SportsTravel Catches Up With U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell

Jason Gewirtz has been on the ground in Italy throughout the Winter Olympics, talking with CEOs of various U.S. national governing bodies. Check out each interview here:

Dean Gemmell, USA Curling

Sophie Goldschmidt, U.S. Ski & Snowboard

Pat Kelleher, USA Hockey

Aron McGuire, USA Bobsled/Skeleton

Ted Morris, US Speedskating

MILAN — Matt Farrell is no stranger to Olympic sports. After several stints with the then-U.S. Olympic Committee in commercial roles, he spent 13 years with USA Swimming as the governing body’s chief marketing officer. He left in 2018 to join the Golf Channel in a move that also made him executive director of World Long Drive, and then formed his own commercial and consulting agency until the lure of an NGB called him back. Since May 2025, he has been CEO of U.S. Figure Skating, a role he took as the sport was leading up to the Olympic Winter Games in Milan.

And he joined at a pivotal time. The U.S. team is considered one its deepest in decades across all disciplines. But as Farrell explained when we caught up with him, his main focus has been off the ice. That includes the execution in Milan of the Starbucks Winter House, a hospitality area on the ground floor of a hotel that is designed for athletes, their families, and U.S. Figure Skating sponsors and donors. The activation was originally marketed as the Ice House, but with the federal government’s ICE immigration force sparking controversy at home, the decision was made just before the Games to rebrand.

SportsTravel caught up with Farrell at the Winter House to talk about his background with the sport, the activation on site and his own figure skating potential.

SportsTravel: Let’s start at the beginning. You’re not new to the national governing body world. But as CEO of U.S. Figure Skating, how have things been going for you so far in the new role?

Farrell: I’m probably about nine months into it. And it has absolutely exceeded expectations in terms of what the sport is about, what the people of the sport are about, how welcoming they have been. On the same token, it’s hard. None of these NGB CEO jobs are designed to be easy, but the organization had been through a lot of change over the last four to five years. The organization and the sport got hit with a horrific plane crash a little over a year ago. And so that’s where a lot of the focus has been. The sport itself rightfully sees itself as one of the preeminent Olympic sports, and wants to see itself grow back to some of the heights it’s achieved in the past. And that’s actually been very energizing to come in with that kind of an attitude and approach.

SportsTravel: You’re not only coming in after a challenging time given everything that you just mentioned, but you also took the job right before the Olympic Games as well. That must have been an interesting starting off point …

Farrell: There’s a few elements to it. In March of 2025, I was still interviewing when the World Championships were happening in Boston. And so, I attended on my own dime, because I’m like, “I can’t miss this. I need to see it whether I get this job or not.” But then I inherited a really strong team from a performance standpoint. I inherited the idea of activations like our Winter House in Milan and Annie White, our chief commercial officer. I inherited such strong elements that, figuratively and literally speaking, when the board hired me, they said just turn your back to what happens on the ice for now. Pay attention to the organization. Let the team do its work, that’s in a good spot. Pay attention to everything else. And so that’s been my mandate. Be additive or remove roadblocks on the performance side, but focus on the business side.

SportsTravel: Now that we’re here in Milan, you can focus a little bit on the ice. The U.S. has a team that as we’re talking at the beginning of the Games is positioned to do well. That’s got to be exciting for you, and to be here in the moment…

Farrell: The team that’s been put together is receiving all kinds of superlatives like “could be one of the best ever.” I’m still a sports guy at heart. I’m trying not to get too caught up in reading our own headlines. But we’re in a great position, and what I think is just equally impressive about it is there are 16 athletes, and some are looking forward to great performances, but they’re also some of the best people, most marketable athletes, and faces of the Games as well. So it’s been this perfect storm.

SportsTravel: Talk to me about the Winter House activation you are doing with USA Hockey and US Speedskating. This was in the works before you became CEO but you come from a commercial background in your past roles. How is it working out so far?

Farrell: It’s really cool. First of all, just the collaboration with the three NGBs. To me, it’s a testament to this insatiable appetite for unique experiences when people come to an Olympic Games. A lot of people can travel to an event and a lot of people can buy tickets to an event. But then you can have these unique Instagram moments that you truly feel like you’re behind the ropes. We quickly found how partners really embrace the authenticity of that, how the families, even some of our donors want to be a part of that. There’s just this thirst for unique experiences that create a well-rounded Olympic visit for people.

SportsTravel: You made a decision to rebrand this area from its original name of the Ice House. Walk us through that decision.

Farrell: We had to sit there and think about what was our North Star, and not to be cliche about that, but what was the original intent of the house? It was to create a getaway for families and friends, and that’s what we wanted to stay true to, meaning it was not a consumer brand. You can’t just walk up with a credit card for this type of a space. We wanted to make sure that a name wasn’t a distraction to what the original intent was.

SportsTravel: You had a background in Olympic sports. But what was your familiarity with figure skating specifically before you joined U.S. Figure Skating?

Farrell: We talked about this during the interview process. I was probably like many where, before I ever started, you associate figure skating with so many people in the Olympic world who are just known by their first names: Dorothy (Hamill), Peggy (Fleming), even Brian (Boitano). I’ve been a lifelong Olympic junkie in the first place. I always appreciated the sport when I saw it at the highest level, whether it be a worlds or a U.S. championships or an Olympics. But I still had a lot to learn about the culture and the people and the organization.

SportsTravel: Last question. Have you successfully been able to execute a lutz yet, or not so much?

Farrell: [Laughs] I didn’t see that one coming! No, I’ve had a very cardinal rule in my career, starting in sports information and marketing: You never shoot hoops with the basketball team; You never get in the pool with the swim team. And so, no one’s yet to see me on the ice here, because nothing good will come out of it.