Seattle for 2024 Olympics? City given chance to mull bid
SEATTLE - Fresh off the thrill of Olympics in London, could the summer games come here to Seattle in 2024?
In a letter to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and several other mayors of major cities, the U.S. Olympic Committee is gauging the interest of cities that may have the ability to pull it off.
"This is what you grow up watching," said Seattle Sports Commissioner Ralph Morton. "The thought of that being in your home town is exciting. If you have a pulse, it's exciting."
During Tuesday's State of the City speech, McGinn's said Seattle's economic outlook is bright. But Morton says landing the Olympics would be an even bigger boom.
The USOC gave a checklist for cities to qualify: The host city would need enough hotel rooms to accommodate 45,000 people, have plenty of public transportation, an international airport and about 200,000 workers.
Seattle has all of that.
But we'd have to also be willing to shut down major roadways in order to get people to the games.
There's also a giant price tag, including an operating budget of $3 billion, which doesn't include new stadiums and there's no guarantee we'll make it all back.
Athens lost somewhere between $13- and $14 billion in 2004. Vancouver broke even with the Winter Games in 2010.
The London games broke even too.
And a lot of people remember the Goodwill Games in Seattle back in 1990 -- plenty of gridlock to go around. Then again, the whole world would be watching Seattle.
The city has two years to decide if they'd like the USOC to make a formal bid for the games on their behalf.
In a letter to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and several other mayors of major cities, the U.S. Olympic Committee is gauging the interest of cities that may have the ability to pull it off.
"This is what you grow up watching," said Seattle Sports Commissioner Ralph Morton. "The thought of that being in your home town is exciting. If you have a pulse, it's exciting."
During Tuesday's State of the City speech, McGinn's said Seattle's economic outlook is bright. But Morton says landing the Olympics would be an even bigger boom.
The USOC gave a checklist for cities to qualify: The host city would need enough hotel rooms to accommodate 45,000 people, have plenty of public transportation, an international airport and about 200,000 workers.
Seattle has all of that.
But we'd have to also be willing to shut down major roadways in order to get people to the games.
There's also a giant price tag, including an operating budget of $3 billion, which doesn't include new stadiums and there's no guarantee we'll make it all back.
Athens lost somewhere between $13- and $14 billion in 2004. Vancouver broke even with the Winter Games in 2010.
The London games broke even too.
And a lot of people remember the Goodwill Games in Seattle back in 1990 -- plenty of gridlock to go around. Then again, the whole world would be watching Seattle.
The city has two years to decide if they'd like the USOC to make a formal bid for the games on their behalf.
2024 is not that far away. But it's time enough to prepare to be on the world stage. With the new sports venue on the horizon. And other venues already in place. i think hosting the 2024 games would be great.
No RT @KenmoreAir: Seattle gets a chance to make a bid for the 2024 Olympics. Should they do it? http://t.co/0nYzmygVaf
@jntrky It'd be quite the committment, we agree. Did you visit Vancouver when the Olympics were there?
@KenmoreAir no I did not. I do love the Olympics, but I don't think Seattle can handled that many people.
@KenmoreAir rowing, soccer, track & swimming. :) it's hard to choose, I love them all.
@jntrky You have a good point. What event is your favorite to watch?
Mull this, seattle cant even agree if the proposed basketball arena is in the right place
Have to agree and say Seattle has a Sports Commissioner? I wonder if he's drawing a six figure salary...
DO IT! If we do, then all that red tape that is slowing down the Light Rail expansion would be slashed and it would get done decades before scheduled, not to mention we would finally get some direly needed road repairs done.
Also, is this for summer or winter olympics? Winter would probably be better, we already have most of the facilities for that.
The first line of the article says it's for the 2024 Summer Olympics. There will be no Winter Olympics in 2024, only in 2022 and 2026.
Seattle has a "Sports Commisioner"? Why? What do we pay this guy and what exactly does he do?
If this does happen (a long shot, I know), I bet most of the "big" events would still be tape delayed, even when the Olympics are in our own city!
I agree with most, the traffic will be horrible! I would probably take two weeks off work instead of fighting the gridlock.
No Thanks. The Olympics are not what they use to be. It's not worth all of the Traffic and congestion anyway. Pass it on someone else.Â
I don't think the Seattle has the facilities!
@finchfrii You don't think there is going to be a lot of opposition to this?
@NormGregory I do, but if the city is confident it can break even and the Chamber and DSA believe businesses will benefit, it has a shot.
