Doug Logan, the former Chief Executive Officer of USA Track & Field, has responded to his former employer's massive new deal with Nike, calling it a "lack of judgment of its current leadership."
USATF, the same organization who couldn't figure out how exactly Dropbox works, is in charge of the governance and administration of the sport in the U.S. It facilitates the meets that select Olympic and world championship teams, and it contracts with sponsors. What it does not do very well is listen to the crescendo of athletes and fans that hate its guts.
In his response, Logan points out that the new deal covers the next six Olympics after Brazil, and that they have sold their only bargaining chip, the athletes, to Nike, who is much smarter than they are:
Nike is a huge public company with an army of smart guys and access to the best economists on the planet. The Federation is headed up by a lawyer who made a name for himself as a producer of a reality television show for NASCAR. Its self-perpetuating Board of Directors is composed of part-time policy makers. Who do you think was better informed as to what the economic future looks like in 2040? Who do you think got the better of the deal?
David Greifinger, a former USATF advisor and agent of Carl Lewis, wrote for Track & Field News on why the deal doesn't make sense financially, mainly because a dollar today isn't worth the same in 2040. It does not appear USATF has considered this, either.
Sure, Logan may have his own ax to grind: he was fired in 2010 because he was critical of his own organization after a disappointing medal haul in the 2008 Games. USATF, never very good with money, had to pay him $1.8 million on the way out the door. But he has a unique perspective, having once been inside the bumbling apparatus as it careens into the future.
"In 2040 I hope to be alive and driving everyone around me crazy," Logan says. "In 2040 the Federation will still be paying for the lack of judgment of its current leadership."
[Photo: AP Images]