urbanMSP

Call it the "Minnesota" Olympics.

I wouldn't hold our breaths for a MSP Olympics. Too expensive and unless you are a city that can recoup money spent via tourism (Hello Rio!) not sure if it can ever make the money back.

I love the idea of Denver winter olympics. I think that will be the next US olympics. Denver has amazing public transport, one of the largest airports in the US, can use nearby Boulder, Colorado Springs or Ft Collins for extra venues if need be (they all have large universities in them) plus less than a 2 hr drive from downtown to some of the best skiing in the world.

The sad reality is that the Twin Cities could almost host all of the ice events of a Winter Olympics right now. We just don't have a mountain.

The sad reality is that the Twin Cities could almost host all of the ice events of a Winter Olympics right now. We just don't have a mountain.

Lutsen could handle the ski portion i believe.

The sad reality is that the Twin Cities could almost host all of the ice events of a Winter Olympics right now. We just don't have a mountain.

Lutsen could handle the ski portion i believe.

I wouldn't hold our breaths for a MSP Olympics. Too expensive and unless you are a city that can recoup money spent via tourism (Hello Rio!) not sure if it can ever make the money back.

I love the idea of Denver winter olympics. I think that will be the next US olympics. Denver has amazing public transport, one of the largest airports in the US, can use nearby Boulder, Colorado Springs or Ft Collins for extra venues if need be (they all have large universities in them) plus less than a 2 hr drive from downtown to some of the best skiing in the world.

Actually the Winter and Summer Olympics are very differently decided. The committee said they want a US Summer Olympics stat, we just had SLC not that long ago for winter. Also a city that doesn't get THAT much tourism...

Here is a list of Minneapolis - St. Paul venues that could host at least one Summer Olympic event. Some venues would obviously have to be updated, but we clearly have the sports venue infrastructure.

Vikings Stadium - Minneapolis
65,000, expandable to 72,000

TCF Stadium - Minneapolis
50,805, expandable to 80,000

Target Field - Minneapolis
Capacity: 39,504

Target Center - Minneapolis
Capacity: 20,500

Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul
Capacity: 18,568

State Fair Grandstand – St. Paul
Capacity: 17,000

Harriet Island
Capacity: 12,000 – 18,000

Williams Arena – Minneapolis
Capacity: 14,625

Mariucci Arena – Minneapolis
Capacity: 10,000

St. Paul Saints Ballpark – St. Paul
Capacity: 7,000

Midway Stadium – St. Paul
Capacity: 6,069

Sports Pavilion – Minneapolis
Capacity: 5,840

State Fair Coliseum – St. Paul
Capacity: 5,250

Roy Wilkins – St. Paul
Capacity: 5,150

Griffin Stadium – St. Paul
Capacity: 4,367

McMurray Field – St. Paul
Capacity: 4,000+

Aquatic Center – Minneapolis
Capacity: 3,574

Ridder Arena – Minneapolis
Capacity: 3,400

Northrop Auditorium – Minneapolis
Capacity: 2,800

Parade Stadium – Minneapolis
Capacity: 1,600

Siebert Field – Minneapolis
Capacity: 1,400, expandable

National Sports Center – Blaine
Capacity: 8,500

I wouldn't hold our breaths for a MSP Olympics. Too expensive and unless you are a city that can recoup money spent via tourism (Hello Rio!) not sure if it can ever make the money back.

I love the idea of Denver winter olympics. I think that will be the next US olympics. Denver has amazing public transport, one of the largest airports in the US, can use nearby Boulder, Colorado Springs or Ft Collins for extra venues if need be (they all have large universities in them) plus less than a 2 hr drive from downtown to some of the best skiing in the world.

Actually the Winter and Summer Olympics are very differently decided. The committee said they want a US Summer Olympics stat, we just had SLC not that long ago for winter. Also a city that doesn't get THAT much tourism...

This isn't true at all. It's the same process and on a regular schedule. The United States is all but certain to bid for either the 2020 summer games or the 2022 winter games, with Denver, Salt Lake City and Reno/Lake Tahoe already having some formality to their bids. The summer Olympics is obviously a much bigger event and with more competition for hosting rights, so it's probably more likely to see the 2022 games here when all is said and done.

The 2014 Olympics are in a weird part of Russia and Korea has 2018, so coming back to North America in 2022 would make some sense.

What's wrong with Sochi? I hear it's the Miami of Russia

I don't think there should be any question. The Twin Cities could pull off a 2024 Olympics, and we'd look damn good doing it.

Mayor Rybak has declined to pursue it. I guess that duck is done quacking.

It's the right decision. We've already spent too much public money on sports. Let someone else go into debt.

What's wrong with Sochi? I hear it's the Miami of Russia

Sochi is only a few miles away from Abkhazia, which Russian ethnically cleansed & basically stole from Georgia 20 yrs ago. it would analogous to Israel holding an Olympics on the West Bank. But hey, they got palm trees so its all good.

This is all over and done with as far as the Twin Cities are concerned, but if anybody is interested in what's happened next, apparently 10 of the 35 cities have expressed interest and are moving forward.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130426/AP0409/304269934

I think any city is going to need a really amazing plan to overcome Los Angeles. It cost so much for New York and Chicago to bid for 2012 and 2016, respectively, and both are major U.S. cities that had very big plans. Without knowing the specifics, Los Angeles is a major global city that has a lot of infrastructure already in place, so it's hard to see Philadelphia or something coming up with a better plan.

That all said, if Madrid becomes the host city for 2020 that could turn the table from the outlandish Olympics as of late and bring some modesty back, as Madrid's plan uses lots of existing venues and is in comparison very cheap. On the other hand, Istanbul is another 2010 finalist and it has a ridiculously expensive plan, which tends to be what the IOC and FIFA like more — going to new parts of the world and letting the hosts spend tons of money for the "privilege."

Did anybody know that Minneapolis launched a somewhat serious bid for the 1952 Olympics that ultimately ended up in Helsinki?

http://www.journalmpls.com/voices/voice ... mpic-dream

IF we were to actually bid it would have to be single city bid - two cities have attempted a join bid in the past and it was quickly shot down. STP would host a lot of events I'm sure but it would likely be the Minneapolis Olympics.

Thankful to not be on this list. If there's anything that's more of a racket than pro sport arena building, it's probably hosting the Olympics. Good riddance.

^You know they just approved changes to the requirements for hosting for this exact reason. They now promote using existing spaces and using truly temporary when possible. Also the host country can actually spead it out over a few cities to lessen the burden. I don't have a link, but Google it and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I mean, in fairness to a hypothetical bid, we would have really limited venue construction needs at this point.