Leaders of Mayor Richard Daley's Olympic committee hit City Hall on Friday to sell aldermen on their plans to safeguard taxpayers.
Bid Chairman Patrick Ryan also said the committee has altered the structure of its financial safety net, putting up a $500 million package of insurance policies as the first defense against potential losses at the proposed 2016 Summer Games.
Naming rights figure prominently in the Chicago 2016 budget: $15.7 million for the velodrome and another $19 million for two facilities, the rowing and shooting venues.
In other words, the bid committee expects revenue that approximates the most lucrative naming deal in sports: slapping Citibank's name on the New York Mets' new stadium at a cost of $20 million a year. Chicago's most lucrative deal to date, for U.S. Cellular Field, nets all of $3.4 million a year. Full column from the Chicago Tribune
BEIJING (AP) -- The new U.S. ambassador to China slipped in a pitch for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympics while presenting his credentials to the Chinese president on Friday.
Jon Huntsman presented President Hu Jintao with a commemorative book on Chicago, "in support of the city's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games," the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said in a statement.
China's support could be crucial because Beijing hosted the Olympics last year and commands considerable influence within the International Olympic Committee, which meets on Oct. 2 in Copenhagen to select the 2016 host.
Chicago is a strong contender to bring the Summer Games back to the United States for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
However, Rio de Janeiro also has appeal as it seeks to bring the Olympics to South America for the first time, and is considered the main threat to Chicago. Tokyo and Madrid are also bidding to host the games.
IOC awarded the broadcast rights in Brazil for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics to three media companies in a deal worth $210 million, a major increase over previous contracts and a boost for Rio de Janeiro's bid for the 2016 Games.
TV Globo acquired the main rights across all platforms in partnership with Bandeirantes and Rede Record in what was described as a historic deal for Brazil, South America and the International Olympic Committee. Associated Press
Mayor Daley's Olympic committee has a reasonably sound financial plan, but aldermen must keep a close eye on Chicago 2016's operations, according to a six-week review of the bid team's finances by the Civic Federation.
The 100-plus page review was requested by the City Council to test the financial assumptions put forth by bid officials about whether the 2016 Summer Games would be profitable. Fears that the Games would lose money and burden taxpayers have dominated public debate in the months before the Oct. 2 selection of a host city.
The watchdog group cautioned that the review was not a thorough financial audit and that time constraints limited the depth of the analysis. But the federation nonetheless said if Chicago 2016 sticks to its plan to buy additional insurance, the extra coverage would create "an effective safety net" to protect taxpayers in the event of problems such as cancellation of the Games, natural disasters or "loss of development financing."
Some in the crowd expressed concerns the mayor places a higher priority on the bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics than on problems in neighborhoods.
"The crime rate is so high, we would be an embarrassment for the United States," said South Side resident Michelle Dixon-Holmes. "People will be gentrified away from their homes for a two-week event."
Mayor Richard Daley has made so many apologies for his whopping parking-meter rate increase fiasco that he's finally confused the heck out of me.
This week, he leaked an apology, but it wasn't really an apology at all, and later he said he had already apologized months ago, so there. The man is a political genius.
Now, I've heard virtually every Daley almost-apology in history, including all the times he almost promised that his family and cronies wouldn't make fortunes from public deals. Who can forget that first dramatic almost-apology when, with trembling lips and quivering cheeks, he apologized for telling African-Americans living in Chicago public housing they'd save the city on water bills if only they'd take just one shower a day. Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass
In a series of ward meetings, Chicago residents are getting their last significant chance to speak up about the city's 2016 Olympic bid. And they're asking some tough questions.
John Friedmann asks a question of the 2016 Olympic boosters during a ward meeting Thursday at Horner Park Field House. (Wambsgans/ Tribune)
Patrick Ryan has traveled tens of thousands of miles, crisscrossed time zones and wandered through countless hotel lobbies - all in search of support for Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics.
With six weeks before the International Olympic Committee vote in Copenhagen on Oct. 2, Ryan and leaders of the three other candidate cities have taken the roadshow to Berlin for the last major campaign stop of the race.
Bid teams from Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid converged here in conjunction with IOC executive board meetings and the world track and field championships, attended by as many as 60 IOC members.
"You can see people just walking through the lobby,'' Ryan said. "It's a chance to build and expand on those relationships.'' Associated Press report
Chicago Deserves the 2016 Olympics The amazing thing is that you can walk through the entire world in a matter of minutes, often within the same neighborhood. The city is truly diverse and truly a melting pot and, for the most part, everyone generally gets along.
