The U.S. Olympic Committee sent a cautionary message to prospective U.S. bid cities for the 2016 Summer Games on Saturday, warning them not to get ahead of themselves because of liabilities the International Olympic Committee may see in U.S. bids.
Speaking after the USOC’s fall board meeting at a hotel near Denver International Airport, chairman Peter Ueberroth said the USOC may choose not to put up a bid city for the 2016 Games.
“If we determine one of the cities that could be selected does not have a very good chance of prevailing, we don’t want to get into the horse race,” he said.
Officials in L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, New York and Houston have discussed bidding for the 2016 Games. The USOC wants to meet with mayors and business leaders before the Turin Olympics in February to make sure they understand the factors that could negatively affect a bid.
IOC rules say cities hosting Olympic Games must have government backing to cover financial shortfalls. The federal government does not fund the Olympics in the U.S., so the USOC must get a variance to put forward a U.S. bid. Other factors include resentment within the IOC over the U.S. share of Olympic marketing and television revenue, and visa issues in the aftermath of 9/11.
“It would be counterproductive … for cities to jump out ahead and hire consultants and come up with their concept of bidding,” Ueberroth said. “We want to have a process that totally informs them about what is required as these conditions continue to change, and what is the likeliness of their ability to succeed.”
“We believe hosting Games in the United States is very beneficial to the worldwide Olympic movement and the U.S. Olympic movement, therefore we’d love to do it,” USOC chief executive Jim Scherr said. “If a city has a reasonable chance to win, it’s good for the worldwide Olympic movement and everyone else, we’ll go forward and try to get it.”
The USOC wants to avoid the spectacle of U.S. cities spending vast sums of money with little chance of success. Ueberroth said the money spent by cities bidding for the 2012 Olympics, awarded to London in July, could have financed an Olympic Games.
John Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com.
