The United States Olympic Committee delegation is in Los Angeles continuing its inspection tour of the last of the eight cities bidding for the 2012 Summer Games, before it selects the U.S. candidate.
On Friday the task force members were in Los Angeles looking at Staples Center, the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the University of Southern California.
Today the group visited Long Beach and saw the Long Beach Convention Center and Arena and the Pyramid at California State University, Long Beach.
The L.A. bid committee has received statements of support from local political leaders, including Mayor James Hahn. The bid committee is not seeking taxpayer money to bring the Games to the city.
USOC spokesman Bob Condron said the USOC doesn’t expect a public subsidy, but the IOC requires a backup plan in case private funding falls short. In some cases, that means a government guarantee, but the Los Angeles bid organizers plan to obtain a private insurance policy.
The L.A. bid committee has projected that a Los Angeles Olympics would cost $1.9 billion to hold and would earn $2 billion in revenue from tickets, broadcasting and sponsorship.
Jack Kyser, chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said threats of violent protests have escalated in recent years at large international events. “It’s a huge venue with a lot of people coming in and a lot of media attention. This is in Los Angeles, an international media centre, so Los Angeles would be like honey to bees. So that’s something we have to think about”.
The USOC ends its tour of Los Angeles Sunday with a press conference.
