DC officials trying to land the '24 Games have "quietly begun advancing their vision for how and where they would put on the 28 events of the Games, mapping out where new facilities might be needed and which combination of the existing professional sports venues, college arenas, convention centers and concert halls might best entice" the USOC to give the region the U.S. bid, according to Jonathan O'Connell of the WASHINGTON POST. The team behind the effort, led by banker Russ Ramsey and Wizards and Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis, has raised $5M and "begun marketing their bid with a new logo affixed to T-shirts, sunglasses and a Twitter account." Organizers have given "few details about what would be asked of the region in terms of public funding and land." But sources said that organizers "have come up with an increasingly detailed proposal on where they could build new venues and utilize existing ones." O'Connell reported though the site of RFK Stadium "is considered a preferred location to build an Olympic Stadium, the Washington 2024 organizers are considering two other locations as backups: Poplar Point, 110 acres of undeveloped riverfront land along the Anacostia River, and even FedEx Field." The most recent plan "bears some similarities" to DC's '12 Olympics bid, but the strategy of "including locations from Richmond to Baltimore has largely been tossed." Most of the venues being considered this time around "are inside or near the Capital Beltway." A source said, "Our Games are incredibly compact. It’s one of our driving forces: to create one of the most compact Games in Olympic history. I think this can be a really walkable Games" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/23).
BEANTOWN COUNTERS: In Boston, Mark Arsenault noted Boston 2024 organizers are "planning a
low-cost Olympics that builds as few structures as possible and makes wide use of temporary sports venues." Organizers said that the plan "would depend on transportation projects already approved for state funding, as well as the full-throated participation -- and in some cases the money -- of local colleges and universities willing to host key events." Boston’s roughly $4.5B Olympic operating budget "would be funded without taxpayer money." Skeptics have said that Boston’s Olympic dreamers "are fooling themselves," and an L.A.-style, "budget-conscious, privately funded bid cannot win a vote by today’s IOC." But there "are signs that Boston’s interest in the Olympics is coming at an opportune moment, at a time of change for the organization that controls the world’s most prestigious sporting event." Boston Olympic Committee Chair John Fish said of
last week's unveiling of new guidelines for the IOC, "We’re hitting these games almost at the perfect time, because we can build a sustainable, cost-effective Olympic Games" (
BOSTON GLOBE, 11/23). A BOSTON GLOBE editorial stated there are "good arguments for an Olympic bid, ranging from jobs to a tourism boost." But there also are "good reasons to balk" at the estimated $4.5B price tag and "to wonder if the Olympics would distract from other pressing civic needs." Still, there "are excellent reasons to make Bostonians feel involved and engaged, regardless of their views" (
BOSTON GLOBE, 11/23).
