Toronto 2024 Olympic Bid (Dead)

[DKsan]

I think Toronto could do it. In 2008, we were in the final round with Beijing for bidding, and in the second vote, we still beat out PARIS.

There aren't going to be an over the top Olympics like Beijing for a good many years (unless China decides to bid for 2024 too)...

 

[TOareaFan]

I love Aubut -- that's awesome. So... Montreal was a well-run Olympics, and QC, WHICH DOES NOT HAVE A MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH, will be considered for a bid? When a guy "stretches the truth" so much that it's a salt-water taffy pull, why would anyone give him money to do anything?

Considering the political climate at the time (it was the first of the series of "boycott" Olympics) the IOC do consider the Montreal Olympics a success....so Aubut is not stretching the truth at all. Domestically, our view of the 1976 Olympics is different because of the financial aspects of them....but the IOC would not be all that worried about that.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Considering the political climate at the time (it was the first of the series of "boycott" Olympics) the IOC do consider the Montreal Olympics a success....so Aubut is not stretching the truth at all. Domestically, our view of the 1976 Olympics is different because of the financial aspects of them....but the IOC would not be all that worried about that.

Ummm... Whether the IOC considers Montreal a success and whether the head of the COC should blithely say Toronto should bid because it would be a success 'like Montreal' are two different things, n'est-ce pas? Also, the absurdity of continually bringing up QC is weird, although I'm sure there's a domestic/internal political thing to it.

 

[toforumer]

Toronto's 2024 Olympic bid is such a hot topic over at the Gamesbids.com forums. I can't wait until more news to come out including the city report. Heard via that website that preliminary talks for the stadium are to be huge and a grand scale.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Toronto's 2024 Olympic bid is such a hot topic over at the Gamesbids.com forums. I can't wait until more news to come out including the city report. Heard via that website that preliminary talks for the stadium are to be huge and a grand scale.

Excellent! Because we need a huge track & field stadium we can poorly adapt for NFL football 4 times a year post-Olympics!

 

[blacktrojan3921]

If anything it might be the Rogers Centre in which they'll temporarily expand it to reach the minimum threshhold and make huge upgrades to it After all, Barcelona did the same thing with their Olympic Stadium during the 1992 Summer Olympics, Mexico City in 1968, Rome in 1960, Tokyo in 1964.

I think the IOC is beginning to realize that making brand new centerpiece stadiums for every single SOG is no doubt going to scare away some potential hosts, so they are allowing cities to use existing facilities if they get heavily upgraded and hold enough seats for the duration of the games. Though to be honest, if the IOC were to do this now, Toronto would be far behind considering all the screw-ups the city seems to be making when it comes to transportation infrastructure.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

Build the Olympic Stadium - convert it into a new outdoor stadium for the Jays after - like what happened in Atlanta in 1996 and get rid of the Rogers Centre

 

[TOareaFan]

If anything it might be the Rogers Centre in which they'll temporarily expand it to reach the minimum threshhold and make huge upgrades to it After all, Barcelona did the same thing with their Olympic Stadium during the 1992 Summer Olympics, Mexico City in 1968, Rome in 1960, Tokyo in 1964.

Aside from the difficulties in expanding the seating of a stadium with a very big roof structure, I don't believe the floor of SkyDome is big enough for a track.

You might just find that expanding Roger's Centre requires more money than building new.

 

[sixrings]

Aside from the difficulties in expanding the seating of a stadium with a very big roof structure, I don't believe the floor of SkyDome is not big enough for a track.

You might just find that expanding Roger's Centre requires more money than building new.

It's not big enough for a proper track. This is why Johnson vs bailey ran on a hybrid track. How would you expand it? Cut it in half then add something to the middle to make it wider. It's not possible. They will have to build a new stadium that can be repurposed for NFL. I'm not saying that it's a good use of a stadium 8 games a year but it's better then building something that will just get torn down. Also we can't build the Olympic stadium and convert it to a baseball stadium since baseball parks that are being built now are often much smaller in scale then even the rogers centre.

Anyways I'd be happy for an Olympic games even if it is a money pit.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

Also we can't build the Olympic stadium and convert it to a baseball stadium since baseball parks that are being built now are often much smaller in scale then even the rogers centre.

