2016 Olympics - Awarded to Rio de Janeiro

[BB73]

This was just announced by USOC Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth on live TV in Chicago, via a press conference in Washington, D. C.

Competition will be against:

Prague, Rome, Tokyo, Madrid, St. Petersburg, and Rio de Janeiro.

The announcement will be made in Copenhagen in October, 2009.

Chicago has never hosted the Olympics. Los Angeles hosted the Summer Games in 1932 and 1984.

[THEWOOD]

very suprised to see Chicago get the nod

[LightningRod]

Originally Posted by BB73

This was just announced by USOC Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth on live TV in Chicago, via a press conference in Washington, D. C.

Competition will be against:

Prague, Rome, Tokyo, Madrid, St. Petersburg, and Rio de Janeiro.

The announcement will be made in Copenhagen in October, 2009.

Chicago has never hosted the Olympics. Los Angeles hosted the Summer Games in 1932 and 1984.

Mike Conley Sr is going to be a busy man.

When I spoke with Conley Sr. on Wednesday morning, he said "basketball came up" in the meeting, but added that the main focus was on future events connected to track and field. (Conley Sr., an Olympic gold medallist in the triple jump, is a director with USA Track & Field and World Sport Chicago, which is seeking to put together a Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics.)

[fourteenandoh]

Chicago has come up with some pretty "outside the box" ideas to get this far. I remember hearing about one idea of building a disposable stadium for track and field over by the McCormick Center. Its tough to get the summer games in the midwest because of the heat and humidity.

[THEWOOD]

Originally Posted by fourteenandoh

Chicago has come up with some pretty "outside the box" ideas to get this far. I remember hearing about one idea of building a disposable stadium for track and field over by the McCormick Center. Its tough to get the summer games in the midwest because of the heat and humidity.

I am pretty sure that is what the plan is to do, and then sell the scrap material in parts.

[OHSportsFan9]

Don't most Olympic games bomb as far as profits and income?

[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by OHSportsFan9

Don't most Olympic games bomb as far as profits and income?

Some do, some don't.

Atlanta didn't make a profit but LA and SLC did....

[Deety]

Great news.

Get ready, Bill!



I didn't pick the picture based on the guy in the car... promise.

[bkochmc]

I'm very excited about this news! What a great opportunity to display the midwest to the world. If they get the bid from the IOC you can be sure I'll be at the track & field arena in some capacity.

Here's Chicago's bid website:
http://www.chicago2016.org/

Just so size up the competition, here's a list of cities/countries that have their bid into the IOC (bids must be in by 9/15/07):
http://www.gamesbids.com/english/bids/2016.shtml

[bkochmc]

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...al&id=4959922#

The above link has some rendered images of proposed facilities (click the link on the left side). My favorite is image 11:

[BB73]

Originally Posted by Deety

Great news.

Get ready, Bill!



I didn't pick the picture based on the guy in the car... promise.

Those are typical pictures of any given year in Chicago.

[bkochmc]

Originally Posted by OHSportsFan9

Don't most Olympic games bomb as far as profits and income?

Here's a bit of a rundown on who has guaranteed money and an interesting projection for the '16 bid:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ck=1&cset=true

[Patrick] Ryan [Chicago 2016 chairman] also announced the financial guarantee could be increased by $500 million, depending on market conditions at the time, with a policy from a top-rated insurance company he declined to identify. Ryan said he has a written commitment from the company.

The insurance policy would cover any operational shortfalls but not shortfalls related to venue construction.

Together with $500 million in shortfall guarantees from the city and a potential $150 million from the state, the city's bid would have $1.15 billion in guarantees.

Chicago 2016 actually projects a $525 million profit.

[kinch]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeMike80

Some do, some don't.

Atlanta didn't make a profit but LA and SLC did....

I think that's right. They are especially beneficial to places that need that one big extra step economically and with regard to the city's international image. Barcelona is a great example of this.

For American cities, I suppose it is great for recognition, such as with Salt Lake City or Atlanta, but can be hard to turn a profit.

I am not sure what infrastructural needs Chicago has, and really know very little about the place, but the games can often be a boon to that too, and is one of the few ways to get a community behind a massive and expensive rebuilding effort even if needed.

Looking at the list of cities, it looks like this could be a rough year. Some great places are on that list. . .

[RugbyBuck]

They're spending an enormous amount of money on the bid and I don't think they'll get it. My guess would be Prague or Rio.

[bkochmc]

Originally Posted by RugbyBuck

They're spending an enormous amount of money on the bid and I don't think they'll get it. My guess would be Prague or Rio.

Most host cities would have to spend a large amount of money... Beijing is spending over $2 billion just on their six main venues.