It’s pretty clear there’s a fierce debate ongoing over whether or not Calgary should bid to host the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
With a plebiscite scheduled for November 2018, both the Yes and No sides are going to ramp up the rhetoric in the name of advancing their cause.
This spot is going to be dedicated to the aggregation of Olympic bid-related, generally non-news content from the past and the present that offers Calgarians a generally objective look at others’ assessments of past Olympics and the projections for future Olympic host cities.
We’re going to add to it on an ongoing basis as we come across different academic or economic reviews of the Olympic Games, so you’ll have to check back on a regular basis. We’ll let you know via Twitter if something important has been posted that you should take a look at.
We don’t have a side on this issue – except being on the side of information that hasn’t been grossly taken out of context or misconstrued for the purpose of reinforcing an argument. So, here it is, unadulterated and curated with no bias (we’re searching for as much information as we can find on both sides of the issue.)
When the time comes to cast a vote in the plebiscite, we’d love for all Calgarians to be informed on the topic, what it means – or could mean – for the city today, tomorrow and well into the future.
We’ve just posted the first Olympic links here. This is probably enough to keep you reading until 2019. Enjoy going down the Olympic rabbit hole.
Please @ us on Twitter if you find a piece of information that should be added to this list.
CALGARY BID
All the City of Calgary Olympic bid exploration reports
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The Economics of Hosting an Olympic Games – Council on Foreign Relations
What is the Economic impact of hosting the Olympics? – Investopedia
The Economic Impact of the Olympics – Manning and Napier
Are the Olympics ever worth it for the host city? – American Economic Association
Pre-Vancouver assessment – https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/BC_Office_Pubs/olympics_costbenefit.pdf
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2295&context=cmc_theses
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1646&context=honorsprojects
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1110&context=honors-theses
http://freakonomics.com/media/Economic_Impacts_of_the_Olympic_Games.pdf
http://qed.econ.queensu.ca/working_papers/papers/qed_wp_1097.pdf
Mega Sports Events – https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/272033.pdf
PUBLIC OPINION (Plebiscites)
https://people.ucalgary.ca/~hiller/pdfs/Public_Opinion_in_Olympic_Cities.pdf
Olympic Plebiscites: A History
UPCOMING OLYMPIC CITY BID BOOKS
Los Angeles – http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2016/3506/LA-Bid-2024-Olympics-Paralympics.pdf
Los Angeles Bid Book – Feb. 2017 – https://la28.org/assets/pdf/LA2024-candidature-part3_english.pdf
IOC report on Almaty and Beijing 2022 Winter Games bids
PAST OLYMPIC REVIEWS
Sydney Olympics – 2015 Thesis – https://repository.tcu.edu/bitstream/handle/116099117/10360/Matt_Keim_Thesis_Paper.pdf?sequence=1
Sochi Olympics analysis: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2015.1040432
Albertville 1992 Olympics – Mountain of Debt – New York Times