Turner Field seats 49,000 now after it being 85,000 for the 1996 games

 

[sixrings]

Turner Field seats 49,000 now after it being 85,000 for the 1996 games

Skydome fits 55k so building a stadium 6k smaller serves what point? Where as if you build a 90k seat stadium for the Olympics you could use that exact same number for NFL games. Btw 49k is still big in comparison to what baseball stadiums are being built to today, minus Yankee Stadium. No one can sell that many seats for the majority of a 81 Home game schedule, so why build it.

 

[junior43]

Excellent! Because we need a huge track & field stadium we can poorly adapt for NFL football 4 times a year post-Olympics!

Technically it's 8 home games (plus exhibition games and playoffs) I can see your point though, but the NFL is a huge tourism draw. I've done a guys weekend NFL/NHL trip to the US for the last several years and the hotels near the football stadiums are usually sold out. Is it worth it? who knows? Is an Olympics really worth it? Who knows......

I actually don't want the Olympics for the sports, I want it for the infrastructure projects (and an NFL stadium) that get higher priorities because they commited to them for the games - didn't really work out on the Pan am's though for transit, but the Atheletes village should be a success post Pan Am (very interested to see how sales go afterwards). I'd also like to see if the Pan Am's lose money (and how much) prior to committing to an Olympics as well. We should also experience a tourism boost post Olympics similiar to Vancouver.

Not the greatest reasons for hosting them, but it would get Toronto's name out there - and if we get an NFL team out of it, I'd be all over it. Just not the Bills......unless we can rename them.....

 

[innsertnamehere]

I doubt we will get an NFL team. the CFL is currently a major feeder league for the NFL, and the Argonauts supply a lot of the funds that supply that league. if toronto were to get an NFL team, it would essentially kill the CFL in it's current form, which makes the NFL unwilling to stick a team here. Toronto may very well be the largest untapped market for football, but it is not worth the loss of the NFLs feeder league.

 

[GenerationW]

Build the Olympic Stadium - convert it into a new outdoor stadium for the Jays after - like what happened in Atlanta in 1996 and get rid of the Rogers Centre

The Jays have a corporate master with deep enough pockets to pay for a new playpen. The last thing they deserve is a taxpayer-funded stadium considering they already all but stole the taxpayer-funded stadium they currently use thanks to Paul Godfrey's shenanigans.

I doubt we will get an NFL team. the CFL is currently a major feeder league for the NFL, and the Argonauts supply a lot of the funds that supply that league. if toronto were to get an NFL team, it would essentially kill the CFL in it's current form, which makes the NFL unwilling to stick a team here. Toronto may very well be the largest untapped market for football, but it is not worth the loss of the NFLs feeder league.

The NFL doesn't want to come here permanently for a number of reasons, and other than maybe Ted Rogers, nobody in Toronto with the do-re-mi to pay for a team and a stadium has ever stood up and made their intentions known.

Also, the chances of upper levels of government paying for a Toronto Olympic stadium that would be suitable for the NFL are probably less than zero.

 

[junior43]

The Jays have a corporate master with deep enough pockets to pay for a new playpen. The last thing they deserve is a taxpayer-funded stadium considering they already all but stole the taxpayer-funded stadium they currently use thanks to Paul Godfrey's shenanigans.

The NFL doesn't want to come here permanently for a number of reasons, and other than maybe Ted Rogers, nobody in Toronto with the do-re-mi to pay for a team and a stadium has ever stood up and made their intentions known.

Also, the chances of upper levels of government paying for a Toronto Olympic stadium that would be suitable for the NFL are probably less than zero.

Rogers and BCE bought the Leafs for 1.3 Billion 18 months ago, I wouldn't be surprised if both teamed up again.

It would be extremely difficult to pull off, but they could possibly work with the Province to build a stadium that could be used for the Olympics as well.

All that being said, and as much as I want an NFL team here, the NFL won't allow it IMO. Both the NFL and CFL know, putting a NFL team in Toronto has a very strong chance of killing the CFL or reducing it substantially. The CFL is strong out west, but they need Toronto to be there for TV revenues. If the Argos ever closed up for other reasons, we'd get a NFL team pronto.