If there is another thing that Chicago is, however, it would be a city with a chip on its shoulder and a heft inferiority complex. Throughout our lives here in this town we are told, time and again, that we are the "Second City."
That's why Chicago needs the 2016 Summer Olympics. Nothing would show the world what a great and worldly city this place is more than hosting the world's athletes. The entire city would be on display for every country in every far-flung corner of the world. People would finally see that this city can match itself against Beijing and London and Paris and anyplace else. It might also go a long way to shutting New York up as well.
Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses is less concerned with his slotting among American sports icons than he is about promoting Chicago as the site for the 2016 Olympics.
"Chicago is a fantastic city, and I can easily see the Olympics setting themselves right here in Chicago," he said. "It is probably the most practical and economical ... [least] risky pick to have the Olympic Games of all the cities."
The other finalists for the 2016 Games are Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
Moses was in Chicago last week to present former sprint champion Michael Johnson for induction into the Olympic Hall of Fame. Moses, who was inducted in 1995, splits his time among London, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Chicago Tribune report
BERLIN -- The United States Olympic Committee has managed to defuse another dispute with the International Olympic Committee, one that threatened to blow up on Chicago's 2016 Summer Olympic bid.
After its chairman, Larry Probst, met here Saturday morning with IOC President Jacques Rogge, the USOC announced Sunday it will hold off indefinitely on the planned 2010 launch of the U.S. Olympic Network, its television venture. Chicago Tribune
"This is a good thing for our bid," Pat Ryan was saying the other night, after Bronzeville neighborhood citizens grilled Olympics officials for nearly three hours about costs and risks of staging a Chicago Olympics.
A root-canal look on his face, Ryan had sat in a hot, crowded South Side meeting room as residents raised concerns about the demolition of historic buildings, travel inconveniences and access to business opportunities that could accompany a 2016 Games.
The Chicago 2016 bid committee has been the most open ever, asserted Ryan, the chairman. The group that would run the Games -- the Chicago Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, or OCOG -- will be open to scrutiny too, Olympics officials have said.
Yet when it comes to opening their own records to public scrutiny, the way all public agencies must, the transparency goes dark.
Hundreds packed a room at the Chicago Urban League headquarters Tuesday night for a meeting about how a 2016 Olympics here would affect the Near and Mid-South sides.
A thread of skepticism -- if not a wholesale rejection -- passed through a number of the speakers' questions and comments.
Residents wondered if the benefits of a Games here would be shared broadly, implemented as promised, and what kind of pressure the Olympics would put on existing communities.
"There's a lot of people very disturbed about the direction this is going," 4th Ward resident Kay Carroll said of the bid. "There appears to be a small segment that has a vested interest who've benefited." Chicago Journal
The President of Brazil will be there. So will the King of Spain. And Japan's crown prince may be there, too.
But President Barack Obama has still not publicly committed to attend the International Olympic Committee's host city vote in October. This morning a White House spokesperson would only echo the administration's previous comments that no decision has been made on whether Obama will attend.
Chicago is the only city competing to host the 2016 Games that has not announced who will lead its lobbying WLS
Chicago's final fundraiser for its 2016 Olympic bid drew the biggest crowd yet, but raised only about $5 million Wednesday evening, the lowest tally of three major events aimed at luring private cash.
Donors rubbed elbows with some of the nation's top Olympians, including members of the 1992 men's basketball "Dream Team" -- although one important member wasn't there.
From left to right, former Dream Team members Christian Laettner, Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullin, David Robinson, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen and Patrick Ewing are inducted into the U.S. Olympic Committee Hall of Fame in Chicago Wednesday night. (AP)
Chicago 2016 officials revised their view Wednesday on Olympic committee member Michael Scott's role in a development near the planned cycling venue, saying the longtime ally of Mayor Richard Daley should have disclosed his involvement earlier and is now severing ties with the development.
A day earlier, the Olympic committee had released a statement saying it was satisfied Scott had done nothing wrong.
Chicago's Olympic boosters will channel one last cash infusion into the city's 2016 campaign tonight in what is expected to be the most highly attended of three major fundraisers for the bid.
An estimated 3,300 supporters, or 1,000 more than attended last year's fundraiser, have paid at least $500 per ticket to attend the 2009 U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame induction ceremony at McCormick Place. Chicago Tribune
Japanese comic strip football superhero Captain Tsubasa is facing the most challenging match of his storybook career by trying to capture the 2016 Olympic Games for Tokyo.