@finchfrii I am torn both ways. Part of me yearns for the sleepily days of the '50s . . Part of me wants Seattle to be major league.
@ScorpioWA You don't think there is going to be a lot of opposition to this?
@NormGregory Really? From Seattlites, why? You mean just because we don't like change, haha! I'd think the merchants would love it.
@ScorpioWA There is a big chunk of natives whom yearn for the sleepy days of the '50s. There used to be a group called Lesser Seattle.
@ScorpioWA My two kids had cars before they had drivers licenses. Donât ask. Haha.
@NormGregory That is a good option for some. But as parents of young (bad) drivers, I'm sure 25 is a minimum age. That's great though!
@ScorpioWA Donât know . . like I said I havenât been following it .. . since I would only use it to get to SeaTac.
@NormGregory But isn't it the Othello station that doesn't have any parking? Sometimes all you can do is shake your head, WTH?!
@ScorpioWA I have become an excited, frequent user of Car2Go. Itâs perfect for me (I havenât own a car since 1985) https://t.co/4X15ganu3s
@NormGregory I saw that last time I was up there, wasn't sure what that was all about.
@NormGregory You need to explore it all! I like the feeling of knowing basically where I'm at in most neighborhoods. I know the CD a bit :)
@ScorpioWA They are building something huge here on Capitol Hill. I havenât paid much attn to the route(s).
@NormGregory So if we built a BART-like system, we would have the best of both!! But light rail always gets shot down.
@ScorpioWA I never go to any of âyourâ places. Hahaha. Been here for more years than Iâd like to mention.
@NormGregory Commuting sucks. Husband lived in Kent and loved the train. Now it's bus the whole way & he hates it.
@NormGregory You're right inside the city they are good. But any suburb and you're screwed. When kids are gone, we'll move closer in
@ScorpioWA BART great 4 getting into town. But once there you havenât got much but cabs.
@ScorpioWA Iâm in the CD and buses couldnât be better. 15 m to dwntwn, UDis, etc
@NormGregory Try taking a bus from Juanita to Edmonds. I was very impressed with the BART and how easy it was to get around down there.
@NormGregory Cross town or cross county bus is difficult at best. I think of the bay area, and there's no comparison. Kids need options too
@ScorpioWA Actually we have a pretty good bus system. Now Car2Go is here and is very cool.
@NormGregory Shoot, I'd say pass on the Olympics bid if we would truly commit to light rail throughout the whole region.
@NormGregory I've never seen a city that has had so many votes for the same thing. Nor a city our size with such pitiful public transport
@NormGregory Not to say distrust isn't warranted. Especially with the stadium that no one wanted. But, then we tend to stop in our tracks.
@ScorpioWA These days itâs hard to justify putting a building for millionaires ahead of other priorities.
@NormGregory Yea, no kidding. And public confidence in that is pretty low. i.e. Sonics and stadium. Distrust has made us immobile though.
@ScorpioWA Of course âprogressâ is subjective. The big stumbling block to the Olympics will be how much public money they want.
@NormGregory It's frustrating to me when stubborness impedes progress. Seattle can be even better than it is.
@NormGregory Yea, I know....*sigh* And as a 2nd gen native and 3rd gen Seattlite, I kind of understand. But time moves on.
Do we really have the correct amount of facilities for this? Track and Field? Can't do it at UW anymore the track isn't in the stadium (you need that in olympic track). Maybe CentruyLink? Can you put a track in there? Maybe Safeco (again can you fit a track in there and give it back to M's at the end of the 2 weeks?) Gym? Maybe Key if it's still around or new BBall hanson arena? I'm sure most stuff would center around new area. In theory you could also put things in Everett (Comcast) and Kent (showare)
Transpertation shouldn't be that bad by 24. Light rail complete in most areas, bridge done (maybeÂ
LOL). We have lots of buses and the sounder.
I actually think this would be cool. Just for the exposure to Seattle alone.
@racerkyle It would create chaos in this poorly planned area!
I'm not sure what the point would be. By then, tickets for the individual events would be so high, the only people going would most likely be out of state or out of country. The Olympics like most things are only affordable via TV.Â
@snow surfer And even if they were here, I wonder if the TV coverage would be live for us West coasters?  Everyone remember what happened in 2010 when they were in Vancouver!  Would suck even more if they are further into our back yard, yet we can't see diddly!
Oh, this is rich - you can't go anywhere *now* without getting into complete gridlock, & buses go by stops because they are already too full & running massively late--this will make it even better! Â Luckily, I will be long gone, living a nice retirement elsewhere by then......