The Calgary City Council yesterday learned that hosting the '26 Winter Games would require more than $2B (all figures C) in public funding and "risks running a massive operating deficit," according to a front-page piece by Annalise Klingbeil of the CALGARY HERALD. The Calgary Bid Exploration Committee "told council members the price tag for a repeat Calgary Games" is $4.6B, a tally that would be offset by an estimated $2.2B in revenue from tickets, sponsorship and the IOC. That means taxpayers would be on the hook for $2.4B of funding, in '17 dollars -- a sum that "doesn’t include transportation costs, money for a new field house to host curling matches, or funding for a new arena considered essential for a Winter Games." CBEC Chair Rick Hanson said that the committee’s estimate "would be higher if Calgary didn’t have existing facilities" from the '88 Winter Games, which would be re-used if the '26 event occurs in Calgary. Some council members "expressed uncertainty about the numbers, including Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who said he wanted to know more about the group’s estimate that operating costs would exceed revenue" by $425M. The bid committee has been "studying a potential Olympic bid for months," after council voted 13-2 in favor of spending $5M on the bid exploration last June. While the council was "initially slated to receive a final recommendation from the committee on July 24 and make a yes or no decision then," both Hanson and Nenshi said that it is "possible a council decision won’t come until after the October election because of a shift in deadlines" from the IOC (CALGARY HERALD, 6/20).
