Round-up: Toronto's Punditocracy Gives Thumbs Down to Olympic Bid

What does Toronto's punditocracy think of an Olympic bid for Toronto?

Not much.

All of them, from all beats (politics, sports, urban affairs, business), say a bid for the 2024 Summer Games would range on a scale from "stupid" to "colosally stupid."

One, Royson James, initially a fervent booster, has now changed his mind.

Here they are in chronological order.

Cathal Kelly, July 27: Hosting the Olympics is a roller coaster of despair.

Chris Selley (1), July 28: Everyone take a deep breath -- Olympic fever is fertile soil for nonsense.

Globe and Mail, Report on Business, no byline, July 28: Dear Toronto: Hosting the Olympics is really really expensive.

Royson James (1) August 7: Bring on the Olympics.

Lorrie Goldstein, August 22: Olympic bid survival guide.

Edward Keenan, August 12: How to keep the T.O. mojo going -- with or without the Olympics.

John Barber, August 25: The case against the Olympics.

Christopher Hume, September 1: Let the Games begin -- Somewhere else.

Royson James (2), September 4: An Olympian effort is beyond us for now.

Chris Selley (2), September 4: Not screwing up the Pan Am Games is no reason to dive headfirst into the mother of all money pits.

The only people in favour of a bid are former elite athletes and people who stand to make money from it.

Here Councillor Shelley Carroll hits the nail on the head.

Councillor Shelley Carroll (Ward 33, Don Valley East) says there is no way city officials have the time to gear up for a 2024 bid. But she understands the enthusiasm in some circles.

“Whether you win or lose, preparing a bid is a business and you make money being the guy who gets to prepare the bid,” she said. “A whole bunch of consultants make money and a whole bunch of retired dignitaries, and retired CEOs, get to have fun with this project and play around with big amounts of public money.”

Gee, I wonder who those people would be?

Here's a hint. Former co-chair of John Tory's campaign, former leader of a Toronto bid, and non-yet-declared member of the non-existent (if you believe them) Bid Committee, Bob Richardson howled over this admittedly mistitled Star article, This time, Bay St. joins Toronto's anti-Olympics team.

Will John Tory go ahead with a bid that will please only elite athletes and just plain elites?

We hope he'll soon give us an answer.


ADDED: It occurred to me that people might want to copy and paste just the links.

Cathal Kelly: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/kelly-the-emotional-rollercoaster-of-hosting-the-olympics/article25728670/
Hosting the Olympics is a roller coaster of despair

Chris Selley (1): http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/toronto/chris-selley-everyone-take-a-deep-breath-olympic-fever-is-fertile-soil-for-nonsense&pubdate=2015-07-29
Everyone take a deep breath -- Olympic fever is fertile soil for nonsense

Globe and Mail, Report on Business, no byline: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/dear-toronto-hosting-the-olympics-is-really-really-expensive/article25731774/
Dear Toronto: Hosting the Olympics is really really expensive

Royson James: http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/08/07/bring-on-the-olympics.html
Bring on the Olympics

Lorrie Goldstein: http://www.torontosun.com/2015/08/22/olympic-bid-survival-guide
Olympic bid survival guide

Edward Keenan: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/08/12/how-to-keep-the-to-mojo-going-with-or-without-the-olympics-keenan.html
How to keep the T.O. mojo going -- with or without the Olympics

John Barber: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/08/25/the-case-against-an-olympic-bid.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
The case against the Olympics

Christopher Hume: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/09/01/hume-let-the-games-begin-somewhere-else.html
Let the Games begin -- Somewhere else

Royson James (2): http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/09/04/an-olympian-efforts-beyond-us-for-now-james.html
An Olympian effort is beyond us for now

Chris Selley (2): http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/chris-selley-not-screwing-up-the-pan-am-games-is-no-reason-to-dive-headfirst-into-the-mother-of-all-money-pits
Not screwing up the Pan Am Games is no reason to dive headfirst into the mother of all money pits


UPDATED September 9/15: Two more.
Richard Florida, Why Toronto Should Say No to the Olympics
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/why-toronto-should-say-no-to-the-olympics/article26263925/

Martin Regg Cohn, Why the Pan Am Games Don't Qualify Us for Olympics
http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/09/09/why-pan-am-games-dont-qualify-us-for-olympics-cohn.html

UDATE, September 11/15: Globe and Mail editorial

Owe-lympic Myths: Olympics Are a Good Investment for Host City

Today's Owe-lympic Myth:

Myth 1: The Olympics are a good investment for Toronto

Economists that have looked at the Games see no long-term economic benefit.  In a recent NYTimes story, Philip Porter, an economist at the University of South Florida who has studied the impact of sporting events was quoted saying: “The bottom line is, every time we’ve looked — dozens of scholars, dozens of times — we find no real change in economic activity.”

Another specialist in sports economics, Andrew Zimbalist, in his recent book, Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup concludes that there are "no net economic gains." The wealthy, aka Millionaire Hucksters, profit; the rest of us pay. (In fact, Zimbalist wrote in The Wall Street Journal that Boston would be "lucky" to lose the Games. May Toronto be so lucky.)

Zimbalist cites the London 2012 Games.

They spent over $18 billion (all figures in USD). They took in $5 billion in Olympic revenues, leaving a deficit of $13 billion.

In a preliminary analysis of the just-ended Toronto Pan Am Games (in so far as it's possible without final numbers yet), The Globe and Mail pointed out that while there were winners among local businesses, there were losers as well.

It was a wash.

John Barber, in his column "The case against an Olympic bid," discusses cases, then cites yet another sports economist.

“Public opinion is catching up with the economic evidence,” Stefan Szymanski, professor of sports management and economics at the University of Michigan, noted recently with respect to Boston's abandoned bid.

Yes, the public does seem to be twigging to it: Taxpayers pay. Elites profit.

There is no argument about this.

Seriously. Try to find a reputable economist who will argue against it.



*Third in an ongoing and irregular series.

Previous posts:

Owe-lympics Myths: Reuse Pan Am Venues.

Owe-lympics Myth 5: Health and Fitness Legacy.

Toronto Star and Olympics: Something Stinks

Toronto Councillors' Twitter Accounts

10 People on Twitter