BOSTON—What has become a controversial push to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to the city will get a financial going over by a consulting firm hired by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stan Rosenberg announced that consulting firm The Brattle Group of Cambridge, MA would conduct an independent analysis of the potential impacts of the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games being hosted in Boston.
The Brattle Group's review will analyze and evaluate aspects of financing, infrastructure, economic impacts and Commonwealth and taxpayer responsibilities relative to Boston 2024's bid preparation, state officials say. The contract for the review is capped at $250,000 with support from the Office of the Governor and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
“Hosting the Olympic Games is an opportunity to showcase to the world what makes Massachusetts great and as the process continues, having a robust analysis of this massive undertaking will be extremely helpful in ensuring transparency and protections for taxpayers,” says Gov. Baker. “We look forward to this work and the ability of the Massachusetts public to review Boston 2024's plans when they become available in the coming weeks.”
The Boston 2024 initiative has come under fire from some opponents due to feared taxpayer costs related to infrastructure and stadium construction. A poll by the Boston Globe recently found that 49.6% of voters statewide were against the Olympics bid, while 46.6% supported the games coming to Boston.
Boston 2024, which is chaired by Stephen Pagliuca, managing director at Bain Capital and co-owner and managing partner of the Boston Celtics, is expected to provide further details on its bid when it updates the United States Olympic Committee on June 30. The USOC has a deadline of Sept. 15, to submit a host American city to the International Olympic Committee, which will make its final selection in the summer of 2017.
In reaction to the hiring of The Brattle Group's to analyze the financial impact of the bid, Boston 2024 COO Erin Murphy says in a statement, "We welcome the decision to bring on an independent expert to advise state leadership on this effort and pledge to work closely with The Brattle Group as we move from proof of concept to a detailed plan. Input from state and local leaders as well as our ongoing community engagement process is helping shape the next phase of our plans and bringing us much closer to a preliminary Games concept that reflects the reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020 and the city's 2030 planning. This planning is progressing well and we're on track to release the next phase of our Games Concept by June 30."
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