2026 Olympics- Calgary votes no- 56%

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

but that wasn't money they were giving. it was in the form of "goods and services" that could mean a whole lot of things, many of them not good for Calgary.

Like what?

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Like what?

for the IOC entourage, who pays for that?
I'm sure they count having themselves at the games as offering their Olympic management prestige, and counts it as a service. can't be cheap to host the IOC people.
seems like too easy of a category offering "goods and services" instead of cash. too much room to game the system for themselves, and they IOC are experts at it.

[GirlySports]

Blair and Brunt break it down

https://www.sportsnet.ca/podcasts/th...e-ring-circus/

[GGG]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

for the IOC entourage, who pays for that?
I'm sure they count having themselves at the games as offering their Olympic management prestige, and counts it as a service. can't be cheap to host the IOC people.
seems like too easy of a category offering "goods and services" instead of cash. too much room to game the system for themselves, and they IOC are experts at it.

The IOC offered 900 million USD in goods and services. The Calgary bid committee only had 800 million Canadian as the funding from the IOC. So a big chunk of that money was not useful.

[Lubicon]

Resurrecting this thread. I think this is a bit of a bluff and one of the levels of government will come through with the money. But this is what is at risk when we voted no. And it's not just the track that would close. Athletes and coaches live and train here - they might move to wherever the new training centre moves to (assuming it goes to). And there are dieticains, physio, kineseology, trainers etc. that also all live here. All the support staff that goes with having your national team train in your city. We risk losing all of that and will lose it unless the facilities are maintained.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...tion-1.5008103

[rotten42]

I'm fine with that because that still costs us less than that bid would have.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Resurrecting this thread. I think this is a bit of a bluff and one of the levels of government will come through with the money. But this is what is at risk when we voted no. And it's not just the track that would close. Athletes and coaches live and train here - they might move to wherever the new training centre moves to (assuming it goes to). And there are dieticains, physio, kineseology, trainers etc. that also all live here. All the support staff that goes with having your national team train in your city. We risk losing all of that and will lose it unless the facilities are maintained.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...tion-1.5008103

making their play this way was a mistake.
I can't see the mayor or any level of government appreciating hearing about it via the media.

they got 17 million and all of a sudden they want 8 million more (plus operating costs)

Dale Oviatt, a spokesperson for WinSport, said the costs of the renovation increased, but the organization also determined that it needed to think about future costs. That could cost more than the additional $8 million needed.

nice of them to take so long to come to the conclusion they have to think of future costs.
guess they thought the bid was a no brainer and they could make it rain.

[habernac]

Winsport has done a poor job carrying on the Olympic legacy. When COP was run by CODA, their mission was to support winter Olympic sports in perpetuity. Ski jumping is pretty much toast and if this doesn't get more funding, bobsled, luge and skeleton are toast.

[Tyler]

Still think this was a bit of a missed opportunity for Calgary, but it will definitely be hilarious if we somehow find funding for a BMO expansion, new arena and fieldhouse in the next budget cycle WITHOUT the Olympics.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by habernac

Winsport has done a poor job carrying on the Olympic legacy. When COP was run by CODA, their mission was to support winter Olympic sports in perpetuity. Ski jumping is pretty much toast and if this doesn't get more funding, bobsled, luge and skeleton are toast.

Winsport is (was) CODA, they changed their name several years ago if I am reading this correctly.

https://www.winsport.ca/aboutwinspor...ort_n58pqn.cfm

[sleepingmoose]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Winsport is (was) CODA, they changed their name several years ago if I am reading this correctly.

https://www.winsport.ca/aboutwinspor...ort_n58pqn.cfm

Yeah, nothing's changed at all. Except the name they call themselves. I worked there for many years, and still know people there.

[powderjunkie]

A somewhat timely bump, that was prompted by reading an article with a weak subheadline (Rio is the only example they could cite of the housing thing not working out).

https://www.dwell.com/article/paris-...t-newtab-en-us


But I think its a good time to revive this horse and beat him to death again. In an alternate timeline, we could be about 19 months away from hosting the games. How does that feel through today's lens?

It could have been a huge boost to help our housing crisis. Though at the same time the whole spend would probably be even more controversial now. And in the short term perhaps it would direct resources away from other builds?

Would the arena deal have played out differently? The city probably would have bent more at the friction point where the deal fell apart, though I think we'd have to go back a step further to when CSEC bought CMLC off the deal, as that may have played out differently. But I doubt we'd end up with a deal as absolutely pathetic as the one we have now.

Would Covid have changed any other plans?

[Ozy_Flame]

Still think there would have been federal money for an arena. Host the Olympics and let the rest of Canada pay for it. Oh well.

[Leondros]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Still think there would have been federal money for an arena. Host the Olympics and let the rest of Canada pay for it. Oh well.

As someone who was a part of the bid committee and one of the finance people putting the bid together as well as on the negotiation team I can tell you there was federal money pegged for infrastructure, but not directly to the arena itself. However, and more importantly, there was money coming directly from the IOC in the form of grants and entitlement to revenues. That would have helped fund capital projects.

It is important to note however in the initial bid there was never an arena planned. Capital projects were revitalizing existing infrastructure - the Oval, McMahon, Winsport, Nakiska, Canmore Nordic and the Saddledome. Underpinning the whole bid was the use of existing infrastructure - new projects would have gone against this mandate from the city.

[OutOfTheCube]

I'd rather just have the new arena that we're getting then the whole gong show. People are caring less and less about the Olympics these days anyways, Covid killed it.

[rubecube]

I'd rather not give the IOC any money. An absolutely despicable organization.

[trackercowe]

There are too many international conflicts and scandals these days to be fully invested in the Olympics. Let alone the constant political turmoil in so many countries.

I agree that it's difficult to fully care about the Olympics these days. It's still enjoyable, and some of the events are worth tuning in, yet it's mostly background noise during the dog days of Summer.

Personally the NHL, NFL, and recently Euro catch more of my attention.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I'd rather not give the IOC any money. An absolutely despicable organization.

Agreed, all things IOC should be burnt to the ground. What a disgusting organization.

[bluejays]

There is still some level of magic to the Olympics, but it’s really centred around the main sports. Does anyone care about winning a gold in archery?

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I'd rather not give the IOC any money. An absolutely despicable organization.

agreed, just give the money to the hookers and coke dealers directly and cut out the fat creepy balding middle men