Bid rivals are Chicago, who have been backed by President Barack Obama, Brazilian football legend Pele has thrown his weight behind Rio while Real Madrid skipper Raul supports the Spanish capital in the race to be host city.
"I'm happy if this can help," said Yoichi Takahashi, the Captain Tsubasa creator, as he drew the comic's main characters in the centre of a huge flag of the Tokyo 2016 Olympic bid committee. Agence France-Presse report
Mayor Daley's Chicago 2016 panel has no problem with committee member Michael Scott's role developing a for-profit real estate project near a planned Olympic venue, according to a statement the organization released Tuesday night.
Scott met with Olympic bid officials Tuesday to explain his plan to develop residential and commercial units on city-owned land kitty-corner from the proposed Douglas Park cycling venue. Scott has said he was working on behalf of a group of West Side ministers, although his name alone appears on the venture's incorporation papers. After the Tribune published an investigation Friday, Scott said he would take no profits or fees from the development.
Rio de Janeiro - Rio de Janeiro's bid to host in 2016 the first edition of the Olympics ever held in South America
is most optimistic, less than two months before the crucial decision on the Games.
'We get to the home stretch as a very competitive bid,' Rio 2016 executive secretary Carlos Roberto Osorio said. Monsters & Critics
Preservationists' quest to save parts of the former Michael Reese Hospital campus seemed improbable at first. But it's beginning to look like a serious challenge to Mayor Daley's desire for demolition for the sake of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Two independent sources said Tuesday that the Chicago 2016 organizing committee has held discussions over plans that would preserve some structures on the campus. One proposal is expected to be submitted within days and will come from preservation activists. Another, the sources said, is being drafted by Chicago architectural firm DeStefano & Partners.Chicago Sun-Times
Greising has clearly continued to think hard about whether taxpayers can trust Daley -- and his secretive, closed-door management style -- with such a massive undertaking. In his column today, he offers city officials and the Chicago 2016 bid committee a way to build confidence among the public: Progress Illinois blog
CHASKA, Minn. -- Tiger Woods is interested in adding a gold medal to his collection of green jackets.
Woods indicated Tuesday that he would play in the Olympics if golf became part of the program in 2016. The International Olympic Committee executive board is to meet Thursday in Berlin to recommend two sports for inclusion in the 2016 games. Golf and rugby sevens are considered the favorites.
Golf has not been part of the Olympics since 1904. Woods, who has completed the career Grand Slam three times, felt it should have been an Olympic sport a while ago. He then was asked if he would compete.
"If I'm not retired by then, yeah," Woods said. Asked again if he would play, Woods nodded his head and said, "Yep."
It was his most definitive comments about his participation in the Olympics. Woods will be 40 for the 2016 Games.
Associated Press
U.S. Olympic Committee leaders have reiterated their support for Chicago's bid to land the 2016 Olympics, saying it is the federation's sole focus.
USOC CEO Stephanie Streeter released a statement Monday in the wake of recent reports that Pittsburgh might explore a bid for the 2020 Summer Games. AP/Crain's Chicago
For most of last week, Mayor Richard Daley was doing fine, calmly making pronouncements, issuing sweeping edicts, decrees and commands.
But then he released his inner Mayor Chucky.
And when the terrifying Mayor Chucky persona came out by week's end -- after a Tribune investigation about political insiders poised to cash in on Daley's plans of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games -- it wasn't pretty.
"I just saw it on TV," said a friend on the phone. "A reporter asks him a question about the Olympic land deal, and bingo. Mayor Chucky. Wow. It's scary."
Positively Chuckified.
Mayor Richard Daley today declined to answer questions about a Tribune story on how a member of his Olympic bid team arranged to develop city-owned land near a park that would be transformed for the 2016 Summer Games, potentially positioning himself to cash in if the Games come here.
Developer Michael Scott Sr., an early member of the mayor's Olympic committee, leads a group planning a residential and commercial project on lots kitty-corner from the proposed Douglas Park sporting venues, a location where land values could jump if the city gets the Olympics.
"I'm sorry I can't answer questions every day. Every day, I do it enough," Daley said. Chicago Tribune
A member of Mayor Richard Daley's team working to bring the Olympics to Chicago has quietly arranged to develop city-owned land near a park that would be transformed for the 2016 Summer Games, potentially positioning himself to cash in if the Games come here, a Tribune investigation has found.
Developer Michael Scott Sr., an early member of the mayor's Olympic committee, leads a group planning a residential and commercial project on lots kitty-corner from the proposed Douglas Park sporting venues, a location where land values could jump if the city gets the Olympics. Chicago Tribune report
Reaching out to local residents, the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee visited Marshall High School's auditorium on the West Side on July 14 in a meeting to discuss how the Olympics would affect communities if the City wins the Olympic bid.
