[News] Updated cost for Calgary to host the 2026 Olympic to be $5.23 billion.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

To be fair in the grand scheme of things professional sports are a huge waste of money. Considering the 500 million that would simply buy a buildimg for millionaires to play sports or millionaire singers to play in that money could be better spent on transit, schools , affordable housing and lowering medical clinic costs......

That being said from someone who is very pro sports but to say it is embarrassing for a city to not want to shell out for non essentials is embarrassing. Its not the end of the world if a city didnt have pro sports.

To be fair it's not pro sports that's broken its a market regulation problem in North America. With about $30 million / year in mortgage payments you could finance a $500M building for 25 years.

The waste of money doesn't seem to be a revenue problem for these teams, its payroll problem. If the Salary cap was at $50M instead of the high 70s and every team was required to allocate a minimum of $25M annually to building costs or savings for building replacement, this would be a non-existent problem, and it would not water down the sports a drop.

The problem of course is that you need about 200 sports teams across a half dozen leagues too collude on this to change the culture of pro sports in North America.

Currently the market incentive is to spend, spend, spend on players and promotions, until you have a facilities problem. Then hold a gun to the head of people who are not in a position to fully understand the cost implications of the buildings, but are emotionally involved and have the power to hire/fire those who can bail out the team.

[GordonBlue]

seems the new normal is the IOC and countries finally embracing an "affordable" Olympics.
I'm already past that and at the point where I don't think the Olympics are needed at all. what a waste of untold billions of dollars.

even on this board. 99% of the talk about supporting the Olympics is about what the city can get from other peoples money. what's in it for calgary. not many people care about the athletics at all. just what gets built and having a huge party in town.

[Scroopy Noopers]

The Olympics are as much a celebration of sport as they are a competition. This isn’t a new concept.

[getbak]

Another one bites the dust...

https://twitter.com/user/status/1040223380648222722


That leaves 4 still in the hunt: Calgary, Stockholm, Erzurum, and Somewhere in Italy. The IOC is set to name its short-list in early October.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

The Olympics are as much a celebration of sport as they are a competition. This isn’t a new concept.

and it's a waste of billions of dollars to have that celebration just for some jingoistic flag waving.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

and it's a waste of billions of dollars to have that celebration just for some jingoistic flag waving.

I mostly agree.

I just keep seeing “people just want the party”. Yeah, of course. That’s what the whole thing is.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

I mostly agree.

I just keep seeing “people just want the party”. Yeah, of course. That’s what the whole thing is.

It's a short-sighted view, IMO. With upgraded facilities, increased tourism, private sector collateral benefit (e.g. retail, restaurants), and a reputation boost (Calgary's Olympics were among the most successful), it's not just a two-week party. But it has to be done right.

You don't put together a multi-million dollar Olympic Bid and get Mary Moran to head it because it's a "two week party". That is just flat-out reactionary NIMBYism.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

It's a short-sighted view, IMO. With upgraded facilities, increased tourism, private sector collateral benefit (e.g. retail, restaurants), and a reputation boost (Calgary's Olympics were among the most successful), it's not just a two-week party. But it has to be done right.

You don't put together a multi-million dollar Olympic Bid and get Mary Moran to head it because it's a "two week party". That is just flat-out reactionary NIMBYism.

Fine. It’s a party with benefits.

I’m not arguing the infrastructure benefits, which the city desperately needs. And of course that’s the key benefit to hosting the party. Where I’m undecided is whether or not this is the best way to accomplish that. I’m pretty much right on the fence for this whole thing. I also see nothing NIMBY about my comment.

[Senator Clay Davis]

"Reputation boost" = literal horse####. But since it's legitimately impossible to prove (or disprove in this case), that's why things like that are touted, because true economic benefits don't really exist.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

"Reputation boost" = literal horse####. But since it's legitimately impossible to prove (or disprove in this case), that's why things like that are touted, because true economic benefits don't really exist.

Think what you want, but people don't actively seek out Calgary as a destination without being told about it first. Calgary is and always has been a "here we are! Look at us!" type of city. And that's what we got with the Olympics.

When I was travelling in Australasia when I was younger, when people asked me where I was from and I said Calgary, anyone who heard of it (maybe about half) associated it with the '88 Olympics (and some Cool Runnings references, which is also about the Olympics). There is literally nothing else that makes us significant on the map to the average foreigner.

[DiracSpike]

Yeah but for 10% of what will almost certainly be more than a 1B city contribution we could go on a world wide marketing blitz advertising Calgary and Banff.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Think what you want, but people don't actively seek out Calgary as a destination without being told about it first. Calgary is and always has been a "here we are! Look at us!" type of city. And that's what we got with the Olympics.

When I was travelling in Australasia when I was younger, when people asked me where I was from and I said Calgary, anyone who heard of it (maybe about half) associated it with the '88 Olympics (and some Cool Runnings references, which is also about the Olympics). There is literally nothing else that makes us significant on the map to the average foreigner.

People actively seek out Calgary as a destination primarily as a gateway to Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper. That's not changing by hosting the Olympics. And since this is the Winter Olympics, where roughly 80% of the world doesn't participate or care, it's an even bigger deceptive seller. And as I mentioned, how do you measure this? Anecdotal evidence? This is a claim that cannot be backed up at all other than personal opinion. Personal opinion takes sadly make up the majority of the sell for hosting the Olympics.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

People actively seek out Calgary as a destination primarily as a gateway to Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper. That's not changing by hosting the Olympics. And since this is the Winter Olympics, where roughly 80% of the world doesn't participate or care, it's an even bigger deceptive seller. And as I mentioned, how do you measure this? Anecdotal evidence? This is a claim that cannot be backed up at all other than personal opinion. Personal opinion takes sadly make up the majority of the sell for hosting the Olympics.

