2034 sight

[Fred not Lynn]

I know we’re barely talking about LA 2028 yet, but Salt Lake City has been pretty much anointed as host for the 2034 Olympic Winter Games - pending negotiation of a formal agreement with IOC (which will get done).

It used to be that the world’s cities groveled to the IOC, now the IOC is the groveler…

I expect this could impact both NHL and MLB expansion/relocation - and maybe result in a new or upgraded arena for the Utah Jazz, too.

IOC names Salt Lake City preferred host of 2034 Winter Olympics

 

[trekfan55]

It takes a monstrous amount of money to host the Olympics. Plus few cities have use for the facilities after the events.

So yeah, the IOC must now ask for sites and less and less cities/countries will want the "honor".

 

[Fred not Lynn]

It takes a monstrous amount of money to host the Olympics. Plus few cities have use for the facilities after the events.

So yeah, the IOC must now ask for sites and less and less cities/countries will want the "honor".

IOC has at least somewhat pulled back some of their insanely arrogant expectations, thankfully. Not out of a newfound sense of humility , of course, but out of a realization that no one wants to host Games on their previously less than host-friendly terms. I haven’t compiled a comprehensive list and done the math, but after at least a dozen tries, IOC’s batting average on host city referenda falls well below the Mendoza Line. Something had to change…

Salt Lake, of course, is ideally set up to host using existing facilities, so that’s a good thing.

An unfortunate thing is the general perception that facilities for some of the lower profile sports are inherently doomed to be perpetual white elephants until they crumble and are demolished.

The problem is that OLYMPIC versions of these facilities don’t make much sense. I took an ice rink feasibility course many years ago, and the first principle they taught was, “Don’t design your church for Easter Sunday”, which of course is EXACTLY what Olympic planners do…and not because the requirements of the sports or the athletes, but for TV, live audience, and mostly because, “OLYMPICS!”

Community oriented versions of a long track ovals, ski jumps, velodromes and more, successfully (unsexily) operate usually as cost-recovery based non-profits around the world, including in North America. It’s the largesse of the Olympic versions and “crumbling infrastructure” porn (from Athens, Beijing, Sarajevo and Rio in particular, but there’s more I’m sure) that feeds the perception that facilities for these sports just don’t work.

 

[EvaRonan]

IOC has at least somewhat pulled back some of their insanely arrogant expectations, thankfully. Not out of a newfound sense of humility , of course, but out of a realization that no one wants to host Games on their previously less than host-friendly terms. I haven’t compiled a comprehensive list and done the math, but after at least a dozen tries, IOC’s batting average on host city referenda falls well below the Mendoza Line. Something had to change…

Salt Lake, of course, is ideally set up to host using existing facilities, so that’s a good thing.

An unfortunate thing is the general perception that facilities for some of the lower profile sports are inherently doomed to be perpetual white elephants until they crumble and are demolished.

The problem is that OLYMPIC versions of these facilities don’t make much sense. I took an ice rink feasibility course many years ago, and the first principle they taught was, “Don’t design your church for Easter Sunday”, which of course is EXACTLY what Olympic planners do…and not because the requirements of the sports or the athletes, but for TV, live audience, and mostly because, “OLYMPICS!”

Community oriented versions of a long track ovals, ski jumps, velodromes and more, successfully (unsexily) operate usually as cost-recovery based non-profits around the world, including in North America. It’s the largesse of the Olympic versions and “crumbling infrastructure” porn (from Athens, Beijing, Sarajevo and Rio in particular, but there’s more I’m sure) that feeds the perception that facilities for these sports just don’t work.

Wow, I didn't know about it.