U.S. cities interested in bidding for the 2012 Summer Games must deliver their bid proposals to the USOC before Friday's deadline, and USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand writes if Toronto wins the '08 Games, "it seems highly unlikely the 2012 Games would return to North America. And if [Toronto's] a near miss for 2008, it might become the North American favorite for 2012" (USA TODAY, 12/14). THE SUITORS: In Tampa, Mick Elliott reports that FL 2012 President Ed Turanchik and a "small Florida 2012 traveling party" boarded the private jet of bid committee Chair John Sykes yesterday to deliver the city's 1,000-page bid to the USOC before Friday's deadline. Turanchik: "I've looked at different bids coming in. We have 11 million tickets to sell. I can't believe any of our competitors will top that" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 12/14)....In Ft. Worth, Mary McKee writes that Dallas 2012 bid plans to use 38 venues across the Metroplex, including sites in Ft. Worth, Northeast Tarrant County and Arlington, "where the idea of bidding for the Olympics originated." Dallas 2012 President Richard Greene said that Dallas 2012 "wants to use a consortium of insurance companies and banks to privately underwrite the bid" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 12/14)....In Houston, Eric Berger writes that the Houston 2012 group will "have a relatively small construction budget because most of the expensive facilities," such as Reliant Stadium, would already be built. Originally, Houston 2012 planners said that expenses for the city's bidding process were projected at $3M through '02, but "expenses have ballooned" to $6.5M so far (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/14)....In CO, Lynn Zinser wrote that the "most notable bid rolling into the USOC this week is the one coming from" L.A. Because "so many of the other cities would need major building projects and have yet to show they can finance them, L.A. has by far the strongest bid" (CO Springs GAZETTE, 12/10)....Cincinnati 2012 bid exec Nick Vehr estimates the Games in Cincinnati would cost nearly $2.6B, including $311M budgeted into a contingency fund. However, Vehr said that he "expects the Olympics to generate slightly more than" $2.7B (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 12/14)....Baltimore-Washington Regional 2012 Coalition CEO Dan Knise said his group is "feeling pretty good about" the area's bid for the 2012 Games. Knise: "We've got a good shot" (WASHINGTON POST, 12/14)....In S.F., Zoellner & Crumpacker write that the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee's (BASOC) 600-page proposal for the area to host the 2012 Games lists S.F. as its legal host city but "strings 33 Olympic venues in a long necklace from Sacramento to Monterey, making extensive use of Northern California's existing sports arenas and natural landscape features." But a "weak spot" in the BASOC bid is in the "commitment of corporate dollars," as no "significant contributions" have been made to the effort. BASOC Exec Dir Anne Cribbs: "In comparison to other cities, we haven't raised as many dollars" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 12/14).
