Five U.S. sports national governing bodies—USA Fencing, US Squash, USA Cycling, US Sailing and USRowing—will pool their commercial and media rights under a new collective.

Revenue from unified agreements will now be split between the five organizations proportionate to membership count, and the collective has picked longtime Six Flags Entertainment executive Stephanie Borges as its dealmaking point person, according to USA Fencing CEO Phil Andrews. Borges has a background in sports and is the owner of the Greenwich Panthers of the National Squash League.

US Rowing will be the chair member of the collective with final say in strategic issues, Andrews said. Representatives from the five national governing bodies (NGBs) will convene at least every two weeks.

Despite stark differences between the sports, from how much revenue they produce to their competition venues, organizers say the five-way relationship will be symbiotic.

The most obvious connection between them is that fencing, squash, cycling, sailing and rowing are all popular in affluent communities. Because of that tie, the NGBs will try to increase partnerships with major luxury brands and wealth management groups to diversify from their longstanding reliance on small companies in their immediate orbit, such as equipment producers. In theory, these agreements could provide a much-needed cushion in down years for donations or in the event of lawsuits or controversies, which have recently ensnared USA Fencing and US Sailing.

Together, the five NGBs boast about 350,000 members, providing wider consumer access to potential sponsors than if they worked individually. The NGBs will also share best practices and contacts, and in the future, they could use the collective model to host multiple events in one U.S. city with linked ticket and merchandise sales.

“Alone, it’s just not big enough for one single brand, but with five NGBs, suddenly it becomes worthwhile,” Andrews said in a phone interview.

Of the newly grouped NGBs, USA Cycling is the biggest total revenue driver at $57.4 million combined from 2020 through 2023. In its last four public filings, US Rowing brought in $51.8 million in revenue, USA Fencing $47 million, US Sailing $45.2 million and US Squash $38.2 million.

Historically, the five NGBs have gotten the bulk of their revenue from different sources, and some have depended more on sponsorships than others. While USA Cycling leads the pack in total revenue, it only received about $483,000 in sponsorship revenue for 2023, about half the amount of USA Fencing. Most of USA Cycling’s income stems from membership dues and donations.

US Sailing, meanwhile, managed $2.2 million in sponsorship agreements in the fiscal year 2022, the latest year it labeled sponsorship revenue separately in its filings. As a niche NGB, it cashed in on partnerships with companies that provide gear related to the sport, such as McLube, a marine lubricant provider, and New England Ropes.

But US Sailing has also fared well with companies offering products with broader appeal such as Yeti, GoPro and Rolex. These successes could provide a blueprint for the larger collective, while USA Cycling could offer insights into non-commercial fundraising strategies.

The NGBs also expect some money through grants from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), which is negotiating mega-deals around the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. However, brands flocking straight to the centralized USOPC could make it more difficult for NGBs to carve out separate sponsorship agreements over the next three years.

This five-way group, dubbed the United Sports Collective, has been unveiled after US Sailing announced a “strategic restructuring” last month that eliminated 10 positions in the wake of revenue continuing to trail expenses in 2024. Meanwhile, in November 2024, Andrews wrote in a Sportico op-ed that US Fencing endured its own a “crisis” when revenue dipped in the cycle before the 2024 Olympics.

But while the stakes are high, Andrews believes the collective’s potential reward outweighs the risk of implementing an entirely new sponsorship system three years before the next summer Olympics.

“We’re stronger together,” Andrews said.