Tue, Jun 30, 2015 page19

• US survey shows strong support for home Games

  • AP
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  While people in Boston are hesitant to host the Olympics, across the country the public overwhelmingly supports the idea of the Games on home turf, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.

  The support decreases when people are asked if they would want the Olympics in their local area. It dips even further when they are asked if public funds should be used to pay for them.

  Nearly nine of 10 Americans — 89 percent — support a bid to host the Olympics somewhere in the US. Yet just 61 percent would support a bid in their local area.

  Fifty-two percent of respondents would support an Olympics in their local area if it were paid for with a combination of public and private funds, while 46 percent would be opposed to either that proposal or a local Olympics.

  “Our own research tells us that the Olympic brand is incredibly strong in the United States and it’s one of the reasons that we decided to bid for the 2024 Games,” US Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky said. “This poll confirms that and shows there is a strong desire, from coast to coast, to see the Games return to the US.”

  However, the nationwide numbers do not echo what is happening in Boston, where the effort to host the 2024 Olympics has hit a number of roadblocks. Approval ratings around the city have been grim — well under 50 percent — and a referendum has been set up for November. If that vote does not win both in the city and the state, organizers have vowed to pull the bid, even though the official deadline to declare a city’s candidacy is September.

  That is one of the key issues the US Olympic Committee board is to tackle today at a meeting at which the Boston group is to present an update. The committee recently received poll numbers on a survey it commissioned. The result of those numbers will also factor into whether the board decides to continue with a Boston bid, look elsewhere, or withdraw from the competition completely. A backup plan could be to consider Los Angeles.

  In the AP-GfK poll, 56 percent of respondents said hosting the Olympics is worth the cost to the local area and 42 percent said that it is not.

  “This poll shows clearly that Americans are eager to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games back to the United States,” Boston 2024 chief operating officer Erin Murphy said. “Boston 2024 is proud to represent the US as we work to build a bid that is fiscally responsible, and provides world-class venues and a lasting legacy for the Games and the city of Boston.”

  One main complaint in Boston is that hosting an Olympics leaves the public vulnerable to footing too much of the bill and is not the proper way to pay for much-needed infrastructure improvements. Last winter’s massive snowstorms shined a light on the city’s less-than-ideal transit system and also brought up more general questions about Boston’s ability to handle major projects.

  Last month, Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca took over as bid leader. Boston has been revamping its bid, spreading some of the venues farther across the state than originally expected and vowing that there will be more changes between now and September 2017, when the Olympics are awarded.

  Paris, Rome and Hamburg, Germany, are the other declared candidates.
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