Massachusetts voters "are narrowly split on a Boston-area bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, though a majority across the state and within Boston would back a bid that prohibits public spending on sports venues and the running of the Games," according to a Sage Systems poll cited by Mark Arsenault of the BOSTON GLOBE. The survey of 804 registered voters shows that statewide, 46.6% of voters "support the bid," while 49.6% oppose it. Overall, the results "could signal a modest rebound for the bid, which saw public support diminish during the winter." Opposition to an Olympic bid "is more intense within Boston," where a majority of voters -- 54% -- either “strongly oppose” or “somewhat oppose” the bid, while 43% back it. The poll suggests that voters across the state "would be far more amenable to hosting the Olympics if the bid goes forward with a mandate that no Massachusetts tax money be spent to build venues or to run the Games." Under those conditions, 59% of voters statewide and 57% within Boston indicated that they "would support the Olympic bid, which has been proposed" by Boston '24. Results also suggest that there is a "generational divide over the idea of Boston hosting the global event." Younger voters "are generally more enthusiastic" about hosting the event. Voters age 18-34 "are the most likely to support the bid, while voters in the 35-49 age range are closely split." Voters above age 50 "were more likely to say they oppose the effort to bring the Olympics to the region." Boston-based Sage Systems' poll was conducted April 22-23 with live telephone interviews using both landlines and cellphones; the margin of error for the statewide results is 3.46% (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/25).
TANGLED WEB: In Boston, Frank Phillips reported Boston '24 execs, "who just weeks ago were promising robust transparency, are refusing to provide the financial details of their recent hiring of a high-powered international media relations conglomerate," Weber Shandwick. Instead, Boston '24 in a statement said that it "is withholding details of its contract with the public relations firm ... until it develops a 'protocol' for disclosing expenditures." Sources said that the plan "is to make public quarterly reports that reveal only an aggregate total for media relations, allowing the fees paid to Weber Shandwick and other firms to be kept under wraps." Boston '24 Chair John Fish, who "has become a target of Olympic critics, has also put Weber Shandwick on his construction company’s payroll to help him in his presentations for the campaign to host the Summer Games" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/26).
