[News] UPD: Calgary City Council approves exploratory bid study for 2026 Olympics

[getbak]

Unless someone else comes forward, that puts it down to us and Sion, Switzerland (and I believe they have a referendum coming up too).

We could really put the IOC's feet to the fire now.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by getbak

Unless someone else comes forward, that puts it down to us and Sion, Switzerland (and I believe they have a referendum coming up too).

We could really put the IOC's feet to the fire now.

With that, could even give IOC inventive to do the same thing they did with the summer games for LA and Paris.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Joborule

With that, could even give IOC inventive to do the same thing they did with the summer games for LA and Paris.

This seems like a good idea. Then the IOC can focus on execution of the new model rather than bids for quite a while.

[browna]

Since IOC is realizing the interest isn’t there for all the dollars and legwork in bid processes, and as Bunk says, focus on the execution rather than the bid, what about a crazy idea of having Calgary (or other nations)hosting two straight winter or summer Olympics?

-Venues would be all top class for 8 years in a city that is ready and eager to support.

-Infrastructure improvements would serve a longer timeframe.

-City would be instant training ground for the next decade or more for athletes from around the world.

-As a destination in general, city would gain international staying power for tourism, and the resultant economic development may see a long term strategy ie companies would want to put their hotels in Calgary, as a result because for the next decade, they are on the radar even more so for two Olympics.

-In general, some facilities and infrastructure , it would just feel as a citizen of the city that you’d get more out of the venues than 2 weeks and then legacy upkeep.

Costs of course for security for each Games are the huge $ changes since 1988 and you can’t get around paying it more or less twice for in so far as manpower hours. However athletes villages and media centeres and all those other support services would be built up originally to a security etc level for the first Olympics, and then reused again for the same purpose 4 years later, so there would be some savings there.

Off the wall idea,and the IOC wants it spread out for sure, but my point is that it would make the Olympics, at least in Calgary, more then just two individual weeks, 4 years apart,with a few years lead up to the first one; it would make Calgary THE winter Olympic city, and all that entails, for the next decade or longer, and the various of economies of scale that hosting it back to back would entail to the city, for the IOC , and for the sports and venues themselves.

[Bigtime]

Innsbruck's referendum on it comes up as "No".

https://gamesbids.com/eng/featured/i...form=hootsuite

46.65% approved
53.35% against

[powderjunkie]

Every 8-12 years might be the best way to keep it fresh and exciting (and spread security costs). Set locations in Asia, Europe and N.A. and cycle through.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Please don't bid, just because I wanna see what happens when literally no one bids. It'd be nice to see those corrupt #######s put in their place.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Please don't bid, just because I wanna see what happens when literally no one bids. It'd be nice to see those corrupt #######s put in their place.

Yeah I’m definitely curious about this too. It’d be interesting to be in a unique place of making them squirm.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Yeah I’m definitely curious about this too. It’d be interesting to be in a unique place of making them squirm.

I'd love to see us put in a bid where we agree to host the games only in exchange for a way bigger cut of IOC money. They will want to avoid nobody bidding, so would likely cave. If we can get enough IOC/TV/sponsorship dollars to pay for everything it makes it a whole different animal.

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by Muta

Except for the people that live in Sunalta, Bankview, Altadore, Scarboro, Killarney, Shaganappi, Kensington, Hillhurst, and downtown. That location is, very much, a 'backyard' to those communities.

...and as someone in one of those communities, I was all for it. A 3km walk home on a nice Fall or Spring day would be great.

[RM14]

I am not sure where this article gets the $960 MM IOC contribution from but... RM Outlook is claiming that the IOC is willing to contribute $960 MM to the 2026 host city bid.

http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/IOC...-host-20171026

[CliffFletcher]

So it looks like the proponents of hosting the Olympics are trying to bury reports that are skeptical of the economic benefits. It's hard to give much credibility to this 'exploratory bid' process when it's clear the deck is stacked from the outset in favour of hosting.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle37023435/

Councillor Druh Farrell, a staunch Olympic critic, said that amounts to burying the reports, which she does not recall ever hearing about.

"The information council was given emphasized the benefits and glossed over the risks. It's difficult to ask to see a report if we don't know it exists," Ms. Farrell said. "I have rarely seen a presentation more predisposed to an outcome."

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

So it looks like the proponents of hosting the Olympics are trying to bury reports that are skeptical of the economic benefits. It's hard to give much credibility to this 'exploratory bid' process when it's clear the deck is stacked from the outset in favour of hosting.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle37023435/

the next step is a non-binding plebiscite.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

So it looks like the proponents of hosting the Olympics are trying to bury reports that are skeptical of the economic benefits. It's hard to give much credibility to this 'exploratory bid' process when it's clear the deck is stacked from the outset in favour of hosting.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle37023435/

That's not cool. The excuse of saying not wanting to bombard council with documents doesn't make any sense, and it's BS saying they don't want to give off too much confidential information to competitions. They didn't make it publicly known because it doesn't help their preconceived opinion of hosting the Olympics.

