In This Game, Business Transcends Patriotism

Four years ago in Moscow, when the International Olympic Committee picked Beijing to stage the 2008 Games, Scott Blackmun roamed the lobby of the Mezhdunorodnaya Hotel as acting chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

This week, as the IOC gathers here to pick the 2012 Summer Games city -- New York, London, Paris, Moscow or Madrid, the vote coming Wednesday -- Blackmun has been recruited to work the lobby once more. But not on behalf of the USOC.

This time he will cut a dashing figure in the khaki-colored uniform supplied by fashion guru Jeff Banks to the London 2012 team.

The irony is not lost on Blackmun, nor on anyone in the tight-knit world of Olympic politics -- an American stumping for London while New York is in the race. It’s just business, he and others said, a case that underscores the global strategies of an enterprising U.S. company and illustrates the complexities at the intersection of corporate finance and Olympic sport.

Blackmun has served since 2002 as chief operating officer of Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group. AEG is in the midst of a $1-billion investment in redeveloping the massive London structure that used to be called the Millennium Dome, now dubbed “The O2.” If London were to win the 2012 Games, it would play host to gymnastics and basketball at the Olympics.

“This is about business,” Blackmun said before he was scheduled to leave Los Angeles for Singapore. “We wouldn’t be supporting London’s bid if we didn’t think it was a very, very solid bid. By the same token, we’re very supportive of New York because we’re an American company. Our support of London exists because we have business over there.”

AEG’s support, London bid leader Sebastian Coe said Sunday, has been “fantastic.” Moreover, he said, soccer star David Beckham, who plays professionally for Real Madrid but has served as captain of the English national team and is involved with AEG-sponsored youth soccer academies in London and Los Angeles, is a “key part of the ... narrative.”

USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel declined to answer questions on the matter, saying, “Consistent with IOC rules, we do not comment on other bid cities.”

AEG’s support of the London bid comes amid its amply demonstrated commitment to the U.S. Olympic scene. It spent $150 million developing the Home Depot Center in Carson, a massive sports complex at the Cal State Dominguez Hills campus.

In 2003, shortly before it opened, the center was designated a U.S. Olympic Committee training site.

The U.S. Soccer Federation’s national team training headquarters are there. So is USA Cycling’s national team track training base. The facility also has been designed as a USA Track and Field official training site and a USTA high-performance tennis training center.

“This is not about the emotion or the patriotism of the U.S. bid,” said Tim Leiweke, AEG’s president, “because there’s no one company in the United States that has given more to the Olympic movement over the last few years than ours because of the commitment we made at Home Depot Center.

“That being said, on the business side of this, our London project is the largest single capital expenditure we have ever made. It is breathtaking, the money we are spending there.”

The centerpiece of the redevelopment is an indoor arena projected to seat up to 23,000. AEG spokesman Michael Roth said, “When you have a facility like that, it needs programming. What better sports programming than the greatest athletic competition in the world?”

AEG, the firm backed by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, is perhaps best known for developing Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. It has over the last couple of years moved to extend its reach internationally in sports and entertainment.

The dome is due to reopen in 2007. A few weeks ago, the international gymnastics federation announced that the 2009 world championships would be staged there.

Construction of the dome, controversial in Britain for political and financial reasons, was originally undertaken to mark the arrival of the year 2000. The enormous structure -- it covers 23 acres in eastern London -- has become one of the city’s most easily recognized landmarks, plainly visible in aerial photographs.

The deal to rename it -- for a telecommunications company -- was announced six weeks ago.

Blackmun served as the USOC’s acting chief executive for a year.

He sought the job permanently but was passed over amid USOC political infighting and left, moving to AEG.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

2012 Olympics

Five cities await Wednesday’s announcement on which plays host to the 2012 Summer Games:

* What: Selection of the host city for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

* Where: Singapore.

* When: Wednesday.

* The candidates: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris.

* The announcement: The ceremony starts at 7:30 p.m. Singapore time (4:30 a.m. PDT); nine minutes later, IOC President Jacques Rogge is scheduled to open a sealed envelope and announce the winner.