Boston wisely declines to bid on 2024 Olympics (millionaires, Miami, dollars)

[Roadking2003]

Maybe people are finally realizing that hosting the Olympics is just a big boondoggle for rich people and an ego boost for politicians. Meanwhile, taxpayers get shafted and the city usually gets no lasting benefits.

Here are some pics of the Athens 2004 Olympic facilities;

Abandoned Athens Olympic 2004 venues, 10 years on

and pics of the 2008 Beijing Olympic facilities;

Beijing's Olympic Ruins - CityLab

If the taxpayers could vote on these events and were given the facts, they would never agree to fund rich people's stadiums. Here is an interesting article about the economic impact of professional sports;

Slideshow: New NFL team would likely have little economic impact | 89.3 KPCC

There are a lot of things economists disagree about, but the economic impact of sports stadiums is not one of them.

“If you ever had a consensus in economics, this would be it," said Michael Leeds, a sports economist at Temple University. "There is no impact."

Leeds studied Chicago – as big a sports town as there is – with five major teams.

“If every sports team in Chicago were to suddenly disappear, the impact on the Chicago economy would be a fraction of 1 percent,” said Leeds.

We talk about sports a lot, and we pay a lot attention to them, but when it comes to the actual revenue teams generate, the impact is minuscule.

“A baseball team has about the same impact on a community as a midsize department store,” Leeds said.

[Seacove]

I don't blame them. I would think the best hosts for the Olympics are places that have already built the facilities before. I sure don't want all those people in Seattle.

[ntwrkguy1]

The Olympics are just what you said --- a massive boondoggle. In a perfect world, NO U.S. cities would ever host them again.

And I couldn't agree more with you about the whole "sports stadium blackmail" game -- why in the hell should taxpayers fund a stadium for a billionaire? They have such a trivial impact, ESPECIALLY the NFL teams due to an 8-game home season. Any city that votes for a new facility is supporting the worst type of corporate welfare. Think about how long Los Angeles has been without an NFL team --- has it impacted them in any meaningful way? Of course not.

Hell, the state of Florida has 3 NFL teams, and they basically all are horrible. The Miami Marlins of MLB cannot even draw 10,000 fans to a midweek home game, this from a city that has beautiful weather for baseball.

[cruxan]

Originally Posted by Roadking2003

Maybe people are finally realizing that hosting the Olympics is just a big boondoggle for rich people and an ego boost for politicians. Meanwhile, taxpayers get shafted and the city usually gets no lasting benefits.

Here are some pics of the Athens 2004 Olympic facilities;

Abandoned Athens Olympic 2004 venues, 10 years on

and pics of the 2008 Beijing Olympic facilities;

Beijing's Olympic Ruins - CityLab

If the taxpayers could vote on these events and were given the facts, they would never agree to fund rich people's stadiums. Here is an interesting article about the economic impact of professional sports;

Slideshow: New NFL team would likely have little economic impact | 89.3 KPCC

There are a lot of things economists disagree about, but the economic impact of sports stadiums is not one of them.

“If you ever had a consensus in economics, this would be it," said Michael Leeds, a sports economist at Temple University. "There is no impact."

Leeds studied Chicago – as big a sports town as there is – with five major teams.

“If every sports team in Chicago were to suddenly disappear, the impact on the Chicago economy would be a fraction of 1 percent,” said Leeds.

We talk about sports a lot, and we pay a lot attention to them, but when it comes to the actual revenue teams generate, the impact is minuscule.

“A baseball team has about the same impact on a community as a midsize department store,” Leeds said.

Hay we are talking about sports here!!! so billons of dollars of sporting infrastructure rotting is no big deal... the games must go on!!!

[jimazee]

Originally Posted by ntwrkguy1

The Olympics are just what you said --- a massive boondoggle. In a perfect world, NO U.S. cities would ever host them again.

And I couldn't agree more with you about the whole "sports stadium blackmail" game -- why in the hell should taxpayers fund a stadium for a billionaire? They have such a trivial impact, ESPECIALLY the NFL teams due to an 8-game home season. Any city that votes for a new facility is supporting the worst type of corporate welfare. Think about how long Los Angeles has been without an NFL team --- has it impacted them in any meaningful way? Of course not.

Hell, the state of Florida has 3 NFL teams, and they basically all are horrible. The Miami Marlins of MLB cannot even draw 10,000 fans to a midweek home game, this from a city that has beautiful weather for baseball.

... and hundreds or thousands of millionaires.

[MIKEETC]

Originally Posted by Roadking2003

Boston wisely declines to bid on 2024 Olympics

The Olympics should be held at the same place every time. The whole bidding process for locations strikes me as a dog and pony show, and at the end of the day does anyone really care where the Olympics were, are, and will be held?

[]

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by MIKEETC

The Olympics should be held at the same place every time. The whole bidding process for locations strikes me as a dog and pony show, and at the end of the day does anyone really care where the Olympics were, are, and will be held?

[]

I'm sure the IOC executives would disagree. They love the perks associated with the selection process.

[TheWiseWino]

Originally Posted by MIKEETC

The Olympics should be held at the same place every time. The whole bidding process for locations strikes me as a dog and pony show, and at the end of the day does anyone really care where the Olympics were, are, and will be held?

[]

Despite its economic woes, Greece has long been mentioned as the permanent site for the Games and its an idea that I certainly would endorse.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by TheWiseWino

Despite its economic woes, Greece has long been mentioned as the permanent site for the Games and its an idea that I certainly would endorse.

Greece is bankrupt. They cannot afford the Olympics.

[mm4]

Originally Posted by Seacove

I don't blame them. I would think the best hosts for the Olympics are places that have already built the facilities before. I sure don't want all those people in Seattle.

Seattle would have to build something called mass transit.

Maybe Boston could have finally gotten a proper venue for their soccer franchise. And more housing. They could have built the kayak center in Brockton or Lawrence.