Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Much Ado About Something

Anytime you can upgrade or invest venues, that can only help. In this case, the Los Angeles bid benefits from the announcement below.

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March 27, 2007
Chicago Tribune

Los Angeles is embarking on an 11th-hour offensive against Chicago, starting with Monday's announcement that sports and entertainment giant AEG is pumping up its backing of L.A.'s bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

AEG said it would spend up to $60 million to enlarge its Home Depot Center, a key competitive venue, if L.A. lands the host-city role.

L.A. is expected to lob two to three more volleys before April 14, when the U.S. Olympic Committee decides which city will move to the international contest, to be decided in 2009.

"We will roll out those [announcements] based on developments between now and April 14," said David Simon, president of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games.

The strategy garnered mixed reviews from observers.

"It's an 11th-hour proposal, without any real way to provide documentation about what it all means," said Ed Hula, editor of Around the Rings, an online Olympic news site. "It's all show, more than anything."

But sports industry consultant Marc Ganis thinks otherwise.

"L.A. has set up a script for themselves, and, frankly, it sounds very smart to me," said Ganis, president of Chicago-based Sportscorp Ltd. "They are trying to create momentum, and it shows there will continue to be progress to aid their Olympic bid."

Chicago would do well to inject a new element or two, he said, "if for no other reason than you don't want to let a number of positive announcements from L.A. to go unanswered."

For now, the Chicago 2016 bid committee has no plans for last-minute announcements, said spokesman Michael Kontos. "I'm not going to preclude that, but our decision, from the beginning, was to be upfront with things as we proceeded, as opposed to holding back and packaging information," he said.

The Home Depot Center, built for $150 million in 2003, is in Carson, 13 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, and is home to the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team. It is an official training site for U.S. soccer, tennis, cycling, and track and field and is the proposed site for archery, cycling, soccer and tennis in L.A.'s Olympic plan.

The addition, to be completed by 2013, would include fitness and training space, as well as a 150-room hotel and conference center.

"By accelerating and moving forward with this expansion in conjunction with a Los Angeles Olympic Games, we will open our doors to more organizations from both the United States and abroad as a home for their athletes' training and operations," said Timothy Leiweke, president and chief executive of AEG, which has pledged to promote the bid.

AEG also owns Staples Center, another key venue in L.A.'s plan, and is developing an entertainment and hotel complex next to it.

Meanwhile, London continues to struggle with the issue of cost overruns as it prepares for the 2012 Games.

Two members of that city's legislative assembly, from the main opposition Conservative Party, say the latest government cost estimates -- triple the original bid estimate -- are too low.

Brian Coleman, chairman of the assembly, said "not in a million years" will the Games be run for about $18 billion. He and fellow assembly member Bob Blackman say the cost will be at least $29 billion.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport said the recently announced budget is "robust" and called the claims that spending will far exceed the budget "pure speculation and scare-mongering."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Los Angeles 2016 Makes Its Move
Posted 11:49 am ET (GamesBids.com)

It began with Monday’s announcement that AEG is spending $60 million to enlarge its Home Depot Center, the venue that would be used if Los Angeles becomes the U.S. candidate for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games and hosts the event.

And it will continue. The Chicago Tribune reports that L.A. will be making more announcements before April 14 when the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) selects its candidate.

David Simon, president of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games said, “we will roll out those (announcements) based on developments between now and April 14”.

Marc Ganis, a sports industry consultant, agrees with the plan. He said, “L.A. has set up a script for themselves, and frankly, it sounds very smart to me. They are trying to create momentum and it shows there will continue to be progress to aid their Olympic bid”.

He said Chicago would do well to inject a new element or two, “if for no other reason than you don’t want to let a number of positive announcements from L.A. to go unanswered”. Chicago is L.A.’s competitor for the U.S. candidacy.

Los Angeles 2016 is also expected to announce how Las Vegas would fit into its bid for the Games.

Barry Sanders, chairman of Los Angeles 2016, is to meet with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and other officials Tuesday.

Meanwhile the newspaper reports Chicago 2016 bid has no plans for last-minute announcements, according to spokesman Michael Kontos. He said, “I’m not going to preclude that, but our decision from the beginning was to be up front with things as we proceeded, as opposed to holding back and packaging information”.