Calgary hopes to obtain a $200M insurance policy to protect against cost overruns
Calgary’s bid for the '26 Winter Games "narrowly survived a city council vote" after organizers cut the budget by "hundreds of millions of dollars and announced a complicated funding proposal that even baffled some councillors," according to Justin Giovannetti of the GLOBE & MAIL. The plan "fails to adequately account for cost overruns the city could face." Calgary hopes to obtain a $200M (all figures C) insurance policy to "protect against such a scenario." The council vote means a Nov. 13 plebiscite will "proceed as planned." However, it also "raised new questions about whether the three levels of government have committed enough public money to pay for the Games." Calgarians will vote on a "revised bid" that includes nearly $300M in "cuts to the total public funding required." The funding proposal is "based on a revised budget" that would require $2.875B in "public funding from all three levels of government," down from about $3B. Under the new agreement, the federal government would provide $1.423B and Alberta would "keep its funding level the same." The City of Calgary would provide $390M in cash and an additional $150M from "previously planned municipal spending." Guarantees for cost overruns to the tune of $200M would also be "part of its total contribution" (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/1).
TWO SIDES: The CALGARY HERALD writes the city's bid for the '26 Games is "badly battered, but still kicking." Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said that he will be "encouraging Calgarians to vote ‘yes’ in the plebiscite" (CALGARY HERALD, 11/1). Former Canadian women's hockey player and current Maple Leafs exec Hayley Wickenheiser: "Fact: for every dollar Calgary puts into the #calgary2026 games, it gets $10 in return. The numbers are good, the communication to date is not." THE ATHLETIC's Kent Wilson wrote one thing is "enduringly true about the Olympics -- they always end up costing more than is initially projected." The '14 Sochi Games is an "extreme example, but even more democratic locales like London and Japan have seen large cost overruns recently." The '12 London Games came in around US$15B, while the reported cost of Tokyo’s '20 Games has already "reportedly doubled" to US$17B. All told, every Olympic Games since '60 has "come in over budget" (THEATHLETIC.com, 10/31).
