SINGAPORE — 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.
