With the proposed opening ceremony almost 10 years ahead, the Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 (SLC-UT) Olympic bid committee Monday released a 78 page document – its bid book – outlining detailed costs, revenues, venue concepts, transportation plans, dates and more.
A version of the document has been in the hands of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Future Host Commission since late February, but bid officials have kept the pages under wraps while continuing negotiations with decision-makers that included an on site visit in Utah in April.
SLC-UT officials chose to unveil the document ahead of the IOC’s Executive Board meeting Wednesday when the 2034 bid is expected to be recommended for election along with the French Alps campaign to host in 2030. If so, the IOC is required to publish the bid book, along with its Future Host Commission evaluation report, on the IOC website.
Pencil in your calendars. Assuming IOC members ratify plans when they vote in July, the 2034 Winter Games are likely to open February 10 and close February 26. The Paralympics will run from March 10 to March 19.
The USD $2.83 billion (adjusted to 2034 dollars) operating plan will leverage existing facilities, many left as legacies of the 2002 Winter Games, to keep costs low. There will be no new permanent builds – improving sustainability and essentially eliminating the top risk of cost overruns.
The budget includes a $210 million contingency to help protect the State of Utah that will sign on as the financial guarantor of the Games.
“A cornerstone of our financial plan is that we will raise our entire Games operating budget from commercial and private sources, with no use of state or local taxpayer dollars,” SLC-UT 2034 President and CEO Fraser Bullock said.
The overall budget amounts to just short of $4 billion and includes $905 million for participation in a United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) joint marketing program and $260 million in legacy funding for sport and youth programs and organizations.
On the revenue side, the IOC will contribute a total of $751 million cash and in-kind services sourced from international broadcast revenues and major sponsorship deals. $1.8 billion will be raised from domestic sponsorships and the remaining funds will come from ticket sales, hospitality, licensing and merchandising and other sources.
Many of these numbers are in line with actual results from the 2002 Games, adjusted for inflation. Bullock explained to reporters Monday that although the 2034 plans will benefit from existing infrastructure built for 2002, costs will remain similar because the latter Games will accommodate a 40 percent growth in staged events.
Not included in the budget are the costs of federal security services that would be funded by taxpayers at the national level. The U.S. government typically secures all major events across the country. Also not part of the accounting are already planned and state budgeted improvements to sport venues and local transportation projects that are not explicitly included in the Olympics plans, but ultimately valuable for staging the Games.
These external costs often present risks if they later become tied to the Games delivery. Security costs can escalate as new threats emerge and infrastructure development can become more costly if hurried to meet Olympic deadlines. Both bid organizers and the IOC claim, however, that they can do without any new infrastructure.
Chinese officials reported that they spent $3.9 billion to organize the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, but not included in that price tag was the construction of several new venues and other infrastructure to support the events, despite the repurposing of Summer Games facilities from 2008. The construction of athletes villages, a sliding track, the Nordic park and a 200 km bullet train between the ice and snow venues were among the items contributing to several billions of dollars in capital costs not included as part of the Olympics.
If Salt Lake City gets the nod to move forward on Wednesday as expected, the team will have one more opportunity to present virtually to IOC members before the final presentation and election scheduled for July 24 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.
[Source: SLC-UT 2034]
KEY FINANCIAL TARGETS (all in 2034 USD)
2034 Games Operating Budget
$2,832,670,000
Legacy
$260,000,000
| 2034 Gross Revenues (in $ 000) | |
| IOC Contribution | $ 520,000 |
| IOC TOP Program (net) | $ 231,000 |
| Domestic Sponsorship | $ 1,800,000 |
| Ticket sales and hospitality | $ 1,190,310 |
| Licensing & Merchandising | $ 200,000 |
| Other Revenues | $ 307,177 |
| Revenue Contingency | $ (250,600) |
| Total | $ 3,997,887 |
