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Boston Mayor Says He Is Willing To Drop Olympics Bid If Financial Picture Is Unknown

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh today "vowed not to mortgage the city’s future in order to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Boston," and he is willing to let the USOC "choose another city to serve as its host," according to Arsenault & Ryan of the BOSTON GLOBE. Walsh indicated that the USOC is "pushing for him to sign a host city contract," but said that he will "not sign any such contract until he knows more about the financial picture of the proposed games." Walsh: "I cannot commit to putting the taxpayers at risk." He added if signing the contract is required by the organization, then Boston "is no longer pursuing to host the 2024 Summer Games.” Walsh said, "I refuse to mortgage the future of the city away." He noted that he will "not have any regrets if the city does not host the Olympics" (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 7/27). More Walsh: "This is a commitment that I cannot make without assurances that Boston and its residents will be protected." In Boston, Matt Stout reports the USOC was "scheduled to hear" this morning from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, though he has "repeatedly said he will not shift from his neutral position on hosting the Games until he gets a report from the Brattle Group, an outside firm his office hired to analyze Boston 2024's bid" (BOSTONHERALD.com, 7/27). Today's press conference comes after a weekend report that the USOC was "pressing" Walsh and Baker to "put more of their political capital behind Boston’s struggling bid." A source said that USOC members "want the popular governor to endorse the bid," which could "breathe new life and credibility into the city’s effort." The organization also is "pressuring Walsh, an Olympic backer, to announce that he will sign the host city contract required" by the IOC (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/26). 

RUNNING OUT OF TIME: In California, Scott Reid reports Boston 2024 today faces a "critical potentially decisive conference call" with the USOC's BOD as "time runs out for the USOC to decide whether to stick with" the city or look at other options. Today's call is "most likely the Boston bid committee's last chance to show USOC leadership that it can present a viable bid" to the IOC. National Olympic committees "must present their host city candidates" for the '24 Games to the IOC by Sept. 15. L.A. "would be the likely U.S. candidate" if the USOC drops Boston, although the USOC "would be expected to also gauge the interest and viability" of S.F. and DC. Not bidding for the '24 Games is "also an option." USOC officials yesterday "declined to comment on the Boston situation," but they have repeatedly said that they have not talked to L.A. officials "about a potential back-up bid since Boston was selected in January" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 7/27). IOC and USOC member Anita DeFrantz said, "We need to know how (Boston) is doing and if the people of the city are interested in hosting the games. We need to get a report. I need to know." In Boston, Joe Dwinell noted DeFrantz voiced "doubt about support for the Games" in the city (BOSTON HERALD, 7/26).

COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION
: In Boston, John Powers writes when DeFrantz, fellow IOC and USOC member Angela Ruggiero, USOC Chair Larry Probst and Boston 2024 reps are in Malaysia for the IOC annual session, they will be "informally queried about polling numbers that still are in the low 40s with the application deadline coming up in mid-September." If they "don’t approach break-even by then, the USOC could yank the bid and opt" for '28 when an American city "likely could have the Games for the asking." Public support typically has "been only one of nearly a dozen factors, from venues to transportation to security to the environment, that the IOC evaluation commission considers when it puts together its briefing book for the 100 members." But in the wake of a "rush for the exits over the last two years by a half-dozen" of the original contenders for the '22 Games, polling numbers have "become decidedly more important." What has hampered Boston’s quest is that "no serious public debate about the pros and cons of staging the Games was held before the city was selected as the American contender in January." That silent period "was at the urging of the USOC." It also did not help that the Boston 2024 partnership "wasn’t sufficiently specific about what the taxpayers would and would not be on the hook for or who’d pay for the cost overruns that are routine for every Games." Such information would have been "welcome and wise had that been done months ago," and it is "mandatory now if the USOC and the partnership want to see those numbers inch upward." Releasing the original package on Friday, "admittedly under duress, helped the bid committee’s credibility" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/26).

COME ORIGINAL: In Boston, Levenson & Arsenault wrote Boston organizers in their winning pitch to the USOC in December "strongly downplayed the likelihood of a referendum on the Games and characterized the opposition as a small band of doubters relying on little more than social media." The complete version of Boston 2024’s initial bid was released Friday and "reveals several sections that had been hidden from the public for months, including information about venue costs, fund-raising strategies, and roadblocks the group might face." One of the redacted sections from the initial bid "sought to assure the USOC that it would be exceedingly difficult for critics to launch a ballot campaign to block the bid." Months after making that argument, Boston 2024 "bowed to the mounting pressure for a vote and agreed to propose its own referendum" for the November '16 ballot. At the time of the bid, polls "did indicate that a majority of residents supported the Games." But since then, the tide "has shifted, and most residents now oppose the bid." No Boston Olympics has also "become a prominent voice in the debate." The full bid documents also show that Boston 2024’s original plan contained a $4.7B operating budget that "was short" about $471M, with only $4.2B in revenue accounted for. The committee’s new budget, released in June, identified $4.8B in revenue and "projects a surplus." Some of the changes that Boston 2024 made "were minor, and seemingly done for public relations" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/25). Boston 2024 Chair Steve Pagliuca stressed that the original bid book was "simply a 'proof of concept' that's since been supplanted by a more detailed and revised June proposal." But the AP's Philip Marcelo noted opponents of the bid have "countered that the original bid is still relevant because it provided a basis of comparison and also shows what promises organizers initially made to the USOC" (AP, 7/24).

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