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2020 Olympics

Now that the 2016 Summer Olympics have been awarded to Rio, campaigning has begun for the 2020 Games.  Candidate cities are starting to express their interest or at least begin a whisper campaign of their candidacy.  In addition, applications for the 2018 Winter Games have been received by the IOC from three cities, with cities lining up to bid for the 2022 Games.  The three bids received for 2018 are from Annecy, France; Munich, Germany and PyeongChang, South Korea.  The decision will be made by the IOC at its July 6, 2011 meeting in Durban, South Africa.

Istanbul, Turkey recently announced that it would pursue a bid (its fifth) for the 2020 Summer Games, joining a list that currently includes Tokyo, Rome, Venice, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban South Africa, (only one South African city will ultimately submit a bid, to be chosen bu the South African Olympic Committee), Dubai; Doha, Qatar (the two UAE members may ultimately submit a joint bid).  However, once the cities see what has happened to the London 2012 budget, they may have second thoughts.

The London 2012 budget has been  presented to Parliament as 9.325 billion pounds.  According to an investigation by the Telegraph, the real figure is closer to 12 billion pounds, as the 2012 budget presented to Parliament fails to include certain infrastructure improvements and additional amounts spent by local agencies, among other matters.  While the Games may be on track to meet the 2012 budget presented to Parliament, it does so only because these additional are not included.  So the cautionary note to the candidate cities is to take notice of the 12 billion that London is spending and realize that a substantial amount of the necessary infrastructure and playing facilities, including the main Olympic stadium, which is often the most expensive single item, were already in place.  That may well not be true for several of the candidate cities and the cost may be overwhelming.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on November 11, 2009 (boomark / email).