According to the Chicago Tribune, the USOC informed seven potential US bid cities – Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Tulsa, Minneapolis, Dallas and Las Vegas – of its decision over the weekend. So far, Tokyo, Madrid, Istanbul and Rome are the only cities to confirm they will be applicant cities for the 2020 Games ahead of the September 1 deadline set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
“I can confirm the US will not be bidding for 2020 Olympic Games,” Patrick Sandusky, chief communications officer of the USOC, posted on Twitter. “With such little time left, we don’t believe we could pull together a winning bid that could serve the Olympic and Paralympic Movement...In addition, we have not considered a 2022 bid either...(we are) not focused on bids at this point.”
USOC officials have said for several months there would be no bid for the Games until its longstanding revenue-sharing dispute with the IOC has been resolved. Talks have been positive under Scott Blackmun, who was appointed as the new CEO of the USOC in early 2010, but negotiations are not thought to be completed yet.
IOC members will vote on the host city of the 2020 Games in September 2013. Denver, Reno-Tahoe and Salt Lake City have been linked with bids for the 2022 Winter Olympics. “We haven't thought about what a (domestic) 2022 bid process might look like,” Blackmun said in a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune. “If we are far enough along (in resolving the revenue-sharing issue), we will begin thinking about it.”
