Olympic gold: Price tag for Chicago games at $2 billion
Chicago Olympics officials today revealed that a 2016 Summer Games held here would require some $900 million in venue construction, most of it, they said, paid for with private funds and games revenues.
That number does not include the $1.1 billion previously estimated as the cost to build an Olmypic Village for housing athletes near McCormick Place.
(Courtesy)
Price tag for Chicago games at $2 billion
January-June 2008: International Olympic Committee and consultants examine questionnaires.
June 8, 2008: IOC executive board narrows field, eliminating some cities. Finalists must pay $500,000 fee.
Jan. 14, 2009: Bid books due to IOC. Evaluators from IOC will visit cities.
Sept. 2, 2009: IOC publishes evaluations.
Oct. 2, 2009: Host city elected in Copenhagen.
Officials said they expect $2.5 billion in revenues from such sources as sponsorships and ticket sales but did not reveal what the total cost of staging the games would be.
The data was included in a questionnaire sent to the International Olympic Committee — the group that will decide if Chicago wins the right to host the games.
That decision will be announced in October of 2009. Chicago is competing against Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Baku, Azerbaijan; Doha, Qatar; Madrid, Spain; and Prague, Czech Republic.
Five permanent competition venues need to be built, making Chicago 2016’s plan “fiscally responsible and one that will leave a positive legacy for the city and the Olympic Movement,’’ the committee said in a written statement. Eleven venues already exist.
“We have reached a groundbreaking point in Chicago’s mission to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Chicago 2016 Chairman and CEO Patrick G. Ryan. “We are one step closer to bringing our bid’s vision to life and are eager to reveal Chicago’s plans to welcome the world to our great city should we receive the honor.”
The Olympic Village, to be built near McCormick Place, is at the heart of the plan. Ninety-one percent of the athletes will be within 15 minutes of their competition venues, the Chicago committee said.
Games would be held from July 22 to Aug. 7, with the Paralympic Games for handicapped athletes from Aug. 18 to Aug. 28.
The average ticket would be “less than” $75, with 45 percent of the tickets less than $50. Some 500,000 tickets would be set aside for children as part of “Chicago’s youth outreach.’’ Total ticket revenue was pegged at $705 million.
The committee cites a 2007 Zogby poll that showed 76 percent of Chicago area public supported hosting a games. The committee told the IOC there is “no organized opposition” to the bid but said it is talking with groups that have “expressed concerns.’’
The IOC executive board will cut the field in June. In Madrid, bid leader Mercedes Coghen told reporters she expects that shortlist to include four cities, hers included.
Coghen called Chicago’s bid “a little general,’’ adding, “I think it’s the little things that [the IOC] really wants spelled out.’’
Tokyo was also doing a bit of boasting today. “Only Tokyo can do it, I believe,’’ said Ichiro Kono, head of the 2016 Tokyo Olympics Campaign Office.
Japanese officials touted a compact Olympics with 95 percent of its venues within five miles of central Tokyo, with a main stadium to be built on the waterfront in downtown Tokyo. It estimates a cost of $2.7 billion.
In Doha, Qatar, which borders Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf, officials proposed holding the Olympics in October to avoid summer heat.