The Olympics would provide an indoor track located in Douglass Park on the West Side, an Olympic Village in Bronzeville that would be transformed after the games into housing (around 30% affordable), and a "direct surplus to the City's budget," committee members claimed.
Many people who attended the meeting expressed concern about the Olympics, despite committee members' rosy view. "They didn't answer the questions, plain and simple," said Maurice Robinson. "With the Olympics being here, the issues that are ahead of us -- and thereare so many problems already -- it's hard to imagine what's going to happen." Gazette Chicago
Chicago taxpayers must spend $100 million to transform the old Michael Reese Hospital site on the Near South Side into an Olympic Village.
On Wednesday, Mayor Daley's Olympic bid team confirmed the $100 million price tag to install roads, sewers and utilities, raising questions about how the Chicago 2016 committee and Daley can continually say the Games won't cost taxpayers a dime -- especially when the city is dealing with a fiscal crisis.
While Chicago won't know until October if it will win the 2016 Summer Games, the city has agreed to create a TIF district surrounding Michael Reese to generate the $100 million. Chicago Sun-Times report
The tab for building an Olympic Village typically is reported to be about $1 billion, but a tally of various associated costs puts the total at $1.18 billion.
The Tribune revisited the estimate after Chicago 2016 bid leader Patrick Ryan made a misstatement at a community forum Monday evening.
"It's not that large a development--in total it's about a billion and a half," he said during the 47th Ward meeting in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. After the meeting, he said he misspoke, due to fatigue from a long day. But he wasn't so far off. Chicago Tribune report
Twenty-five years ago, Peter Ueberroth threw a magnificent party.
Joan Benoit won the first women's Olympic marathon at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles region absorbed a major set of games without a shudder. Traffic moved. People could drive to their favorite restaurants for dim sum, bulgogi or pad Thai. The major evidence of the Summer Olympics was the hanging of pastel banners from lampposts all over Southern California. New York Times report
Chicago Odds On To Land Olympics
The current favourites with Paddy Power, who have had a market on who will host the 2016 Olympics for some time, are Chicago, who are rated a 4/6 chance. Paddy Power clearly think the Olympics are heading back to the USA and it seems by those odds that it is very likely.
Tokyo And Rio Hold Very Similar Chances
Next best in the betting is Tokyo, the Japanese capital is 10/3 with Paddy Power whilst Rio de Janeiro would be interesting at 7/2 with Paddy Power and the outsiders are Madrid who are rated 8/1 with Paddy Power to get the 2016 Olympic Games. It seems Chicago is very likely to get the 2016 Olympics but if they don't it is pretty much a coin toss between Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro. For more Novelty Bets visit the Paddy Power website. OLBG Sports
With little more than two months until the International Olympic Committee's announcement, visitors to Tempel Farms in Wadsworth can get an early peek at the selected site for the Olympic equestrian events in Chicago's 2016 bid.
Tempel Farms is one of very few places in the world where rare, white Lipizzan horses are bred, trained and perform.
This summer, visitors can enjoy a short presentation regarding the Olympics and a walking tour of the Olympic equestrian-competition site following each Lipizzan performance.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist had a simple formula to help the young runners as they approached the starting line.
"Pretend like there's a whole bunch of dogs, vicious dogs, chasing you," Gail Devers said. "I pretend that sometimes. When that gun goes off, that's the sound of three Rottweilers barking at you."
If that advice seems overly simplistic, it's perfect for a sport that is simple to the core. Track and field measures raw athleticism -- speed, jumping ability, strength, endurance.
Yet as simple as the sport is, there's a reservoir of untapped potential in Chicago because of a lack of facilities and programs for kids. That's where Devers and an organization called World Sport Chicago come in. Chicago Tribune report
Over 2,500 employees from Madrid 2016's official sponsors have helped the Spanish bid break through 40,000 volunteers and push towards the 50,000 mark. The employees signed up in support of the bid as part of a recruitment drive across sponsor companies during July.
With two months to go until the International Olympic Committee (IOC) makes its final decision, this result demonstrates that Madrid 2016 continues to receive massive public support. The employees, of diverse ages and nationalities, have signed up through an office-wide campaign with sponsor companies. These include: Garrigues, Telefónica, Repsol, FCC, Caja Madrid, PwC, Cámara de Comercio, Ferrovial, Osiolux and Mercamadrid. Around the Rings report
