Toronto 2015 Pan American Games

[wyliepoon]

Not me. I have heard of the Pan Ams.....in the western hemisphere they are a pretty big event. For most south/central american nations they are a very big deal (as it is their chance to win medals in large numbers).

Considering that Toronto 2015 is only a year away from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, it's safe to say that Brazil would be very focused on Toronto if they had something like our "Own the Podium" program. I wonder how many of Brazil's ~200 million people would be tuning into coverage of Toronto 2015 to learn more about who they would be cheering for at the Olympics the next year.

 

[Marko]

What really matters--I'd never heard of the Pan-Am games until I heard about Toronto's bid. How many others think this is the real story?

I think it says more about that sheet of glass you live behind than the event itself.

The Pan-Ams are big. Not in terms of Olympic-sized-TV-coverage big (at least not here) - but in terms of number of events, number of participants and number of visitors to the host city - they absolutely dwarf the Winter Olympics. There was billions pumped into Vancouver with a lot less leftover for ongoing use than what the Pan-Ams could do for Toronto, if done right. Sadly, they're appeasing all sorts of people left and right which will devalue not only the games but the legacy items as well. Who the hell needs a soccer stadium outside a dead-end residential suburb in Burlington? Put it somewhere that it will get continuous, ongoing use. Putting it in the GTA could become a permanent home for the Argos, or *gasp* a CFL expansion team in Mississauga.

 

[adma]

Not me. I have heard of the Pan Ams.....in the western hemisphere they are a pretty big event. For most south/central american nations they are a very big deal (as it is their chance to win medals in large numbers). I think their image gets hurt in Canada because we rank them 3rd (behind Olympics and Commonwealth games) when we think of the summer multi-sport games...we also rank them below things like the winter Olympics because we are a 4 season country.......so they get less profile here than they do in some places.

In most of the Americas, though, they are the second biggest multi-sport event and get decent attention.

Ah, but note the "most of the Americas" you cite. I suspect that wherever "gringo culture" rules, i.e. Canada and whichever under-Latinized parts of the USA exist, the Pan Ams are as peripheral as professional soccer. Or, to reverse the equation, as peripheral as professional hockey is within most US jurisdictions outside of "Original Six" hinterland...

 

[Disparishun]

Ah, but note the "most of the Americas" you cite. I suspect that wherever "gringo culture" rules, i.e. Canada and whichever under-Latinized parts of the USA exist, the Pan Ams are as peripheral as professional soccer.

Yep. The Pan-Ams are big. They're just not big in Canada. Since we're not, as it turns out, the centre of the universe, this will give us an opportunity to give us a chance to tap into something big. It's not that complicated.

It would be deeply embarrassing if we pooch the Pan-Ams. We'll be in the eyes of every country in the Americas. Excluding Canada and the U.S., that's half a billion people: Brazil, Spanish-speaking Lat Am, and all the Caribbean countries. If we ever thought we wanted Toronto to play a role on the Americas stage -- tourism, diplomacy, international institutions, and so forth -- that would be the time to show why we should be considered.

Or we can just leave that to BA, Rio/SP, Mexico City, and the other non-U.S. metropolises of the Americas. Our choice, really.

 

[jn_12]

^ well said.

I'd actually argue that these games are what you make of them. If you create an event that gets people excited it can forever change the way people look at them. Vancouver is going to change the winter games experience, and these games have the opportunity to change the way people look at the Pan Ams. It's just a matter of if we want to make the most of it. If we decide to do them half-assed, then don't expect people to give more than a half-assed response.

 

[syn]

The Pan Ams are big, and certainly big if you're talking about the size of the actual games. From an exposure perspective, they aren't that big. I don't even think the last few games were televised.

That said, to dismiss them as nothing would also be inaccurate. I'd say urbandreamer is in the minority when it comes to being aware of them.

 

[TOareaFan]

The Pan Ams are big, and certainly big if you're talking about the size of the actual games. From an exposure perspective, they aren't that big. I don't even think the last few games were televised.

You are correct in saying the last games were not televised - here! They are/were televised in the rest of the Americas.....again, just because Canada ranks these games behind the Commonwealth games in importance does not make them un-important. Most of the countries involved rank them second in importance to the summer olympics.

I would expect that next year's Pan Ams (in Mexico) will be televised here....and that should get a bit more excitement going here once the masses realize that what we have won is the right to host a pretty big event.

 

[Hairball]

The Winter Olympics have always been a big event in Canada, Vancouver didn't make Canadians suddenly follow the winter games.

I guess this will be an opportunity to grow the Pan Am Games in Canada. People were pretty excited about the FIFA U20 world cup when it was hosted here, so maybe these Pan Am games might get some attention as well. Didn't Winnipeg host these games in 1999? I don't think it really made much of an impact there though...

