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Don't Expect A 2nd Effort From Chicago Anytime Soon


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This was posted yesterday, and I pretty much agree with the sentiment. At this point, it is hard for me to support a 2018 or 2020 bid from the U.S.

It just doesn't seem logical at the moment. But congratulations to Rio!

If Chicago loses 2016 bid, don't expect a 2nd effort soon

October 1, 2009

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has practically guaranteed Rio de Janeiro will be announced host city for the 2016 Olympics Friday in Copenhagen.

Da Silva even has boasted that he phoned Obama and urged him to come to Denmark -- just to make Chicago vs. Rio a fair fight.

But something da Silva said Monday, before flying to Denmark, betrayed a tinge of worry. "This is a fight," he said, according to an Associated Press account. "And if we don't win, we'll have to prepare for another one."

No one from Chicago is talking that way.

Chicago's 2016 bid is a make-or-break proposition. Look at what it took to put this bid together -- a mayor who transitioned from reluctant to obsessed, a billionaire with time on his hands, a civic community willing to pony up another $50 million for a bid campaign just a few years after digging deep for the $475 million Millennium Park -- and it's obvious another bid by Chicago would not happen any time soon.

Daley will be off the scene by 2020 and has little incentive to mount a second bid. And Chicago's civic community is tapped out.

No one will admit it. No one wants to talk this way and risk offending the International Olympic Committee, but Chicago is a one-and-done city. Let Madrid and Beijing come back with multiple bids. Chicago will take the route of Paris and New York, both of which after an affair with an Olympics bid last time acted ashamed they had entertained such silly dreams in the first place.

Da Silva, with his comments, practically has invited the Olympics voters to put Rio on hold.

You think "wait 'til next year" is tough at the end of a dreary baseball season? Try "wait 'til the next four years." But if the president of the country is saying he'll be back again, then expect the IOC to consider taking him up on the offer.

A wait-until-next-Olympiad approach would be just right for Rio in any event. On technical matters, Chicago and Rio are a wash. Rio's $14.4 billion bid and many billions more in promised government largesse might give it an edge.

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It's not up to Chicago though to mount another bid. Even if Chicago definitely wanted to, would the USOC be interested in trying for a THIRD run? And at this point, I don't think they will. Today's vote was kinda humiliating & no better turn-out than New York was (vote wise).

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I think all our sponsors should pull out

I take it you are talking about the TOP sponsors. These are global companies - they may be based in the US, but they have a global reach. Acer are Taiwanese, Omega are Swiss, Samsung are Korean and Panasonic are Japanese.

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What surprises me though, is part of the article which should read true (& that we've also discussed here on a constant basis) : why would the IOC want to compete for sponsorship & share the limelight with FIFA. In that aspect, it just makes no sense whatsover. But whatever, time to move on.

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I agree, but I am sure eager cities will still try. Don't expect Chicago to be among them.

Thing is again, would the USOC want to try for a Third time. Doesn't matter how many U.S. cities might be interested, the USOC has the final word. And after today's vote, there seems to be a hidden message from the IOC right now. If New York & Chicago couldn't do it, how can any other lower-tier U.S. city drive it home. The IOC is just not interested in the United States at this time or in the forseeable future, & it was made perfectly clear today.

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Maybe not from Chicago, but weren't other american cities announcing their plans (I remember Birmingham was one of them)?

Is there any chance Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston or even New York will prepare a bid to 2020?

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Stir the soul is right, though. A disenchanted, disengaged U.S. is not going to be good for the Olympic Movement.

I think 2018, 2020 and 2022 should all be off the table for the US. Where did they say they wouldn't mount a bid for 2020? That's definitely the right choice. I would start wondering if they were deaf, dumb and blind if they tried....

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If USOC finally decides to bid again for 2020, I wouldn't sugget to switch again the city bidding. If it's Chicago... ok, then Chicago until the end. I stated somewhere here that I reckon that the IOC doesn't like very much to have every four years a different American city bidding.

Anyway, I agree that USA should not bid for 2020 and have a break. Spain too.

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Maybe not from Chicago, but weren't other american cities announcing their plans (I remember Birmingham was one of them)?

Is there any chance Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston or even New York will prepare a bid to 2020?

TULSA 2020!!! WASILLA 2022!!!!

From what I remember, the USOC stated they wouldn't bid for 2018 but haven't decided on 2020 yet (there wouldn't have been a 2020 if Chicago was successful and stating 2020 intentions means they didn't have confidence in Chicago 2016).

CHItown '16

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Have to agree that any US bid seems 'doomed' considering the best US bid ever could not get out of the 1st round - very disheartening for us Americans who wanted to see Chicago win! Unless the IOC gets desperate, they're not coming back here for a long time. The USOC needs to focus its efforts on continuing the US Olympic team's success going forward. It'll be interesting to see what NBC's bid will be now the host is known or if ESPN or another competitor swoops in! We will know pretty soon.

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Think you have it backward there code - NBC pays more than 50% of all broadcasting revenue worldwide.... if the fees plummet, the IOC will need to replace that $ somewhere and I doubt that OGlobo in Brazil will step up with $2B USD to broadcast!

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It will be interesting if the money that is paid for the TV rights in the US plummets now that its clear the US won't host the games for a long time.

I suspect this is exactly what will happen. It may not happen all at once, but I would expect a measured decline.

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