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The Olympics in Houston? Could it work?


ClutchCity

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http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2013/02/20/houston-invited-to-join-2024-olympic.html

 

Here's an article that explains how Houston could make a bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games. It would do a great job of catapulting Houston into the global spotlight but I don't see how Houston could pull this off effectively. It would definetly spur a bunch of development preceding the games, but afterwards I feel like they would just be left to rot. What's your take?

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The article said that 35 US cities are being considered, so I would put this in the extremely doubtful category...

I do think that Houston could pretty easily pull it off. Most of the facilities already exist and Reliant Park could be enhanced to serve as a central venue. The problem is that most of the existing venues would be about 20 yrs old at that point which is not a great selling point.

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Houston is already in the spotlight.

 

Nationally, and internationally, probably not to the level that the Olympic games would bring. 

 

Imagine the craziness that was traffic this last weekend, but expanded over 17 days. That doesn't include games that are played for the Olympics outside of the 'normal' 17 days, or the media circus that would be here days/weeks in advance of the games, and all the support staff for that.

 

Personally, I'd probably take a vacation to get away from town during the Olympics, if Houston ever hosted.

 

I think Houston is at a HUGE disadvantage before anyone even considers hospitality, available venues, etc. Looking at a list of cities in recent history that have hosted the olympics, LA in 84 is the only one that I can see that I don't think had an EXTENSIVE network of subway/rail/trolly at the time of hosting.

 

After being a casual observer of the freeways from this past weekend, our city would not be able to handle it.

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I think Houston is at a HUGE disadvantage before anyone even considers hospitality, available venues, etc. Looking at a list of cities in recent history that have hosted the olympics, LA in 84 is the only one that I can see that I don't think had an EXTENSIVE network of subway/rail/trolly at the time of hosting.

Actually if all the planned light rail lines get built Houston would be pretty close to the amount of rail that Atlanta had for the Olympics and a fair amount of that was constructed for the Olympics. The obvious difference is that MARTA isn't LRT.

I've changed my mind about this, btw.

Houston needs to go all out on this, because we cannot allow Dallas to get the Olympics.

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Actually if all the planned light rail lines get built Houston would be pretty close to the amount of rail that Atlanta had for the Olympics and a fair amount of that was constructed for the Olympics.

Houston needs to go all out on this, because we cannot allow Dallas to get the Olympics.

I definitely think the Uptown and University Line would get as well as connecting lines to Hobby and IAH which is really needed, but is probably a long time coming otherwise.

It'd also showcase UH and Rice's campus' as we would probably use their tracks and other facilities.

After you mentioned Dallas I agree we have to put in an honest effort and we're better than Atlanta so why not have an Olympics here if they've had it before.

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While I think we could pull it off logistically (if Atlanta could, we certainly can), I think it's a bad idea unless they let us do it in the spring or the fall.  Otherwise we'll just have thousands of journalists from all over the world writing how miserable our summers are.  I have a hard time inflicting that on the athletes, too.  If the U.S. puts forth a bid city, it will be one of the big 5: LA, SF, Chicago, NYC, or DC.  And I'd say SF and NYC are the top contenders.  In addition, a *lot* of local money will be required, and there is a serious opportunity cost for that.  That money could go into all sorts of local projects with much better long-term value.

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World class athletes are not as affected by our weather as you may think. Many of the events would be held indoors, and are thus completely unaffected by the weather. If the Astrodome were converted to a track and field venue, the upwards of 90% of the events would be climate controlled. Further, most outdoor events would be scheduled to miss the hottest weather. Early morning and evenings would be common. Admittedly, obese sportswriters would be sweating their way from the buffet to their taxi, and would likely complain, but we've made it this far with people complaining about our climate. We could survive the Olympics, too.

 

It is also not required that the Olympics be held during July and August. The 1956 Games in Melbourne were held in late November. Both the Tokyo and Mexico City Games were held in late October. Seoul and Sydney were held in late September. Late September in Houston is warm, but tolerable. Early October is ideal, with average highs between 83 and 86 degrees.

 

As for "opportunity costs", the money put into infrastructure is usually money that would not have been spent but for the Olympics, or it is spent on accelerated schedules for already needed infrastructure. And, the cost of free publicity for the city is nearly incalculable. And, many of the sports venues can be used later for additional events, such as regional and national track, cycling and other sports, which brings tourist revenue to the city. However, there is a limit to the worthiness of such an expense. The Olympics has been butting up against that ceiling for years.

 

I'd take a wait and see approach to this. If a bid can be produced at a reasonable cost, it may be worth pursuing. An overpriced bid submitted to massage our ego is not.

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I would hate to have the Olympics in Houston.  Olympics inevitably go way over budget, leave the city in debt and saddled with unneeded facilities.  Yes, it brings a brief shot of attention, but I would be stunned if there were any connection to long-term economic growth.  No matter how much events are air-conditioned, writers will still complain about Houston as a bug-infested swamp.  On top of all of this, the IOC has recently tended to favor "alpha" cities for the Olympics, since apparently they were not thrilled about Atlanta. 

 

I honestly don't see any value in Houston trying to bid.

 

 

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Here's the Chronicle story.  Chicago has announced that it wisely is not getting sucked in again.  They invited 35 cities to bid!  Including Rochester, Tulsa, and Columbus.  Really?

 

"It's down to Tulsa vs. Paris at the IOC... decision any moment... Tulsa wins!!!"

