The Australian Olympic team is set to go under a fundraising revolution to ensure survival

Australian Olympic sports are binding together to revolutionise fundraising to ensure potential sponsors for smaller sports won’t continue to be lost to big franchise sports.

Australia’s Olympic sports will stand shoulder to shoulder in a fund-raising revolution designed to stop them being trampled by sponsor-snatching football clubs.

From the tiny sport of table tennis to the powerhouses of basketball and swimming, the sports are united in supporting a new plan which will enable them to individually market the Olympic rings.

This initiative is separate from Olympic team sponsorships which Australia admits are becoming increasingly hard to find.

Team sponsor funds are spent sending sides to the Olympics. Under the new proposal the funds will go to the sports and in some cases could be decisive in keeping some of the smaller ones alive.

“As one CEO of one of the sports said “we can look after the athlete but when we get to the airport there is no money left for the airline ticket,’’ said AOC chief executive Matt Carroll.

“We are working on a scheme where we can put an injection of commercial funds in to the sports. For a small sport $50,000 is a lot of money.’’

Details of the plan are being kept secret for the moment but it is known to involve marketing of the rings and is attached to the pathway system of the sports involved.

BMX racer Saya Sakakibara has a deal with Red Bull. Picture: Getty Images

Australia is also overhauling its Athlete Incentive Scheme which, as a comparison with some other nations reveals, is in urgent need of a major financial boost.

At least 20 countries reward their athletes a six figure sum for an Olympic gold medal with Singapore paying a whopping $1 million which swimmer Joseph Schooling pocketed in Rio in 2016 for winning the 100m butterfly.

Australia is well down the list as it offers a modest $20,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze as an incentive for athletes to train on.

“It was designed just before Sydney (2000) so with a home Games coming up (Brisbane 2032) we will look at it to see whether it is doing what it is intended to do,’’ Carroll said..

“Not only to decide the quantum but how it should be implemented. Should it be medal incentive, should it be assistance in going to the Games?’’

Australian skateboarder Keegan Palmer. Picture: Getty Images)

Carroll does not shy away from the financial challenges of dipping Olympic revenue with mega-sponsored football codes with guaranteed television exposure sucking large chunks of the corporate dollar.

“It is the same as the United States,’’ Carroll said.

“Super Bowl was enormous and it just sucks up the sponsorship revenue and fan engagement.

“Just recently I was in Lausanne with fellow Olympic chief executives and it was interesting talking to Canada as well.

“They have the same issues as we do in terms of the big commercial sports dominating the market and the drop-off in sponsorships and revenues for the Olympics sports.

“It will cost $25 million to send a team to Paris. There are some state governments that make donations to the team appeal fund but the bulk of it comes from our partners and our foundation. We don’t take any Federal government funding.

“We have to be as commercially active as those sports otherwise we will get left behind.’’

Originally published as The Australian Olympic team is set to go under a fundraising revolution to ensure survival