The article makes the major criticism about the lack of jobs it would actually produce. I think the main purpose of doing the Olympics is regional infrastructure, and a bit of civic pride. If the perks there is justified in relation to costs, I'm in favour.

[powderjunkie]

I'd really like to see an accounting of where the first $5M was spent.

It's not an unreasonable amount of money, but we deserve to know which firms were selected and what their outputs were.

[Muta]

It would be interesting to know which firms. I do know that several firms were selected to conduct studies on the readiness of existing facilities and what would be needed for new facilities (or at least renovated ones). This included not just sports facilities, but also housing and associated amenities. It was definitely work that needed to be done, and it's complete now. However, I only know about the infrastructure component to a possible bid.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

I'd really like to see an accounting of where the first $5M was spent.

It's not an unreasonable amount of money, but we deserve to know which firms were selected and what their outputs were.

IIRC, they only used 3m and returned the 2m back to council.

[MissTeeks]

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

So it looks like the proponents of hosting the Olympics are trying to bury reports that are skeptical of the economic benefits. It's hard to give much credibility to this 'exploratory bid' process when it's clear the deck is stacked from the outset in favour of hosting.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle37023435/

Just like the arena situation, all the best, most meaningful reporting is coming from the Globe and Mail and not from anything local. Wonder why that is. Of course this thing is significantly more likely to be a disaster financially than anything close to beneficial. Unless the IOC is covering security, there's no real reason to bid.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Adding on to that Globe report, how does everyone feel about a Calgary-Edmonton-Whistler Olympics? Should be pretty clear this has financial debacle written all over it if they're looking at spreading this across three cities and two provinces to reduce cost.

Calgary officials want to examine whether sporting venues outside the city could be used to host part of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in an effort to reduce costs associated with the global event, an idea that opens the door for places such as Edmonton and Whistler to be part of the international spectacle.

This is a sharp break from Calgary's previous strategy, when a study group focused on local facilities and argued expenses such as security, travel and accommodations would skyrocket if events spread beyond the city and its neighbouring mountain communities. The sharing proposal will further stoke debate over whether bidding for the Games will translate into economic rewards for Calgary and the rest of the country.

City staff will make their pitch at Monday's council meeting, according to documents tied to the agenda. If council consents, Edmonton's two arenas will almost certainly be explored as possible venues, perhaps for curling or hockey games. The ski-jumping facilities in Whistler, B.C., will also be considered more seriously. But first, Calgary's politicians must agree to give staff another $2-million to continue researching whether Alberta's largest city should bid for the Games. That is on top of the $5-million Calgary has already directed toward the project.

City staff, in the documents related to Monday's meeting, said if council rejects its $2-million request, Calgary should end its Olympic process. Bureaucrats want permission to expand their research beyond the limited mandate that governed the now-defunct study group, known as the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee (CBEC).

Staff wants "to specifically explore venues outside of Calgary … in order to reduce the costs of hosting the 2026" Olympics, the supplemental agenda document says.

The possibility of sharing the Games changes the Olympic calculus. It would give other towns a chance to capture slices of the possible economic benefits, but that may mean Calgary would have to give up some economic and infrastructure goodies that may accompany the Olympics. CBEC believes Canada's GDP could rise by as much as $3.1-billion and an average of 3,000 new jobs a year over nine years could be created if Calgary hosted the Games. CBEC's predictions rely on reports prepared by Deloitte and the Conference Board of Canada.

However, the independent reports Calgary commissioned challenge the theory that the Olympics guarantee prosperity.

Trevor Tombe, an economics professor at the University of Calgary, and Brad Humphreys, an economics professor at West Virginia University, separately analyzed the conclusions in the Deloitte and the Conference Board reports. Prof. Tombe said it is possible GDP could actually slip and that no new jobs may emerge.

He argued the two firms cherry-picked evidence from analysis of past Games to support their projections, all while ignoring information in the same reports that would weaken those assumptions.

Deloitte, for example, leaned on "The Olympic Effect," an article Andrew Rose and Mark Spiegel published in The Economic Journal in 2011.

"Rose and Spiegel (2011), which is cited by the Deloitte analysis as evidence that hosting the games boosts international trade, find no such effect exists for the Winter games," Prof. Tombe wrote in his 14-page report.

Further, economic gains associated with previous Games may not be a result of the Olympics proper. Instead, benefits flow to "otherwise unfamiliar" countries because hosting the Games sends a message to international markets that they are open for business, Prof. Tombe said. "Canada is already a generally open economy and needs no such signal," he said.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...+Article+Links