Shortly after it was announced that Boston's bid to host the 2024 Olympics had been withdrawn, Boston 2024 chairman Stephen Pagliuca released a message of thanks to supporters.
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
I write to you with difficult news. Today, after consulting with Mayor Walsh and Governor Baker, Boston 2024 and the United States Olympic Committee have made a joint decision to withdraw Boston's bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
We wish the outcome of our effort together had been different. The Games are the world's greatest sporting event, and hosting them here in Boston – the world's greatest sports city – would have been thrilling. Hosting the Games would have brought transformational benefits to Boston: 8,000 new units of housing, tens of thousands of new jobs, new tax revenues to fund city priorities, and so much more.
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With Bid 2.0, our fiscally-responsible plan for privately-financed Games that included unprecedented safeguards to manage the risks associated with hosting, I'm confident that these benefits greatly outweighed the risks of hosting.
Despite our disappointment, we know that our planning for the Games, including our vision for Widett Circle and Columbia Point, has already benefitted Boston, Mayor Walsh's important 2030 planning process, and other civic conversations around the future of Boston's neighborhoods and economic vitality.
Our challenge now is to make sure that all the hard work and innovative thinking that went into developing Bid 2.0 is marshaled to advance important economic development, housing, infrastructure, and job creation opportunities throughout Boston and the Commonwealth.
We were able to release Bid 2.0 thanks to a strong working relationship with Mayor Walsh and Governor Baker, as well as the support of business, community, and political leaders across Massachusetts. With more time to engage in a discussion about Bid 2.0, along with the appropriate review by the Mayor, the Brattle Group, the Governor, and Beacon Hill leadership, we think public support would grow in Boston and across the Commonwealth.
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However, as we reflected on the timing and the status of our bid in this international competition, we and the USOC have come to the conclusion that the extensive efforts required in Boston at this stage of the bid process would detract from the U.S.' ability to compete against strong interest from cities like Rome, Paris, Budapest, and Hamburg.
Our decision to withdraw Boston's bid is meant to give the Olympic movement in the United States the best chance to bring the Games back to our country in 2024.
I want to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to all of you for lending your time, talent, experience, and enthusiasm to this effort. In my two months as chairman of Boston 2024, I have been honored by your partnership and your passion for Boston and the Olympic movement.
Thanks to you, we developed a strong plan for hosting the Games, and I have no doubt that Boston would have made a great host city. I know we can harness all of the energy that went into our bid in service of new ways to make Boston even better.
Sincerely,
Steve Pagliuca, Chairman