But some new facilities here in Toronto would be great to see.

 

[adma]

You are correct in saying the last games were not televised - here! They are/were televised in the rest of the Americas.....again, just because Canada ranks these games behind the Commonwealth games in importance does not make them un-important. Most of the countries involved rank them second in importance to the summer olympics.

But, again...why single out Canada? And when it comes to "second in importance", well...what's the competition? In the States, the Pan Ams would be a *very* distant second, because...the US ain't Commonwealth, and other than maybe Paralympics there really aren't any other games of such a scale, unless the Superbowl counts. And it'd be more distant still if the USA didn't have a heavy Latin population with ties to the rest of the Americas (and the media networks which serve said population).

Then again, from the other end...other when they actually take place here, do the Commonwealth Games really figure any more in Canada these days than the Pan Ams do? I certainly don't find myself terribly engaged to them...

 

[Marko]

I certainly don't find myself terribly engaged to them...

Somehow I think that you'd have trouble getting engaged in anything that involves athleticism, competition... co-ordination? Maybe just wait 6 years and hurl epithets at the facilities, eh?

 

[jn_12]

I'd put the Commonwealth Games and Pan Ams on par with eachother. I don't think there would be a strong response from anyone if they were forced to choose which of the two was the grander event. And that's fine. If you look at the cities hosting the next two Commonwealth Games, I'd say they're Toronto-esque (Delhi and Glasgow) in terms of stature.

And Adma, what's your point? We all know the Pan Ams aren't on the radar of most Americans. When it comes to sport, most things that are important on the global scale aren't important to Americans. I don't think anyone is trying to suggest that these games will suddenly be landscape changing and enthralling for American audiences. That isn't the point of hosting them. Will any Americans watch it on TV? Probably not. NBC has trouble packaging and selling the Olympics to its people and surely we wouldn't expect that to suddenly change for a Pan Am games. But will some Americans come here because the event (and hopefully the "cultural" events that will go along with it) is being held close to their border? I'd wager you could get a good number if you promote it properly.

 

[Disparishun]

But, again...why single out Canada? And when it comes to "second in importance", well...what's the competition? In the States, the Pan Ams would be a *very* distant second, because...the US ain't Commonwealth, and other than maybe Paralympics there really aren't any other games of such a scale, unless the Superbowl counts. And it'd be more distant still if the USA didn't have a heavy Latin population with ties to the rest of the Americas (and the media networks which serve said population).

Right. Pan-Ams: not big in Canada. Not big in the U.S. Big in the rest of the Americas. Half a billion people, 20-odd countries, all of whom will be focussed on us. We can ignore them. Or we can step up and present Toronto as a metropolis that the rest of the Americas ought to notice and engage more deeply with. Our choice.

Is it really that complicated? Yes, we all know that, unlike the rest of the Americas, the U.S. and Canada aren't so big on the Pan Ams. The point is, that's not the point.

 

[golodhendil]

And it'd be more distant still if the USA didn't have a heavy Latin population with ties to the rest of the Americas (and the media networks which serve said population).

And... these Latinos/Hispanics are somehow dispensible and don't count as "Americans"?

 

[adma]

Somehow I think that you'd have trouble getting engaged in anything that involves athleticism, competition... co-ordination? Maybe just wait 6 years and hurl epithets at the facilities, eh?

Listen, jerk, you'd have to be a real idiot to notice that, like so many not-necessarily-athletic others out there, I'd have been quote engaged to the Winter Olympics even if they took place outside of Canada. We all know that the regular Summer/Winter Olympics are the "official" sporting event for armchair non-athletes. Don't we?

 

[TOareaFan]

But, again...why single out Canada? And when it comes to "second in importance", well...what's the competition? In the States, the Pan Ams would be a *very* distant second, because...the US ain't Commonwealth, and other than maybe Paralympics there really aren't any other games of such a scale, unless the Superbowl counts. And it'd be more distant still if the USA didn't have a heavy Latin population with ties to the rest of the Americas (and the media networks which serve said population).

Then again, from the other end...other when they actually take place here, do the Commonwealth Games really figure any more in Canada these days than the Pan Ams do? I certainly don't find myself terribly engaged to them...

I think you missed my point and sorry if my inability to be clear has upset you.

All I am trying to do is explain why Pan Ams get relatively little coverage here. In terms of importance, our sporting heirarchy and tv netwroks have ranked the Pan Ams 3rd amongst multi-sport summer games. Yes we seem to care more about the Commonwealth games because we do cover them on tv and other media.......I was simply pointing out that most of the other countries in the Americas do not compete in the Commonwealth games and, therefore, the Pan Ams are "second" in their minds and get more coverage.

That is all I was saying