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As good as the PR is, hosting the Olympics can be a oneway ticket to major debtville. I was pretty relieved that Chicago lost 2016.
Many economists agree with you.
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authors nevertheless offer a common-sense conclusion that couldn’t be clearer. “Diverting scarce capital and other resources from more productive uses to the Olympics very likely translates into slower rates of economic growth than that which could be realized in the absence of hosting the Olympic Games.â€
The increasingly sorry state of almost all of the former Athens 2004 venues in the wake of the Games has been well-publicized. Twenty-one out of 22 of the stadiums, arenas, sports halls and swimming pools built for the Games are either derelict, in a state of disrepair, boarded up or unable to find a buyer and underused. As the Beijing Games opened four years later Athens faced a bill estimated at $784 million simply to maintain this ghost town of Olympian extravagance.
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The ETOA report suggests that the impact on tourism during an Olympic year for a host city is not much more than negligible; often it’s actually negative. In 1996 in Georgia, home state of host city Atlanta, hotel occupancy rates fell from 73 percent in the previous year to 68 percent. Sydney 2000 saw hotel occupancy fall steadily as the Games approached, from 83 percent in March to 68 percent in July and August, before a modest recovery to 80 percent during the Games themselves. Beijing in 2008 recorded 30 percent fewer tourists in July of the Olympic year compared with the same month in 2007, with a 5 percent decline year-on-year for August when the Games were taking place, and 25 percent below in the following months through to December. A recovery has since occurred, but this is ascribed to Beijing hoteliers’ slashing room rates rather than the attraction of a visit to the Bird’s Nest stadium. The ETOA points to a rarely mentioned consequence of hosting the Olympics: “Olympic visitors effectively scare other visitors away. Regular tourists assume that congestion and increased prices are a feature of Mega-Events.â€
I dunno, I just think that events like the Oympics speed up building of much needed infrastructure.
Two things are needed in Houston, better PT and more Hotel rooms. These are things that hosting the Olympics would inevitably guarantee.
Houston has quite a few sporting venues all either Downtown (Basketball/Hockey; Baseball; Soccer) or still within the loop a few miles from Downtown (NFL Stadium, Rice Stadium, Roberson Stadium). In addition to those 6 there were plans to turn the Vacant Astrodome into a track and field or a swimming facility.
The proposed Olympic Village was planned for a depressed part of town- much like London's East End, it was planned to go up just south of East Downtown. The east side is making a resurgence due to new urbanism. It was largely abandoned after it got really industrial and then the industry moved. Now a lot of those ware house areas are being turned into residences.
Anyway, Houston has 3 new rail lines underway and plans for two new large hotels downtown so by the time the Olympics that are currently being bidding on comes around, all the things I am wishing for might already be in place.
I don't know, with the centralization of modern venues I think Houston can whip up a cheap but adequate Olympics much like LA did in 84.
70,000 *Vikings Stadium (2016)
50,000 *TCF Stadium (college football)
40,000 *Target Field (baseball stadium)
25,000 Canterbury Park (horse track)
18,000 *Target Center (arena, 2015 renovation)
18,000 *Xcel Energy Center (arena)
17,000 State Fair Grounds Grandstand
15,000 *Williams Arena (U of M basketball)
10,000 *Mariucci Arena (U of M hockey)
_9,000 National Sports Complex (expandable, soccer facility)
_8,000 *St Paul Saints Ballpark (planning stages)
_5,000 State Fair Grounds Arena
_5,000 Running Aces Harness Park
*served by existing light rail line
dozens of other tennis facilities and hockey arenas within the metro area.
For summer, the Twin Cities would actually be a pretty good bid because the reasons previously mentioned (transportation, weather, venues). Also, I wouldn't mind seeing Boston or Chicago host an Olympics.
For winter, Denver is a happening place with easy access to much recreation for the winter sports. Denver would be the best bid especially with all their new transportation projects and new urban developments that would make it capable of hosting a Winter Games.
Biggest problem facing most of the cities mention in this thread.
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And then, there’s the reality that the USOC is not going to choose a city to take to the international competition that doesn’t meet with the approval of the NBC Television Network. Again, a big money issue.
The most recent price NBC has agreed to pay for the privilege of televising upcoming games is reported to be about $4.4 billion. Their contract blew way past what CBS, FOX, and ESPN were offering.
So, they get an unofficial but, I believe, deciding vote on which U. S. city gets selected for the international competition. Following a disappointing television audience for the 1996 Atlanta Games, the chief NBC honcho famously announced that the Olympics would never again be staged in a “second tier†U. S. city. NBC regarded Dallas-Fort Worth as a city like Atlanta.
I am a Texan and would love to see the games in a Texas city. We've got the accommodations and ability to make it happen - however, I have to be honest and say that I think the extreme heat would be an issue.
Yesterday, I was in Dallas and it was 108 degrees - and that's not uncommon. I think that would be very hard on some athletes - and many visitors. I've had visitors from out of state (and from Europe) come here during the summer - against my recommendations - and they have been frankly shocked and dismayed by the heat. I mean, I'm used to it, and LOVE Texas, but even I stay indoors when it's this hot.
I am a Texan and would love to see the games in a Texas city. We've got the accommodations and ability to make it happen - however, I have to be honest and say that I think the extreme heat would be an issue.
Yesterday, I was in Dallas and it was 108 degrees - and that's not uncommon. I think that would be very hard on some athletes - and many visitors. I've had visitors from out of state (and from Europe) come here during the summer - against my recommendations - and they have been frankly shocked and dismayed by the heat. I mean, I'm used to it, and LOVE Texas, but even I stay indoors when it's this hot.
I am a Texan and would love to see the games in a Texas city. We've got the accommodations and ability to make it happen - however, I have to be honest and say that I think the extreme heat would be an issue.
Yesterday, I was in Dallas and it was 108 degrees - and that's not uncommon. I think that would be very hard on some athletes - and many visitors. I've had visitors from out of state (and from Europe) come here during the summer - against my recommendations - and they have been frankly shocked and dismayed by the heat. I mean, I'm used to it, and LOVE Texas, but even I stay indoors when it's this hot.
Here's an article on what they are planning.
Talks about how the 2012 bid was to spread out (like the Super Bowl) & trying for a mid to late June start.
Get use to it folks, the Olympics will not be in the US for a VERY long time. It is a massive financial headache and they want the people around the country to pay for it. No. The USOC will not bother much of the time because even they know the people of this country will not agree to pay for another city's venues and get nothing in return.
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