GamesBids.com presents the fourth annual Top Ten list of Olympic Bid Stories for 2011. These stories impacted the course of Olympic bids, or the Olympic bid process, and formed interesting plotlines for the year. We’ll run them down from 10th to 1st during the holiday season.
Top Olympic Bid Stories of 2011: #5 Las Vegas 2020 submits unauthorized rogue Olympic bid to IOC
Although this is number five on our list, it’s probably the most interesting of the year and you are encouraged to click the links in the story to read more of the background not included in this article.
While the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) was remaining firm on its policy to refrain from bidding for an Olympic Games until a revenue sharing agreement with the International Olympic Committe (IOC) is signed (see top story #5) – a group in Las Vegas, Nevada saw things differently. Just as USOC CEO Scott Blackmum was about to shut the door on 2020, the Vegas group revealed in an exclusive interview with GamesBids.com that it didn’t matter – they would apply anyways because they found a loophole. The group believed that they could circumvent the national body for now until, they “really needed” national approval months later. They were wrong.
Then when the USOC announced in no uncertain terms that there would be no bid from the United States, Vegas 2020 rolled the dice, spun the wheel, went all in (add your own gambling analogy here, editors ceratinly did in headlines to this story) and sent a letter to the IOC proclaiming its candidacy for 2020. The IOC quickly rejected the bid because it was not submitted by the USOC as required.
Los Angeles, Dallas, New York, Minneapolis, Tulsa and Chicago were also interested in bidding for these Games but quietly stood aside when the USOC decided not to bid.
Watch for top 10 story #4 coming soon on GamesBids.com.