 

Thought you were joking, but here's the link: http://www.13wham.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3950195http://www.13wham.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3950195

 

As an ex-Rochesterian, I'm proud to say that the Special Olympics has been hosted in the region, with great success. Let some other city enjoy the spotlight.

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Whoever ends up as the nominated city from the US has an excellent shot at winning since it will have been 28 years since the US hosted the summer games. Most of the major regions of the world have been covered in the intervening time.

 

Except Africa.  Since they've hosted the World Cup, look for South Africa to have a leg up.

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Rochester would be a great location but unless the city went on a big-time building spree, events would have to spread from Buffalo to Syracuse.

 

Rochester has beautiful summer weather. It sits just South of Lake Ontario (sailing events). It's loaded with canals and rivers (canoe/kayak and rowing events). Nearby are the Finger Lakes for other events. I suppose a ton of the local colleges could host events (U of Rochester, RIT, Nazareth, Roberts Wesleyan, St John Fisher, Hobart and William Smith, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, Keuka, etc...)

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Here's the Chronicle story.  Chicago has announced that it wisely is not getting sucked in again.  They invited 35 cities to bid!  Including Rochester, Tulsa, and Columbus.  Really?

 

"It's down to Tulsa vs. Paris at the IOC... decision any moment... Tulsa wins!!!"

 

You have to wonder about an organization that includes cities such as Rochester (15,000 rooms), Tulsa (13,000 rooms) and Columbus (25,000 rooms) on a list of potential hosts for an event, one of the basic requirements of which is 45,000 hotel rooms.  WTF?

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You have to wonder about an organization that includes cities such as Rochester (15,000 rooms), Tulsa (13,000 rooms) and Columbus (25,000 rooms) on a list of potential hosts for an event, one of the basic requirements of which is 45,000 hotel rooms.  WTF?

 

I agree.  Makes you wonder.  I guess they're assuming some serious construction over the next decade?  Maybe that some local college campuses would make a major investment in dorm space that could be used?

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I agree. Makes you wonder. I guess they're assuming some serious construction over the next decade? Maybe that some local college campuses would make a major investment in dorm space that could be used?

Tulsa put together a bid for the 2020 games as well. They leaned pretty heavily on resources from OKC as well.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/items/tulsa2020.PDF

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From Tulsa's 2020 bid it seems as if cultural attractiveness is a pretty key part of setting the cities apart from another. With the recent publicity that Houston has gotten for its cultural diversity and the like we seem to have a much better chance of getting it then Dallas. Which is all that matters.

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Tulsa put together a bid for the 2020 games as well. They leaned pretty heavily on resources from OKC as well.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/items/tulsa2020.PDF

 

Very interesting presentation.  Thanks for passing along.  Still a big stretch, even looping in OKC.  Relying on shallow draft cruise ships to come up the river? Really?  Native American theme is an interesting angle.  I think they over-rely on the Atlanta benchmark though, which is problematic in that the Olympics have moved far beyond the level of 1996 Atlanta (see Beijing and London), and also because everything I've read says that they were disappointed with the Olympic experience in Atlanta.  Clearing the Atlanta hurdle is no longer sufficient.

 

Geographic and cultural/racial fairness seems to be a big driver for the IOC, which explains why everybody says South Africa is a lock in the next couple of decades.  I could see Dubai making the same argument for the Middle East.  If North America is due for a rotation, I see San Francisco and Toronto being the leading contenders, and they both set a seriously high bar.

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I don't think Tulsa ever realistically thought that they would get the games, but they saw it as an opportunity to generate a lot of news coverage that they would not otherwise receive that would generally raise the profile of the city. It would be interesting to see if they have been able to leverage this into any measurable business opportunities.

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  • 1 year later...

anyone know why Houston never really pursued this for 2024? it would of been a huge opportunity to boost Houston to (even higher) international status, and show off all the progress weve made since we were last big on an international level (the 80s).

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anyone know why Houston never really pursued this for 2024? it would of been a huge opportunity to boost Houston to (even higher) international status, and show off all the progress weve made since we were last big on an international level (the 80s).

 

A burst of common sense is my guess.

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A burst of common sense is my guess.

Heh, I see you never cared for the idea of a Houston Olympics. You don't thing NRG Park could be turned into a successful mixed use "Olympic Park" after the games are over?

I think we are better suited to host the games than Dallas, who made it decently far in the bid selections.

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Heh, I see you never cared for the idea of a Houston Olympics. You don't thing NRG Park could be turned into a successful mixed use "Olympic Park" after the games are over?

I think we are better suited to host the games than Dallas, who made it decently far in the bid selections.

 

Ya know, Houston made it to the final 4 US cities in the competition for the 2012 bid; a good deal further in the selection process than Dallas has ever gotten.

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Were you guys upset that Houston landed the 2017 Super Bowl?

 

To the extent that it diverts public funds that might be used for other purposes, yes  

 

 

I'm convinced that the long-term PR value of hosting Olympics, Super Bowls or World Cups* is nil.  Absolutely nil.  They are almost always predicated on building stadiums and the like that would never make economic sense on their own. 

 

I don't think that NRG Park could be turned into a successful mixed-use Olympic Park afterwards, especially in light of the fact that after 15 years nobody has been able to figure out an economic re-use for the Astrodome.  

 

 

* Someone might want to prove the point by taking a poll of Brazilian taxpayers today.   :P

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