to the USOPC.¹²

Hirshland told the Guardian that the committee had been discussing and preparing for this transition for more than two years. The planning comes before two Olympics on American soil: the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and, six years later, the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.¹²

Investors and safeguards

Preliminary conversations have taken place with prospective investors and strategic partners. The board minutes cited by the Guardian describe positive feedback, while the BBC reports that prospective partners broadly endorsed the proposed venture’s purpose and rationale. According to the BBC, Hirshland said the options being examined include private equity, institutional capital and sovereign wealth funds.¹²

The committee says it has involved athlete representatives and national governing body leaders in discussions about the process. It also says that whichever commercial approach it chooses, its mission, governance and leadership will remain intact, alongside its commitment to Team USA athletes. Hirshland has framed the exercise as a way to increase revenue for those the committee supports.¹²

Both reports also describe an unsuccessful effort by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to bring private investment into World Cup rights. According to the Guardian, FIFA abandoned plans for a $20bn subsidiary that would have offered outside investors stakes of up to 20%. Both outlets report that the proposal encountered opposition.¹²