Boston Olympics organizers release original, unredacted bid

Organizers of Boston’s bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics are releasing the full, unredacted version of the bid that won over the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Questioned Thursday at a Boston Globe/Fox 25 debate, bid chairman Steve Pagliuca said the documents would be made public Friday.

Boston 2024 officials told the USOC that it would cost “in excess of a million dollars” to launch a ballot campaign and that “opponents to an initiative petition have multiple opportunities to object and intervene throughout the process at every step, including through reviewing signatures for proper certification”. A referendum is planned next year on the bid.

The bid has been beset by polling numbers in the 40s that have failed to move significantly upward, thanks in part to an active opposition concerned about how much taxpayer money might be spent on the games.

On Friday, a person familiar with the bid says the U.S. Olympic Committee gave Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker until the end of the day to declare whether he supports the movement to bring the 2024 Olympics to Boston.

“This plan is the product of intensive consultation with the world’s leading and most experienced insurance brokers who have spoken to various insurers and reinsurers, and we are confident that it provides robust coverage for the range of risks associated with major undertakings like hosting the Games”, Lawson said.

In regards to the proposed budget, the original bid indicated a total cost of $4.7 billion and $500 million deficit. Boston 2024’s revised proposal, released in June, shows a $4.6 billion budget with a surplus of just over $200 million.

No Boston Olympics issued a statement on Friday blasting bid leaders for withholding the information.

Speaking to reporters at the State House press conference Friday, Baker repeatedly pointed to an expected report from an independent consultant, tapped to review the proposal put forward by the private nonprofit known as Boston 2024. While it served that objective well, it was not meant to be a final or operable plan.

Boston 2024 released a partial version of its winning bid in January, after the USOC picked Boston over Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C. But the privately funded organization declined to release the full version of the bid, citing “proprietary information” the USOC didn’t want disclosed.

Chris Dempsey, chair of No Boston Olympics, along with Olympic opponent Andrew Zimbalist, is set to appear live in a televised debate with Pagliuca and Boston 2024 board member Daniel Doctoroff on Thursday.

USOC Chairman Larry Probst has said he needs to see support grow sooner rather than later.