Launch Pad: NYC2012 Report Says Hosting Games Equals $12B

NYC2012 Launches Bid Campaign; Claims 135,000 Jobs Would Be Created

NYC2012 on Friday formally launched its bid campaign for the 2012 Olympic Games, and N.Y. Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff said that hosting the games "would create 135,000 jobs and pump $12[B] into the local economy," according to Frankie Edozien of the N.Y. POST, who noted NYC2012's plan detailed $1.8B "that would arrive instantly." Ticket sales are estimated to bring in $813M, local and national sponsors would add another $687M, and licensing/merchandising will bring in about $95M. The companion Paralympic games would bring in $69M and "miscellaneous transactions would bring in another" $170M. While NYC2012 estimates that it will spend $22.5M on its bid, Doctoroff said TV rights "will probably end up generating to the host city in excess of $1[B]" (N.Y. POST, 1/17). In New Jersey, John Brennan reported that Doctoroff indicated that a Brooklyn arena — which is part of Bruce Ratner's bid for the Nets — "would bounce Summer Olympics basketball out of Continental Arena if New York is chosen as host city." Doctoroff: "It's pretty logical to assume that if it were to happen, the arena there would be an important component of our [Olympic] plan." Doctoroff added "more emphatically than ever" that the Jets "will move to a new stadium on Manhattan's West Side." Doctoroff: "We plan to go ahead with that project whether we win the Olympics or not. By July 2005 [when the IOC chooses the host city], we expect that shovels already will have been in the ground." But New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority President George Zoffinger said, "I hope that New York doesn't become too greedy in terms of what they get, because I think constantly changing venues might hurt our chances with the [IOC]" (Bergen RECORD, 1/17). Doctoroff added that an official announcement between the Jets and city and state officials "is imminent." In N.Y., Michael Saul noted that NYC2012's report included a letter from President Bush that "pledges the federal government's strong support for the city's bid" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/17).