Thomas Bach gets what he wants: A U.S. bid for 2024 Olympics

Tuesday’s city council vote backing the Olympic bid contains wording that allows Los Angeles City ongoing scrutiny of possible bid costs.

Boston had been set to be the U.S.’s bid city for the 2024 Olympics, but as it turned out, too many residents there were concerned that hosting the Olympics would turn into an expensive debacle.

Los Angeles 2024’s decision to incorporate a skateboarding venue into their plans to host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics may be viewed as premature as the sport has not yet been accepted onto the Olympic Programme as part of the global Roller Sports Federation’s (FIRS) bid for inclusion for the Tokyo 2020 Games and beyond.

The U.S. Olympic Committee made its final list Tuesday.

If Los Angeles is selected as the host city by the International Olympic Committee, it would join London as the second three-time host as L.A. was the host in both 1932 and 1984.

L.A. replaces Boston, which dropped out after critics questioned city taxpayer liability for potentially more than $1 billion should expenses exceed estimates or revenues fall short.

Los Angeles says it has 85 percent of proposed venues (including the Memorial Coliseum) in place or already planned, regardless if the city gets the games.

Potential foreign bidders include Rome; Nairobi, Kenya; Casablanca, Morocco; Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa; Doha, Qatar; Melbourne, Australia; Paris; Hamburg, Germany; and St. Petersburg, Russia.

The vote comes after council members received assurances from city lawyers that the resolution would not expose taxpayers to unchecked spending or debt.

Chicago also chose to bid just once, for 2016.

In some cases, cities have seen surpluses, such as Los Angeles, which reaped more than $200 million after the 1984 Games.

“In essence, we have bought the city time to properly negotiate”, Wesson said.

The 1984 Summer Games all but saved the Olympic movement, establishing a new model for cost control and maximizing revenue through corporate sponsorships.

“The focus needs to be on convincing the 55 or so International Olympic Committee members that Los Angeles is the best city to host the Olympics“.

“The Olympics are such a financial risk that the mayor of Boston politely handed back the USOC invitation and surrendered its nomination for fear that the city simply couldn’t afford it”, Plaschke wrote.

The 2024 contest gives Los Angeles a chance to win a contested bid election for the first time. The Council also authorized the city administrative officer to hire independent analysts to keep watch over the financial and other dealings. The bid committee would need to partner with NBCUniversal to build a media center and with a yet-to-be-named developer for the athletes village. “Coupled with the city’s culture of creativity and innovation, we are confident LA can deliver an outstanding Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024”.