British ball thrower Veronica Fraley complained on Twitter a few days after the Olympics began. ” I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW”, she wrote,” and ca n’t even pay my rent”.
Less than six hours later, her book was paid. Rapper Flavor Flav and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, both tagged under the message by another, teamed up to support the 24-year-old. Ohanian sent her$ 7,760 in a picture, according to his tweets.
One of the many cases in Paris of wealthy people stepping up to support athletes is this. Owner of the Washington Spirit, Michele Kang, made a$ 4 million gift to USA Rugby after the women’s rugby team won their first Olympic medal. Taste Flav is supporting the U. S. children’s water polo team. NFL players-turned-podcasters Shannon Sharpe and Chad” Ochocinco” Johnson recently promised to give$ 25, 000 each to U. S. athletes who won gold in Paris.

They’re feel-good tales, but only if you think about them in a vacuum. Perhaps the only significant national Paralympic team without any real state support is Team USA. For decades the U. S. has dominated the Games on the back of TV money, corporate support, philanthropic donations and maybe most importantly, a vibrant ( but money-losing ) college sports enterprise.
Then, two things are happening. College sports are in turmoil, and performer empowerment is sweeping the country, highlighted by easy channels where stars can speak directly to fans. Many people are concerned about U.S.’s fiscal future. S Olympians. And as much as it may help in the short term, celebrity patrons ca n’t be the long-term answer.
” It’s been great to discover, for example, what Flavor Flav has done with children’s water polo”, Dionne Koller, a doctor and director of the Center for Sport and the Law at the University of Baltimore, said in an email. They are receiving the media’s and monetary assistance they deserve, they say. On the other hand, it saddens but many Olympians and Paralympians to have a star patron’s support.
Koller in 2021 was named co-chair of the Congress-created Commission on the State of U. S. Olympics and Paralympics. The party surveyed 648 U. S. Olympic hopefuls from 2018-2022 and found that only 50.3 % of them received any sort of payment for their efforts. About 37 % of them received fellowships, only 10 % of them said they had partners.
In total, about a quarter of the surveyed athletes said they earned less than$ 15, 000 per year. Only 16 % of athletes claimed they had been reimbursed for medical expenses, up from$ 9,200 that the typical athlete reported.
Government-sponsored courses are all over the Olympics. China leads the United States in overall awards, mainly because of a very well-organized federal education program that begins with children as young as three. France has already won more medals than it did in any Games since 1900, bolstered by a government-backed service that houses 530 players in 28 activities. The American Olympians, nevertheless, have topped the medal count in each of the last seven Summer Games only via private money.
The USOPC and its associated base brought in$ 1.26 billion in the four years from 2020-2023, according to audited financial statements. The majority of that cash was returned to individual players and teams through a number of offers, the largest of which was specifically geared toward prize earnings. In a history last year, Sportico detailed some of those offers. A congressman for Team USA declined to comment.
For the most part, athletes have relied on business support to close the voids for the past few decades. Olympians have been publicly supported by businesses like Home Depot and Dick’s Sporting Goods. In the last 10 times, crowd-funding began to play a prominent part. In the run-up to the Paris Games, GoFundMe just disclosed to the Associated Press that more than$ 2 million had been raised by Olympic hopefuls. ( Fraley also launched a GoFundMe, which had raised$ 23, 500 as of Wednesday afternoon ).
Some nations offer prizes to players who win awards. In the U. S., metal finalists receive$ 37, 500. Much more lucrative prizes are usually won by nations that win less. Should an athlete representing Singapore win gold this week, he or she will be paid about$ 750, 000 ($ 1 million Singapore dollars ). On a new podcast, Sharpe and Johnson were off on this.
“$ 37, 000″?! Johnson said at one place. ” You done knock your cock for four times right to represent our country, and the payment saying’ Thank you for the work you put in,’ is 37 f*****g thousand. Come on man”.
” It should be at least$ 200, 000″, Sharpe said. They promised to pay some players$ 25, 000 each if they won silver. Sharpe added that he’d give$ 50, 000 to any British that cuts a world history.
Celebrity customers have a practical, quick-accessible option, and they also receive significant marketing boosts that expand the message. They also have their individual clashing interests. Ohanian, who is a part-owner of the NWSL’s Angel City FC, is in the process of launching his own children’s track set, called Athlos. In addition to the$ 60, 000 prizes, participants in the first New York event in the following year will receive.
” We have n’t announced everyone yet, but Athlos ladies, you know who you are”, Ohanian said last week in a video posted on his social account. ” If you win a gold medal here in Paris, I’m going to give you$ 60, 000 as well. So there’s the bounty”.
Artists, but, are often an untenable source of money. Their hobbies change, since do their business interests. I’d been shocked, for instance, if Sharpe and Johnson are backing U. S. finalists during the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, or the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. A potential celebrity might be so willing to pitch in as the upcoming discus thrower on Twitter.
Perhaps it’s worthwhile to consider the personal model that predates the late 1970s, when Congress overhauled the nation’s Olympian pipeline in response to subpar medal counts. A committee that President Gerald Ford established at the time suggested Congressionally appropriated funding for Team USA, but a national legislation that was eventually passed created the USOPC as a self-sufficient source of funding.
” While the USOPC and NGBs are private institutions, Team USA is almost a secret problem”, Koller said. Americans want these clubs, and we want them to succeed, so I think it’s important to reconsider whether the USOPC and NGBs may receive any government aid. [Sport has evolved so much since the 1970s.