Local support for Boston’s bid to host the ’24 Games has not budged since organizers released a revised bid in late June, according to a new poll published today by WBUR-FM and MassINC Polling Group. City of Boston residents oppose the bid 48-44%, with greater Boston residents 53-40% against and Massachusetts residents against it 50-42%. Those numbers are roughly the same as they have been for months, said MassINC President Steve Koczela. Olympics supporters can point to one bright spot, however: More than 40% of those surveyed said they are open to changing their minds, the first time that question has been asked. USOC Chair Larry Probst in June said support must reach the mid-50s “relatively soon” and the mid-60s by ‘17. The poll surveyed 821 registered voters July 6-8 by telephone, with over-sampling in the Boston metro region. The margin of error is plus/minus 4.4% (Ben Fischer, Staff Writer). In Boston, Jim O'Sullivan cites a Massachusetts Citizens for Jobs poll as showing that 53% of state voters "do not want Boston to bid" on the Games, while 37% do. Perhaps "more damning for the Olympics effort are results that show nearly 2 in 3 voters do not believe the local organizing committee’s assertions that the Games would turn a profit rather than produce a deficit." Less than 25% of respondents expect that the event would "be profitable." Exactly half of respondents said that they "opposed the use of public funds to draw the Olympics, while 43% "supported that arrangement." The poll, which was conducted by Florida-based Gravis Marketing on July 2-3 among 512 registered voters using "instant voice recognition" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/10).
