The IOC is "facing its most serious bidding crisis in decades" as cities drop out of the 2026 Winter Games bid race "en masse," leaving a field of just two candidates, according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Calgary on Tuesday became "the latest to pull the plug on its 2026 Games candidacy" after more than 56% of citizens voted against the project in a plebiscite, "unconvinced the benefits of the Olympics were worth the multi-billion dollar investment." Of an original list of seven cities, only Stockholm and an Italian bid remain and "both of those are struggling for local and governmental support." Calgary, which hosted the 1988 Winter Games, became the fourth city to "drop out of bidding," after Graz, Austria; Sapporo, Japan; and Sion, Switzerland. Erzurum, Turkey, was cut by the IOC last month. The Italian bid is "far from guaranteed the necessary political support amid the country's financial woes." Stockholm is facing opposition from a new city government which said last month that it "will be against any bid that includes taxpayer funding." While the IOC has "played down the exits," blaming the political climate in some countries or "outdated information" about the cost of the Games given to voters at referendums, there is "concern among some of the international winter sports federations." A winter sports official said, "Naturally we are worried. For Calgary, it is also the percentage of refusal by the people that is of concern. ... We have to find solutions but we also have to be honest about the causes" (REUTERS, 11/16).
DIMINISHING RETURNS: The BBC's Gareth Evans reported there is a "problem that experts say could threaten the very future of the Olympic Games: fewer and fewer cities around the world want to play host." Just consider the numbers: the Athens 2004 Games attracted 11 bids but the '24 event "garnered just two." Chris Dempsey, who "spearheaded" the opposition to Boston's bid for the 2024 Olympics, "knows more than most" about why there is increasing skepticism. He said, "We saw that a group of very wealthy and powerful [people] had gotten together and decided that a bid would be a good thing for Boston. But we were concerned about the cost." He added that the financial burden of hosting the Games was the primary concern, "along with a resentment of outsiders telling the city what would be best for it." Dempsey: "[We] wanted to be heard and to chart the future of our city. I think in Calgary they felt the same way" (BBC, 11/18).
