Former CEO of EA Sports to chair USOC board

Also on Probst's to-do list will be to start the USOC Network, a long-planned project that many thought would get off the ground before the Beijing Olympics but didn't.

The USOC has secured rights to televise events from more than half the individual sports on the Olympic program, but the strategy of bringing them to air has been slow to develop.

Probst has big shoes to fill. Ueberroth is considered an icon on the Olympic scene, widely credited with making the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles a success and asked to return to the movement in June 2004 to help the USOC implement its restructuring and buoy its sagging reputation abroad.

The board drafted new rules to keep Ueberroth on through the IOC selection process, not wanting to lose his influence at such a critical moment.

It figures he'll remain the most recognizable face of the USOC administration through next year, at least. Probst, not as well known to the public and with no background in the Olympic movement, was given a four-year term and can stay on for two years after that, much the way Ueberroth is this year.

The goal is to establish more continuity within a federation that was often derided for changing leadership too often.

Though it's a volunteer position, it is hardly a part-time job.

"This position, I think, is exactly right for me," Probst said. "I've got plenty of time to devote to this. We've talked about the time commitment and I'm very comfortable with the amount of time it's going to take."