ABC News reports that at least 70% of U.S. Olympic sport organizations have applied for government funding during the current worldwide pandemic.
The U.S. government had set up a Paycheck Protection Program as part of its $2 trillion stimulus package, designed to help small businesses through the economic shutdown that has occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. Businesses, including swim clubs, could apply for PPP money to help cover salaries for employees, even while the country has mostly been in lockdown due to shelter-in-place orders and quarantine recommendations. The $349 billion emergency fund ran out in a little less than two weeks, per previous reporting.
An Associated Press survey of 44 national governing bodies – the organizations that run Olympic sports at the national level, like USA Swimming – found that almost all the NGBs had applied for financial assistance via the PPP program. 36 national governing bodies responded to the survey, and 32 of those said they had applied for PPP money.
Small businesses with fewer than 500 employees were able to apply for up to $10 million at a rate of 2.5 times average monthly payroll costs. The money is technically on loan, but businesses could have the loans effectively converted to grants if they met certain requirements.
United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) head Sarah Hirshland says that the national Olympic committee has cut expenses by 20% this year, but that a full cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics (set for next summer) would be “devastating.”
