Games foes ignore future revenues

Re: “Olympic numbers don’t add up,” Letter, Aug. 23. Hugh Powell and other letter writers continue to use hypothetical, made-up estimated costs to justify their opposition to the Calgary 2026 Olympic bid.

Yet, none of these opponents look on the other side of the statement and include estimated future revenues; money that will continue to flow into the city after the Olympic Games have concluded.

Attendance at the Calgary Stampede hit record highs in the years after 1988 and our tourism industry started to boom. Calgary and the Rockies were rediscovered and became the place to be.

And what about all of the major sporting events that we would now be able to host using the updated and modern facilities that were built for the Games?

I’m talking about the world championships for sports such as figure skating, hockey, speedskating, bobsled and skeleton, skiing and biathlon, etc.

And we can add summer world championships to that list too, once we have an indoor field house.

The benefits of the Games will last for several years afterward and we should be taking them into account as well.

Craig Drebit, Calgary