Anne Cribbs, president and chief executive officer of San Francisco 2012 told the Baltimore Sun that San Francisco’s bid is a real community effort. “People are excited. There’s a lot of buzz in the community”.
According to the Sun the buzz has been building for weeks based on changes to San Francisco’s venue plan, rave reviews following a USOC inspection visit last month, and growing sentiment that New York’s proposal is too costly.
The newspaper says San Francisco’s greatest strength may be its international appeal. Spokesman Tony Winnicker said, “we’re the world’s favourite U.S. city in survey after survey. It’s an international destination that can compete with Paris, Rome, London and Rio de Janeiro. The postcard image of San Francisco coupled with the cutting edge innovation of Silicon Valley is a powerful brand to take internationally”.
Winnicker added, “the rest of the world doesn’t necessarily love America as much as we do. The icons that we have are symbols of American beauty that foster a sense of warmth around the world”.
But the Sun reports that the bid faces concerns because of San Francisco’s California location, where Los Angeles has held the Games twice. Also its proximity to Vancouver, considered a front-runner for the 2010 Winter Games, could be another problem for the bid.
Eighty per cent of San Francisco’s proposed venues already exist, requiring about $220 million in capital costs, said Cribbs.
Winnicker said, “the Olympic Games that are successful are the ones that don’t have huge construction costs. The Los Angeles Games did not require a lot of construction in 1984, and they were the most successful Olympic Games in modern history. We took a page from that”.
“We’ll be delivering a lower-cost Olympic Games that can be a model for the future. That really resonated with the USOC. We think we can give the USOC a plan to take internationally that is consistent with the direction that Mr. (Jacques) Rogge wants to take the Olympics”, said Winnicker.
IOC president Jacques Rogge wants to keep the Olympics contained with a smaller budget so that more cities will be able to bid for the Games.
San Francisco will have to build an equestrian park, velodrome, tennis centre, whitewater course and Olympic village.
Lisa Delpy Neirotti, associate professor of sports management and tourism studies at George Washington University, a follower of the 2012 bids, told the Sun that San Francisco may edge out Washington-Baltimore for international appeal. But she added that although it’s a great city, the streets are crowded and they don’t have the wide avenues, unlike some of the other bids.
San Francisco ranks first on GamesBids.com BidIndex.
