$5 million for Calgary Olympics 2026 study

[rugatika]

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/c...rity-1.3643172

Calgary city council took the first step in a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, voting in favour of a feasibility study examining the costs and benefits of hosting the Games.

The Calgary Sport Tourism Authority wants up to $5 million for the study.


Council was briefed behind closed doors before the debate moved to council chambers, with all but Coun. Druh Farrell and Coun. Sean Chu eventually supporting the proposal.


Weren't they just looking for ways to cut costs? I would have done their study for 3 million.

Does anyone know where you find a breakout of just how money is spent in these studies? For some reason $5 million seems a bit steep to me.

That's 30 very highly paid analysts working for a year at $150,000. Plus money left over for a coffee maker, some paper and pens, and some laptops.

[Grizzly Adams]

For a measly 1 million, I'd have told them you're biting off more than you can chew. People keep reminiscing about the 88 games and what a success they were. Imagine having the opening ceremonies in Mc Mahon stadium these days, never mind years down the road.

Grizz

[hal53]

Nice back door idea for a new rink and stadium?

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by hal53

Nice back door idea for a new rink and stadium?

Never underestimate the guile of promoters. Allready willing to settle for plan B that never existed before Plan A fell flat.

Grizz

[dmcbride]

How often does the same city get to host the Olympics?

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

How often does the same city get to host the Olympics?

Was wondering the same thing.... Is it all based on bids?

[tacomama]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

Was wondering the same thing.... Is it all based on bids?

Not sure, but it looks like a few cities hosted multiple times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...es_host_cities

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by dmcbride

How often does the same city get to host the Olympics?

List of cities that hosted multiple editions of the Olympic Games

London United Kingdom Europe 3 (1908, 1948, 2012) 0 3
Beijing China Asia 1 (2008) 1 (2022) 2
Tokyo Japan Asia 2 (1964, 2020) 0 2
Athens Greece Europe 2 (1896, 2004) 0 2
Los Angeles United States N. America 2 (1932, 1984) 0 2
Lake Placid United States N. America 0 2 (1932, 1980) 2
Innsbruck Austria Europe 0 2 (1964, 1976) 2
St. Moritz Switzerland Europe 0 2 (1928, 1948) 2
Paris France Europe 2 (1900, 1924) 0 2


Entirely possible. But its SO rare for Olympics to make a profit. Apparently the TV money isn't as good a it once was and costs have skyrocketed. It's a horribly wasteful and expensive party for two weeks run by an utterly corrupt organization. Olympics are really the domain of dictatorships like Russia and China who want to make a political statement, and elites who don't care about their poor like Brazil. I'd be happy if Canada never had another Olympics. We can watch on TV and let someone else pay for it.


Winners will be those who want new arenas and stadiums paid for by tax dollars. I'd make the Flames owner pay for the study LOL

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Entirely possible. But its SO rare for Olympics to make a profit. Apparently the TV money isn't as good a it once was and costs have skyrocketed. It's a horribly wasteful and expensive party for two weeks run by an utterly corrupt organization. Olympics are really the domain of dictatorships like Russia and China who want to make a political statement, and elites who don't care about their poor like Brazil. I'd be happy if Canada never had another Olympics. We can watch on TV and let someone else pay for it.

I could not agree more with all of this.

[Jalan]

They really should just have the Olympic's in the same place every time. The whole process is horrible and a lot of countries end up loosing out when they host.

[CaberTosser]

$5 million to study something we've already proven capable of doing and have the existing facilities in place for? Our city has increased in population by around a half a million people in the interim and many thousand hotel rooms have been added in the meantime. Sure the athlete housing is now the permanent residence of locals but that's a minor challenge to build more. The only thing needed to study is where our revenue would come from with broadcasting fees that are likely reduced. And let someone not in government crunch the numbers. This study could be accomplished at 1/10th of their figure, though they might not get as much 3D digital animation included......

[Okotokian]

I guarantee the "study" will also include junkets to other past and future host cities, wining and dining, gifts....

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

I guarantee the "study" will also include junkets to other past and future host cities, wining and dining, gifts....

Don't forget 'consulting fees' to Russian bureaucrats who managed to make the Sochi games such a success

[rugatika]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

I guarantee the "study" will also include junkets to other past and future host cities, wining and dining, gifts....

This is what I mean. Let's get this estimate opened up and see how they arrived at their "need" for $5 million.

Detailed cost breakdowns of all these tea parties must exist somewhere. Every damn one of them should be broken down into every single payment made and put up on the web as a matter of course. Every dolllar the government spends should be viewable by every single person that pays taxes. Who spent it, and who received it.

[Jadham]

I am sure that some of the facilities from 1988 will need to be upgraded or even outright replaced (ski jumps, etc.). I don't know what the $5 million all includes but I can see it getting somewhat pricey if they are doing in depth assessment on existing infrastructure etc.

As for repeat host cities, someone was telling me that the IOC views that favorably given the runaway costs of recent host sites building all the infrastructure de novo.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by rugatika

This is what I mean. Let's get this estimate opened up and see how they arrived at their "need" for $5 million.

Detailed cost breakdowns of all these tea parties must exist somewhere. Every damn one of them should be broken down into every single payment made and put up on the web as a matter of course. Every dolllar the government spends should be viewable by every single person that pays taxes. Who spent it, and who received it.

Ideally, the IOC would have financial records and plans from every past Olympics that future hosts could refer to in order to get an idea of expenses and what should be done. Of course past hosts would never want such obscene and damaging records made available.

OK, I'm now going to put aside my realism and dream here. Might work if it was a joint Calgary/Edmonton bid. All the stuff involving going down hills (luge, bobsled, ski racing, ski jumping, etc.) in Calgary and area, stuff requiring arenas and stadiums in Edmonton. Almost nothing would need to be built (sorry Flames/Stamps). Hockey tournament in both cities. This proposal would be more likely to get provincial and federal dollars.

OK, enough of that noise. NO to the Olympics.

[trapperdodge]

Please.
The province is damn near broke or it will be shortly. The city couldn't possibly finance this on it's own. It's a con to get the hockey club a new rink on the backs of all taxpayers.
Everyone on council that votes for this hair brained scheme should be targeted in the next election and driven from office.
In this climate an Olympic bid is preposterous.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by trapperdodge

Please.
The province is damn near broke or it will be shortly. The city couldn't possibly finance this on it's own. It's a con to get the hockey club a new rink on the backs of all taxpayers.
Everyone on council that votes for this hair brained scheme should be targeted in the next election and driven from office.
In this climate an Olympic bid is preposterous.

Agree totally with what you say, but proponents will argue we won't be in this climate by the time the games roll around, and besides, it would be an "economic stimulus" that would help the economy. I'm OK with economic stimulus, but build stuff we can use and will likely have to build some time anyway, like schools and roads or transit.