stryker

Intuit Dome for basketball makes sense, but is one venue enough? Seems like a secondary venue would still be needed. Galen Center at USC maybe? I know the LA Convention Center was listed as a secondary basketball venue but given the trouble Paris had proposing basketball in a Convention center it's hard to see LA begin able to do the same. Perhaps move gymnastics to Crypto.com Arena and use the Forum for volleyball and move badminton to the Convention center? Just speculating.

The likes of China and Turkiye can provide those government guarantees without having to deal with thornier issues like availability of booze or more of a sore spot, Israel. I'm sure in the halls of Lausanne that there are some IOC members that could see a situation where in the weeks leading up to a hypothetical Qatar Olympics that suddenly the Israeli team is denied entry and Qatar makes it clear that the decision was made by the royal family. In this scenario there would be nothing the IOC could do. Sure they could point to the host city contract but in these Arab tribal societies, contracts are void if an elder prominent tribal sheikh says so.

Key words are politically unpopular. Politicians like to get reelected. Supporting expensive projects that the voting public doesn't like is akin to committing political suicide at the ballot box. They aren't going g to support the bloated Gabba rebuild if the constituents don't want it. QSAC and Carrara aren't ideal but they are IMO the best of a bad situation given this fiasco.

Speaking of Beijing, they just landed the 2027 World Athletics Championships

I think another issue IIRC was Harbin's lone Olympic bid proposed using Yabuli for the alpine events and the resort is uncomfortably close to the North Korea border. The Beijing 2022 resorts would more than suffice but I have to wonder given Beijing's status as the heart of the CCP, might egos prevail and they put up Beijing again so it joins the likes of London, Paris, and Los Angeles as three time Olympic host and the first two host both versions?

I've seen more than a few media reports suggesting after Ukraine's recent setbacks that Russia might be gearing up for a major spring offensive with the goal of seizing Kiev. For argument's let's just say this happens, Kiev falls, and Ukraine is effectively annexed as part of Russia (or least a significant territorial portion is) by June. Does this change the IOC perception especially if the Ukrainian Olympians are suddenly relegated to the refugee team I would think that would be enough for Macron to step in and say the Russians aren't welcome. The so-called neutral mantra would be impossible to carry on.

Not sure if this was posted before https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/2026-commonwealth-games-hosting-search-alternatives/ Seems like one option is to break up the CWGs into mini championships such as a Commonwealth Athletics Championship.

It still doesn't solve the political conundrum. You are almost certain to get individual cantons holding referendums. If Zurich which is suddenly hosting ice hockey or figure skating says no, then the bid is scrambling. All it takes is for a couple of cantons to say no and the bid is dead and I imagine this is something that was going through the IOC when contemplating the most recent bid.

Big difference though between FIFA and the IOC. FIFA is willing to bow to local demands like alcohol free stadiums, gender segregation in stadiums, and women wearing the Abaya for fear of upsetting the Wahabbists. The IOC does not like to be seen as losing control of their flagship event. Bach and co. do not want to bow down to Qatari demands. As for money, well, early last year there was an editorial on Insidethegames about how the money issue was the main reason the IOC deep sixed Doha's 2016 bid and of course the mandatory summer window is their convenient exit.

West Ham may keep the ticket receipts but they still pay rent. If Rayo were to get a new stadium they will want to own all of it. Small clubs know they have to maximize their earnings. They cannot do that renting a stadium. Yes their ground was temporarily closed in 2018 but there's nothing on the horizon to suggest that would happen again As for sight lines, London Stadium might be better than Stade de France but it is still nowhere near what other grounds in the Premier League offer. Ten more years won't change that. European football clubs do not want athletics tracks. They want rectangular stadiums and full ownership

Here's the problem I see with the above scenario. Rayo is a small club. They will want to maximize their revenue and they cannot do that with a rental agreement. West Ham is finding this out which is why there was chatter about the club possibly buying the London Stadium and removing the track. They aren't going to lease a stadium knowing they won't get 100% of gate receipts and have to give it up for athletics every so often. PSG is having the same problem. The Qatari owners have offered to buy Stade de France for those reasons. If that were to occur, I'd almost guarantee the athletics would be removed.

Any idea when venues for the additional sports will be announced? I think we can pencil in Dodger Stadium for baseball.

