Now that the USOC-IOC revenue sharing dispute is over, the U.S. is free and clear to once again bid for the Olympics. The 2020 Games will be awarded to either Istanbul, Madrid or Tokyo next year, meaning the 2022 Winter Olympics are the next one that the U.S. can bid for. However, the USOC has said it's going to wait until the 2024 Summer Games to submit its next Olympic bid.
There are obviously a number of cities that have announced they'd be interested in bidding for 2024. Included among them are the last two American cities to bid--New York and Chicago. New York, of course, was a finalist for this month's London Games back in 2005, while Chicago was considered the favorite to land the 2016 Games before its embarrassing first-round elimination in the final round of that vote in 2009. After that, the USOC decided not to bid again until the revenue sharing dispute was over. With that situation now settled, a 2024 bid seems likely.
New York and Chicago would both still be considered strong candidates. A New York bid would obviously have to be significantly different than the one that was proposed seven years ago (for starters, there are five new major league venues in the city, yet the lack of an Olympic Stadium remains a big problem). Chicago, meanwhile, doesn't need to change its bid much at all. Philadelphia and Los Angeles have also been mentioned, but Dallas is considered the early favorite among potential American bidders. I'm not really sure why. Dallas, obviously, is a major city that's more than capable of hosting an Olympics, but July/August in Texas? Does anybody think that would be a good idea? The heat issue is the biggest thing working against Doha in its attempts to host the Olympics. (For the record, I think the ideal Olympic host among American cities would be San Francisco.)
Whichever city ends up bidding will face some stiff competition, though. With the 2016 Games scheduled for Rio de Janeiro, Africa remains the only continent to have never hosted the Olympics. The IOC would like that to change. South Africa is going to bid for 2024 (probably Durban). South Africa is likely to win.
But there's another potential 2024 bid city that the USOC needs to keep an eye on: Toronto. Toronto is an Olympic city in waiting and is hosting the 2015 Pan American Games. If those go well (I plan on being there for at least some of those Toronto Pan Am Games), and it would be shocking if they don't, Toronto will bid for 2024. Toronto will host the Olympics eventually. However, the IOC likes to spread the Olympics around, which means the U.S. would probably have to wait at least 16 years to host after Toronto. So, if Toronto's bid is successful for either 2024 or 2028, the earliest the U.S. could host an Olympics would likely be 2040. (The opposite is also true.)
All of that brings me to my point: the USOC would be smart to wait until the 2026 Winter Games to submit an Olympic bid. Salt Lake City and Denver have expressed the most interest in hosting those Games, which would be 24 years after Salt Lake City hosted the highly successful 2002 Games (which were the most recent Olympics held in the United States).
For several reasons, I think a 2026 bid has a much greater chance of success. The number of countries (or more importantly, continents) capable of hosting the Winter Olympics is extremely limited. With the 2018 Games in Asia and the 2022 Games likely headed to Europe, it would seem North America's next in line for 2026. Salt Lake City also has the track record, which helps. Denver is notorious as the only city in history to win an Olympics (1976), but give them back. However, enough time has passed that Denver won't have that held against a potential 2026 bid. And when you think winter sports in this country, you think of Colorado.
Most importantly, anybody capable of doing math knows that 2026 is a very significant year in U.S. history (that's one of the reasons Denver was originally awarded the 1976 Winter Games). Hopefully the IOC also grasps that significance. It would be cool (and appropriate) to begin the country's Sestercentennial with the Winter Olympics returning to U.S. soil.
The IOC knows the importance of bringing the Olympics back to the U.S. sooner rather than later. Personally, I think 2024 would be a mistake, though. It would be smart to wait until 2026.
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