It would be foolhardy to think that the success of Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper isn't at least partly due to the winter sports culture Calgary fomented with the '88 Olympics.

[RM14]

C.O.P. has organically come a long way since the last Olympics. The new Moguls course, super half pipe, and upgraded sled track are all great. I hope they could fit the slope-style course in there as well.

With the Trinity Hills development, I wonder if they had major winter sport event in mind with the overall design. The "Paskapoo" cluster would be impressive. I also wonder if this could set-up the city has a major host for other Winter sport organizations like the X-Games or other.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

It would be foolhardy to think that the success of Banff/Lake Louise/Jasper isn't at least partly due to the winter sports culture Calgary fomented with the '88 Olympics.

No I'm pretty sure that even without the Olympics people would have wanted to come to one of the most naturally beautiful places in the world. But even if that's true, that relates to 1988 and not now. If someone doesn't know about Banff, they likely are never going to come anyway. It's not like an audience for the Winter Olympics isn't going to be totally aware of Banff's existence.

[RM14]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

No I'm pretty sure that even without the Olympics people would have wanted to come to one of the most naturally beautiful places in the world. But even if that's true, that relates to 1988 and not now. If someone doesn't know about Banff, they likely are never going to come anyway. It's not like an audience for the Winter Olympics isn't going to be totally aware of Banff's existence.

Ask any local from Canmore how the 1988 Olympics affected the town.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

No I'm pretty sure that even without the Olympics people would have wanted to come to one of the most naturally beautiful places in the world. But even if that's true, that relates to 1988 and not now. If someone doesn't know about Banff, they likely are never going to come anyway. It's not like an audience for the Winter Olympics isn't going to be totally aware of Banff's existence.

Your opinion against mine then. I believe you need to advertise for these kinds of places; people don't just naturally flow to them like a Wonder of the World - which is why games like '88 Olympics, the movies that were born from it, (and the resulting reputation as a world-class winter sports facility) are so critical to their success.

To contextualize that Calgary didn't make it into pop-culture status because of Olympics and the resulting tourism and international reputation from it would be incorrect.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Think what you want, but people don't actively seek out Calgary as a destination without being told about it first. Calgary is and always has been a "here we are! Look at us!" type of city. And that's what we got with the Olympics.

When I was travelling in Australasia when I was younger, when people asked me where I was from and I said Calgary, anyone who heard of it (maybe about half) associated it with the '88 Olympics (and some Cool Runnings references, which is also about the Olympics). There is literally nothing else that makes us significant on the map to the average foreigner.

I've traveled, worked and lived abroad quite extensively and more often than not, people from Europe to South America, Australia and Asia all know exactly where Calgary is and what is about, so I think what you're saying is misleading. Tourism relating to Banff/Jasper, Skiing, hiking, fishing, camping, oil production and the Stampede consistently come up no matter where I am. Naturally a few rubes bring up cool runnings and the olympics but that time has passed long ago for the most part.

Calgary isn't and likely never will be a major international city, but it certainly stands on its own globally compared to many places you'll go with the diversity of activities and natural sites at its doorstep. Another olympics isn't going to change that one bit.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

I've traveled, worked and lived abroad quite extensively and more often than not, people from Europe to South America, Australia and Asia all know exactly where Calgary is and what is about, so I think what you're saying is misleading. Tourism relating to Banff/Jasper, Skiing, hiking, fishing, camping, oil production and the Stampede consistently come up no matter where I am. Naturally a few rubes bring up cool runnings and the olympics but that time has passed long ago for the most part.

What kind of people are you meeting? Because oil and gas executives would probably know about Calgary more than the average person. And I've been to all the places you've just mentioned too.

Most backpackers, locals or people interseted in my accent only knew about Calgary through the Olympics, Cool Runnings, or Eddie the Eagle. And that's IF Calgary comes up in conversation.

Can't say if they knew about Banff/Jasper or not, but I never brought it up, and the fact no one I ever talked to has ever either shows me that it's just not as popular as some people think it is - despite how great of a place they really are.

Hardly anyone I talked to abroad knew about the Stampede. It's almost a non-existent event to anyone outside Canada and the US.

[RM14]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

I've traveled, worked and lived abroad quite extensively and more often than not, people from Europe to South America, Australia and Asia all know exactly where Calgary is and what is about, so I think what you're saying is misleading. Tourism relating to Banff/Jasper, Skiing, hiking, fishing, camping, oil production and the Stampede consistently come up no matter where I am. Naturally a few rubes bring up cool runnings and the olympics but that time has passed long ago for the most part.

Calgary isn't and likely never will be a major international city, but it certainly stands on its own globally compared to many places you'll go with the diversity of activities and natural sites at its doorstep. Another olympics isn't going to change that one bit.

Don't forget Eddie the Eagle..

I have first hand example of Calgary being remembered as an Olympic city. I worked in Connecticut for a few months. I introduced myself and mentioned I was from Clagary. One of the first comments I got was "Oh Calgary! I remember the figure skating in 1988.."

Another was "who's that team..... The Stampeders...???"

My favorite was, "Calgary... is that close to Montreal?? I like Montreal.."