Should Detroit bid to be 2024 Summer Olympics host?
Detroit was one of 35 cities to receive a letter from the United States Olympic Committee to gauge interest in hosting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. According to an MLive story, a Facebook page already has been created in support of a bid by the city.
The Facebook page supporting a Detroit Olympic bid has already come up with a new logo for the city.
From Facebook
Less than an hour away from downtown Detroit, Michigan Stadium and possibly the Crisler Center could see Olympic action if the city won the right to host the games.
Any bid by Detroit to be an Olympic city, if one materialized, would be a significant long shot. Both Detroit as well as the state of Michigan would have to invest a massive amount of money in the city in order to meet requirements, which include 45,000 hotel rooms, operations space for 15,000 media and broadcasters, and public transportation service to sporting venues.
Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2
Comments
hadit
Tue, Feb 26, 2013 : 12:20 a.m.
Good God, NO! Can you imagine? Do not let Detroit represent the U.S.
Piledriver
Sat, Feb 23, 2013 : 1:30 a.m.
There wouldn't be a shortage of starter guns for the track races, that's for sure.
dae
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 8:49 p.m.
I think the bid should be more for a Michigan-wide event rather than just Detroit. Opening and Closing cermonies (with the largest crowds) can be at Michigan Stadium Track and Field can be at Ryearson (pull out the fake turf for the Games) Basketball at the new downtown arena shared by the Pistons and Wings (with Crisler and Breslin hosting games) EMU Convo Center can host some indoor events as well Oakland U, U fo D, and Wayne State. Golf where they used to hold the TPC event We could take things out to Grand Rapids, Lansing, and other areas as well, but it could be done.
DonBee
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 5:58 p.m.
Bejing built beatiful builds for the Olympics, but now stuggles to find the money to maintain them and most of them sit empty - the water cube was converted to a children's park from a swimming facility for instance. If the Chinese Government can't afford to maintain the highly visible symbols in their capital city, then what makes anyone think that Detroit would be able to maintain 4 or 5 billion dollars worth of sports facilities?
Frustrated in A2
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 5:07 p.m.
You have to spend money to make money, this would be an awesome opportunity for Detroit and southeast Michigan as a whole!!!
ccsummer
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 7:25 p.m.
That's true but there's NO money to spend so it's just absurd.
Jaime
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 4:48 p.m.
When was the last time an Olympics actually made money? The majority of the funding comes from the public sector (ie. tax dollars). Good luck with that.
Z-man
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 4:25 p.m.
Detroit? Why not Benghazi or Damascus?
YpsiGreen
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 3:14 p.m.
Maybe let Windsor try for them instead?
Ignatz
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 3:02 p.m.
Detroit can't even maintain itself as a 1750 era village, let alone host a modern Olympics.
A2comments
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 2:20 p.m.
Beyond absurd. NO effort should be expended by any elected official in Detroit. Detroit is a disaster, hence the new emergency manager.
Ren Farley
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 2:03 p.m.
It would be great to see the city of Detroit hosting the Olympics. It was be a great stimulus for the region. Do I recall that Mitt Romney got the federal government to pay for much of the infastructutre for the winter Olympics that were held in Utah. Detroit has tremendous potential. Having the Olympics in Detroit would be good for its growth and revitalization.
Tex Treeder
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 1:23 p.m.
This is a story from The Onion, isn't it? I knew it.
TheJosephGrace
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 4:02 a.m.
If people continue to associate Detroit with negative images the city will not recover. The Olympics would bring positive recognition to Detroit on a worldwide scale.
beardown
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 3:40 a.m.
I just checked out the facebook page. It was started by someone who is starting a run for city council on the platform of bringing more entertainment dollars into Detroit. She will fit right in with the other delusional city council members who are waiting for bribes and/or kickbacks.
boo
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 3:39 a.m.
Ummm..... NO!
USRepublic
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 2:26 a.m.
Ha ha... April Fools...
tom swift jr.
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 2:06 a.m.
An absurd idea.
brian
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 1:45 a.m.
Um, no.
walker101
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 1:12 a.m.
No police, no fire department and no leaders and now you want this?
Linda Peck
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 12:44 a.m.
Oh please! With what? It is a nice idea, but maybe down the road when it has rehabed.
GoNavy
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 12:35 a.m.
They Olympics have never made money for any city. Since the city of Detroit is already in the hole, I think the answer is obvious.
Ann English
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 12:25 a.m.
It has taken other cities decades to pay off their Olympic debts.
a2citizen
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 11:43 p.m.
The olympic committee is a little too late to the Detroit graft party. They will have to find another mark to fatten their bank accounts.
Bryan Ellinger
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 11:40 p.m.
Hosting the Olympics is a net loss. Ask Atlanta, Sydney, Athens(!), Beijing, and London how that went for them. Detroit doesn't have the money to prepare. Detroit government doesn't have the integrity to prepare. Thankfully, the IOC will not be swayed. http://goo.gl/AgXof http://goo.gl/BR5hR http://goo.gl/ZvYu0 http://goo.gl/onGRg
ccsummer
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 7:22 p.m.
Too true. Hosting the Olympics costs several fortunes, is wasteful, always displaces citizens, and never pays in the end. So many buildings built for various Olympics all over the world are just sitting there rotting.
beardown
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 11:49 p.m.
Ask Chicago. They spent a fortune of money that they didn't have on their failed bid.
Kyle Mattson
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 11:35 p.m.
A little tidbit of history, Detroit has made the most unsuccessful bids for the Olympic Games than any other city. Also, if you've never seen this video from the city's bid in the late '60s check it out: http://bit.ly/YFtEIe If the games were actually held here which sports do you think would be fitting for the Ann Arbor area? As noted above the UM and EMU campuses provide a number of venues for consideration. One specific sport that stands out to me would be mountain biking (if it is still in the games then) which could be held out at the Pinckney Recreation Area.
jns131
Fri, Feb 22, 2013 : 4:48 p.m.
JFK as it was said on NBC news last nite, stated that Mexico City was also in contention for the bid. JFK made a serious speech trying to sway the IOC into Detroit of 1968. If this happens there is serious money to be had to revitalize Detroit. What Detroit needs to do is tear down all of its blight within the time frame allotted and make this into parks or hotels. Have you seen the blight to the casino? Yuck.. Although if you look at Sochi Russia? There is blight but the Russians have made sure that all roads lead to the main city and away from the blight. So, if you tear down the blight from the highway, namely a dilapidated building, I think Detroit could really make a go of it. I wish them luck. This would be a big boon for all involved.
Westfringe
Thu, Feb 21, 2013 : 11:28 p.m.
What an absolute joke. Detroit is beyond broke, and about to get an EFM. They can't even keep the street lights on.