Losers are not wanted.
You have to hand it to the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach for the talk of the month honors. Bach, earlier in May, told the Australian Olympic Committee that while it is great so many countries want the 2032 Summer Olympics there is also a problem with the mass interest. The current way of picking the winner “creates too many losers in the end.” Bach is echoing the National Football League and how the league goes about picking a Super Bowl city. Prior to 2018, The National Football League had cities lined up and ready to bid for the game. But the league owners decided to change the selection process. The NFL now just picks a city to ascertain if there is an interest and negotiates a deal and has ended the bidding process. The NFL did not want to create too many losers in the end. The NCAA still relies on a bidding process for its big events in football and basketball. The NCAA is not worried about creating too many losers and FIFA wants bids for the men’s and women’s World Cup, soccer’s crown jewels.
Bach and the IOC are enjoying a renaissance in Olympics bidding after seeing city after city, country after country dropping out of the race for the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2024 Summer Games. Eventually the IOC took Beijing, China for the 2022 event as only two areas wanted the event. The IOC had two active bidders for the 2024 Summer Games and decided not to lose either. The IOC awarded Paris the 2024 Olympics and then gave Los Angeles the 2028 Games. The IOC is still grasping at straws to get a 2026 Winter Olympics host city as financial concerns are hampering the Italian and the Swedish bids. Australia, India, Indonesia and North and South Korea want the 2032 event.
