USSA Annual Report

How did the Olympic exposure from Sochi help the sport?

Tens of Millions of Americans watched the Olympics. Billions watched worldwide. In the lead-up to the Games, we focused specifically on new Olympic partners who would be able to help market during the Games, resulting in a dozen different national brand spots that aired during the Olympics featuring our athletes and sports. Our PR team worked with NBC and the USOC to better market our elite athletes resulting in NBC producing 18 different primetime athlete profiles. We partnered with Gannett/USA Today to develop Sochi Studio, which produced over 20 exclusive features that were streamed to tens of millions of fans. It was our most strategic approach ever to the Managing Victory concept we pioneered to capitalize on Olympic success and earned us a nomination as Sports Team of the Year from Sports Business Journal.

How will that help moving forward?

Outside of the Olympics, we broke viewership records with over 25 million U.S. viewers and over 100 million worldwide. Our investment in acquiring domestic World Championship rights will allow us to bring live coverage of every event at Vail/Beaver Creek to America for the first time. Our new partnership with NBC through 2019 will feature more live coverage and online streaming than ever before and a net the USSA over $7 million over the term.

Does that also impact fundraising?

Yes, more exposure for our athletes and sports shines a very positive More exposure for our athletes and sports shines a very positive light on USSA. We are unique among our competitors in that we get no government funding. Our sport heroes help generate funds to support development of the next generation. We saw gains last season in public fundraising including the best year ever for our U.S. Ski Team Gold Pass and one of best New York Gold Medal Galas. Under the new leadership of Trisha Worthington, we look to grow that even further.

How is the USSA gearing up to evolve its business operations?

Beginning this past season, the USSA has been developing a new customer relationships management (CRM) system that has begun roll out this summer. We will launch a mobile app this winter in partnership with Ski Racing and are well along on a long-term web development plan to roll out in the 2015-16 season.

What’s the elite team focus this season?

A big highlight for most teams this winter will be World Championships – with nordic in Falun, freestyle, freeskiing and snowboarding in Kreischberg and alpine right here at home in Vail/Beaver Creek. We’re uniquely poised for the Alpine World Championships with a very strong team. Vail/Beaver Creek is expecting large spectator turnouts for what will be a great American-style festival of ski racing. And if you can’t make the races Feb. 2-15, you can watch every race live on NBC or NBCSN with a live post-race show on Universal Sports Network – plus live no-cost streaming of every event in America.

As you look to the future, what gives you cause for optimism?

The most gratifying element to me right now is the partnerships we’re creating. With our donors and corporate partners, we’re finding innovative new ways for them to support athletes. For me, personally, I’m seeing great engagement from every sport in the field. As I visit clubs and talk to parents and coaches, I’m finding more and more passionate individuals who want to be involved – who are proud of what the USSA has accomplished and want to be a part of evolving its future.