Salt Lake, Sapporo lead race to host 2030 Games

Indigenous-led Vancouver bid in running

Fraser Bullock, who leads Salt Lake City’s bid to return the Winter Olympics to Utah, sounds very confident about success. “I believe we’ll host a future Game(s). It’s a question of when,” he said last week in a local television interview.

But will it be in 2030, the first opening on the IOC calendar? Or might the International Olympic Committee make a double award and also name the 2034 host? When it had two strong candidates 4 1/2 years ago for the Summer Games, the IOC selected Paris for the 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles for 2028.

The IOC isn’t saying. An announcement is expected early next year, with media reports in Salt Lake City suggesting a decision in May 2023.

“I’ve obviously got my fingers crossed for 2030, but whenever we’re asked to host them, we’ll be ready,” Bullock told the Deseret News in Utah.

The Associated Press requested an interview with Bullock, but was told he was talking only to local media. Bullock was the No. 2 to Mitt Romney when Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Games.

Under its revised but opaque bid process, the IOC appears to have four possible candidates. Three have held Winter Olympics before: Sapporo (1972), Salt Lake City (2002), and Vancouver (2010). There is also interest from Barcelona, which held the 1992 Summer Games and could propose a bid with regions in the Pyrenees.

An IOC “technical team” was in Salt Lake City last week inspecting venues, and is in Vancouver this week. Meanwhile, a similar visit to Spain is reported to have been delayed.

Sapporo is not known to have a technical visit lined up, but a Japanese bid would have to be among the favourites after officially spending $13.6 billion (U.S.) to organize the one-year delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. At least 60 per cent was public money and probably more, with government audits showing Olympics costs were higher than reported.

Sapporo has organized an “All Japan” conference next week, led by former prime minister Taro Aso to promote the bid and showcase the backing of government and Japanese business.

Salt Lake City puts the cost of the Games at $2.2 billion, and Sapporo has a similar figure — $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion. However, Olympic expenditures typically overrun estimates, and accurately predicting costs a decade from now is impossible.

The Winter Games have become a tough sell for the IOC. The choice for 2022 came down to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Beijing after a halfdozen European candidates dropped out after failed public referendums, or fears about costs.

Neither Sapporo nor Salt Lake City will hold referendums. Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto has said surveys of 10,000 people — online, on-street and by post — show support at between 52 per cent and 65 per cent.

The Vancouver council last month declined to put a referendum on the ballot for an October municipal election. Vancouver’s proposal is being called the first “Indigenous-led” bid for an Olympics, with First Nations people of Canada planning a feasibility study.

With the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, it would be unusual for the IOC to stay in the United States for the 2030 Winter Games. However, if sponsorship is strong, it might change course. The IOC also generates much of its broadcast revenue from North America.