United States Olympic Committee officials have struck a revenue-sharing deal which should pave the way for America to bid for future Games.
The agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is reportedly due to start from 2020 and run for 20 years, ends a dispute between the two bodies over television and marketing revenues.
US Olympic leaders had said they would not bid for any Olympic Games until the matter became resolved.
IOC president Jacques Rogge told a press conference in Quebec: "This is a very happy moment for the International Olympic Committee and the USOC.
"This agreement will definitely strengthen both sides. The IOC will be in a position to better sanction the USOC, who will enhance its possibilities in having a leading role of sport in the world.
"This has been quite a long process. We started negotiating in May 2005.
"The beginning was a bit difficult but then it accelerated and we came to this very good conclusion and that makes me very, very happy."
United States Olympic Committee president Larry Probst echoed Rogge's sentiments but added it was too soon for the body to discuss bidding for future Games.
"I think it's premature to talk about our strategy as we've just signed this strategy 30 minutes ago," he said.
"But we hope this has removed a roadblock from a successful bid from the United States.
"We have a board meeting scheduled in June and I'm sure that will be a significant topic of conversation and we'll discuss our strategy there and probably begin to make some decisions about our potential bids going forward."
The United States last staged a summer Olympics in 1996, when Atlanta was the host city, and has not held a Winter Olympics since 2002 at Salt Lake City.
