How Olympic Athletes Fight for Fair Pay and Working Conditions – Mother Jones

When Veronica Fraley posted on X last week that she couldn’t afford her rent, the American disco star got help from a known source. “Gotcha,” replied Flavor Flav, a founding member of hip-hop group Public Enemy. “Text me and I’ll send you the payment TODAY so you don’t have to worry about it TOMORROW… and I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you tomorrow, TODAY!!!”

Ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, Flavor Flav signed a five-year sponsorship deal with the U.S. women’s and men’s national water polo teams. And when it comes to supporting Fraley as she competes for her country, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian joined him. Meanwhile, other athletes have turned to fundraising platforms like GoFundMe to reach Paris and beyond.

Many viewers watch the Olympics for these wholesome stories—of an individual fighting against the odds to climb to the medal podium. But should we question why these difficult journeys are necessary in the first place?

There are some athlete groups that are challenging this idea. Global Athlete, which describes itself as an “international athlete-led movement,” is one of them. According to the organization’s website, its members are “collectively addressing the power imbalance between athletes and administrators,” demanding better pay and working conditions, as well as rights such as freedom of speech.

Rob Koehler, CEO of Global Athlete, said in an interview that most of the problems the group faces stem from an “outdated model” used by the International Olympic Committee, the nongovernmental sports organization responsible for organizing the Summer, Winter and Youth Olympic Games.

“Most athletes can barely afford rent. The facade that once you’re an Olympian, you’re set for life is so far from the truth,” he said. “They’ve dedicated 15, sometimes 20 years of their lives putting school aside, putting work aside, and committing to the goal of going to the Olympics. And then when they’re done, they’re sitting in bed, they can’t sleep at night, wondering, ‘What am I going to do next?’ There’s no career path for them after that. That’s the reality.”

When asked about athletes’ salaries, the IOC media relations team referred to a press release in which the IOC Executive Board “expressed its full support for fair remuneration of athletes.”

According to public financial disclosures posted on the IOC website, the committee — a privately funded nonprofit — earned $7.6 billion from 2017 to 2021. The IOC says 90 percent of that revenue goes to the Olympic Games, athlete development and the Olympic Movement, which includes the IOC, the International Sports Federations and the National Olympic Committees.

In the same communiqué, the IOC explained that the purpose of the National Committees is to “develop athletes, provide them with the best possible training and competition conditions, and support them in their education and daily life in the context of their profession.” Each of the 206 National Committees selects athletes to represent their country through a qualification process.

The document referred to a statement by the chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Emma Terho: “Rewarding athletes financially for their achievements at the Games is common in many NOCs and governments, while the IFs help develop their sport worldwide and reduce the development gap between the haves and the have-nots. Each role is important for the athletes and for sport in general, because without this work the gap between athletes around the world would be much greater than it is today.”

But Global Athlete sees things differently. “They’re using rhetoric to say that NOCs pay for gold medals. Not every country does that, but that’s not the point,” Koehler said. “Every athlete that competes in the Games should be able to earn revenue.”

Koehler pointed to a study his group published in April 2020 in partnership with Ryerson University and the Ted Rogers School of Management that found that athletes receive only 4.1 percent of the Olympic Movement’s revenue through scholarships, grants and performance awards. In addition, only 0.5 percent of the IOC’s funding goes directly to athletes, according to the study. Athletes can’t negotiate that amount.

Meanwhile, the world’s five biggest professional sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and the English Premier League — give between 40 and 60 percent of their revenue to athletes.

In the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the IOC updated Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter, which, according to a Global Athlete study, previously prohibited athletes from profiting from their association with the Olympic Games through unapproved, non-Olympic corporate sponsors. However, an April 2020 study suggested that the relaxation of international law had been largely ineffective, with fewer than 10 national committees actually implementing the change.

The IOC did not respond to questions about the study results.

Koehler stressed that athletes’ salaries are not the only issue. He cited incidents at the Tokyo Games, in particular, where athletes were not allowed to breastfeed their children during competition due to regulations restricting bringing family and friends during the Covid pandemic.

“We worked with leading breastfeeding organizations, athletes spoke up and were forced to change the rules,” Koehler recalls.

He also recalled the organization’s collaboration with other athlete organizing groups in pressuring the IOC to weaken Rule 50, which stated: “No form of political, religious or racial demonstration or propaganda is permitted at any Olympic site, venue or other area.”

Organisations such as Global Athlete and the International Labour Organisation, the UN agency that sets international labour standards, emphasise that collective bargaining is essential to improving athletes’ rights.

While progress has been made, Koehler says the IOC has blocked various avenues for athletes to participate in these negotiations. “The IOC Athletes’ Commission is required to sign the Olympic Oath, which is a condition that you have to support all the decisions of the IOC. You immediately lose your independence,” he said. Because of this, athletes “give up all their rights” when they compete in the Games.

Koehler noted that the athlete agreement required for the Paris-based players requires them to waive rights such as the ability to “bring any claim, arbitration or legal proceeding or seek any other form of relief, including an application for interim measures, in any… court or tribunal (other than “other than the Court of Arbitration for Sport) unless the IOC gives its written consent.”

Koehler argues that the IOC would actually benefit from negotiating with athletes, saying that in most cases, sports leagues with organized labor have flourished due to increased athlete involvement. “If you look at the NCAA and what happened there, I think that’s the future of the IOC,” he said.

In May 2024, the NCAA, the five major Division I conferences and the athletes’ legal representatives agreed to settle three lawsuits over how schools compensate their athletes. The agreement specifies how the former athletes will share the $2.78 billion in compensation the NCAA will pay and creates a new revenue-sharing system.

That’s the future Koehler wants for the Olympics. “It’s time to put the most important stakeholder, the athletes, first and distribute to everyone,” he said.