Menu
Olympics

USOC Praises Boston 2024's Progress, But Notes Polling Numbers Are Concerning

The USOC is sticking with Boston 2024 for now, but USOC Chair Larry Probst yesterday said the city’s bid to host the '24 Games must show dramatic gains in public approval. Probst and USOC CEO Scott Blackmun praised the Boston group’s progress, putting to rest speculation they might abandon the city after a BOD meeting yesterday. But the tepid local support in repeated polling has emerged as a major concern. "Rather than specific numbers, we obviously want to see a positive trend, and the sooner the better,” Probst said. "The numbers now are in the low- to mid-40s. Obviously we’d like to see it get over 50 percent relatively soon, and ultimately get into the mid-60s range certainly before the vote of the IOC in 2017." Approval has fallen well short of a majority in nearly every opinion poll since the USOC chose Boston over L.A., DC and S.F. in January. A referendum is tentatively planned for November '16, and local support is seen as crucial to winning the eventual IOC vote. Sochi, Toyko and London all eventually won over skeptical residents before winning the games, said Mass Inc Polling Group President Steve Koczela. But many Boston 2024 critics appear to be opposed to the Olympics on principle. “The reasons that people are opposed to the Olympics this year are not reasons that are easy to overcome necessarily," Koczela said. “There are concerns about public funding, concerns about distracting public officials from what they would otherwise be focused on. Those are real concerns. It certainly is a challenge but it wouldn’t be unprecedented.” Probst did not specify which group of residents he was referring to with his polling expectations. Support for the games has been higher statewide in Massachusetts than in Boston.

SOUND VENUE PLAN, BUDGET: Speaking to the content of the bid, Blackmun said Boston’s venue plan and budget appear sound. The USOC believes in the vision of Boston’s bid, he added. But the USOC will be watching closely to see if the latest revisions move the dial with the public, and is not currently discussing the possibility of simply not bidding at all for the '24 Games. "We certainly intend to stay in touch with them, and stay in touch with them over the next weeks and months so we understand how the community is reacting to the 2.0 version of the plan," Blackmun said. The USOC declined to share its internal polling results. Boston officials and the USOC will “circle back” in mid-July for another update, Probst said (Ben Fischer, Staff Writer).

COMPACT SPORT: Blackmun said the new plan "very much still resonates with the vision that persuaded our board to pick Boston in January." He added, "It’s very compact. It relies on our universities and young people. The budget looks very, very sound to us." In Boston, Springer & Arsenault in a front-page piece note opponents believe Bid 2.0 "does not fully answer questions about how taxpayers would be protected from potential cost overruns." Blackmun said that USOC BOD members "provided feedback to Boston 2024 during their private briefing, 'mostly around the whole idea of public support.'" Springer & Arsenault note Olympic officials during the two-hour meeting with Boston 2024 "questioned the bid committee on whether the Games would still be compact after version 2.0 proposed venues across the state." In response, Boston 2024 Chair Steve Pagliuca said that the bid committee "shared several statistics" indicating that a Boston Olympics "would still be one of the most compact Games and rank in the top 2 in terms of the distances between the venues." Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, a "backer of the Olympic bid, quietly flew from the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado to dine with USOC board members on Monday night, part of a push to bolster confidence" in the bid (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/1).

CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME? In L.A., David Wharton notes Blackmun "sought to quell speculation about pulling the plug on Boston." He said that his organization "has not talked" to the other finalists -- L.A., S.F. or DC -- about "stepping in as a replacement." Blackmun: "We're focused exclusively on Boston. ... Boston is our partner" (L.A. TIMES, 7/1). However, longtime L.A. attorney and political strategist Darry Sragow said that he "came away from a Monday conversation with 'someone involved in the effort to get the Olympics in L.A.' thinking it’s still a possibility." Sragow: "He indicated that there are plenty of people who would be happy to see that happen and would be prepared to step up to the plate." Sragow added, "There's a lot of hope in L.A. that we’ll wind up replacing Boston" (BOSTON HERALD, 7/1).

CHARLIE HUSTLE: In Boston, O'Sullivan & Ryan in a front-page piece note Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker yesterday "raised the prospect of scheduling a statewide referendum on Boston’s Olympics proposal in early 2016, rather than during the November presidential election, a calendar shift that could dramatically reshape the politics of the vote by targeting a smaller electorate." Pulling the topic "out of the maelstrom of a presidential campaign could prevent the already emotional issue from exploding into a national debate in the general election." But an earlier vote would also "shorten the window for pro-Olympics forces to sway voters on an issue that has repeatedly tested as unpopular in public opinion polls" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/1).

TRENDING UPWARD: A BOSTON GLOBE editorial states the revised 2.0 plan "marks a step in the right direction." The document "lays out, in clearer detail than before, a strategy for paying for several key venues and specifies some of the long-term benefits the city can expect." The organizers "deserve credit for improving the plan, and should continue to develop the proposal in the same spirit." The biggest "shortcoming of 'Bid 2.0' is that it still leaves unanswered questions about other venues and their financing." The organizers' job "won’t be complete until they can sketch out a complete vision for the placement, and eventual legacy, of the whole Games" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/1). The GLOBE's Shirley Leung writes Pagliuca has "delivered a plan we should have gotten in January." Leung: "Does Boston 2024 come even close to making us feel better about the Olympics? It’s a start, and by my count, a lot will ride on the insurance the group buys" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/1).

CUT YOUR LOSSES: In Chicago, Philip Hersh writes by "announcing Monday a revised but still grossly incomplete bid plan," organizers "essentially forced the USOC to let Boston 2024 stagger onward." Quashing the Boston bid now "would look like a rush to judgment and a slap in the face at the bid leaders." What other city in the future "might like to work with a USOC leadership that seemingly rejected out-of-hand a good-faith effort at getting an Olympic bid act together?" The problem is, this act "has to get the hook" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/1). In Boston, Howie Carr writes Baker should "do the whole state a favor and drive a stake through the black heart of Boston 2024 once and for all." Carr: "Nobody wants to be a party-pooper, the snake at the garden party. But dammit, somebody in authority has to put his foot down here" (BOSTON HERALD, 7/1).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2015/07/01/Olympics/USOC.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2015/07/01/Olympics/USOC.aspx

CLOSE