Someone correct me on this if I'm wrong, but isn't the Brisbane Live Arena not a full go yet? I thought I read somewhere it had been initially approved but funding and building contracts are up in the air or the project could even face canellation.

I've seen one source that talks about the possibility but even then it would necessitate literally gutting the entire lower bowl of the stadium. This is not an equivalent of a platform track in the L.A. Coliseum or Hampden Park. And does anyone really think the owners of Atletico would agree to this? I cannot see then giving up their stadium under any circumstances to accomodate anything more than Olympic football.

"Where were the detailed plans and analysis before Brisbane was named preferred host?" A good question. The answer? There was none outside of John Coates proclaiming this whole thing would only cost 1.5 billion USD and there was what, one biased opinion poll that showed 60 plus percent in favor of hosting? Anyone who bought Coates' financial figures was drinking the kool-aid. Now with inflation and Australia in a per-capita recession it's blowing up in their faces This however raises an issue I've harped on before. For all the reforms the IOC has claimed, they have failed miserably in PR and in fact they've gotten worse. Another point, handing Brisbane the Olympics so far out could go one of two ways. If it was handled fiscally responsible, it would be a success. On the flip side, if things went south and there is a change in government, there's nothing to stop them from saying no thanks. If the IOC is smart (debatable) they were paying attention to what transpired with the 2026 Commonwealth Games very carefully.

Atletico's new stadium cannot fit an athletics track. That option was dropped after Madrid's failed 2020 bid. The seating bowl is not conducive to a track. The only way it would work would be to practically gut the entire lower bowl or at least a significant portion of it It's also worth noting the stadium is owned by Atletico, not Madrid, and given the fact it's a new stadium, I highly doubt the club's owners would want to give it up for a long time just for a couple weeks for the IOC's big party.

Well the first part is easy. Wither the Bernabeu or Wanda holds ceremonies. My money would be on Wanda with Bernaveu being used for marquee indoor sports (swimming or gymnastics?). Without trying to derail this into a Brisbane discussion, I assume you are referring to QSAC for athletics. Madrid doesn't even have anything like that. Madrid does have high speed rail to both Barcelona and Sevilla which can mitigate the travel times.

It's been mentioned before. Madrid only works if the stadium issue is sorted. There's no need for any new stadiums to be built in Madrid. None of the football clubs need them. Temporary stadiums have been shown to be failures. This is only a go if the IOC allows either Barcelona or Sevilla for the athletics events.

No big deal. A high speed rail from L.A. to Vegas will be open by then. Perfect for the FIFA big wigs to whisk down to the desert and blow money in the casinos. It's a win win.

This only goes forward if a referendum passes. By creating a new category (privileged dialogue) this gives the Swiss Olympic Committee time to put together a PR campaign (no easy task) that wins over what has proven to be a very skeptical public. If the bid fails via referendum, then the IOC has more than enough time to consider other albeit limited options.

No. The additions of short track speed skating and women ice hockey means a host city needs two 10,000 seat arenas and one secondary ice hockey arena. Nice's bigger problem would be what to do with a new ice arena after the Olympics

Italy is broke. France is on the brink of recession. They don't have cash to waste on white elephants

At this point, I wonder if indeed the original idea was to include Lyon and Grenoble and the when their respective mayors said no where was a bit of panic and they settled on Nice despite the fact that Nice will have to invest some serious money for at least two ice arenas with dubious legacies. Nice has one ice hockey team and it's a Division 2 team so filling a 10,000 or even a 7000 seater is a tall order and unrealistic. I'm sure we will hear the standard legacy lines - multipurpose arena and community center. This could get expensive very quickly.

Another thought on the use of Dedeaux. The renderings with the stadium and the two practice football fields are from USC's master plan for athletics which mentions upgrades to the baseball stadium (luxury suites, expanded concourses, etc.) which one would expect as part of the Olympics. What is interesting though is the master plan makes no mention of the use of Dedeaux Field for aquatics and connecting that with the renovations. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it and more details will be released once the official design specs are out.

Ah I totally missed that about Grenoble and Lyon. Nonetheless this could very well get very expensive for Nice as I would assume as mentioned the exhibition hall would be needed as a media center. Speed skating at Oval Lingotto in Turin perhaps?