Hamilton - Pan Ams Games 2015

[SteelTown]

Pan Ams in 2015, anyone?
Talks are quietly under way about whether Hamilton has a shot at winning

July 24, 2007
Scott Radley
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jul 24, 2007)

Are we ready for another run at a multi-sport Games?

If you think so, get ready to jump on the bandwagon. If you don't support the idea, brace yourself. Because there's a chance Hamilton may throw itself into the battle for the rights to host the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Sometime in the next few days, the Canadian Olympic Association is expected to have a sense about whether a bid from Canada could be successful and whether it'd be worthwhile to back such an effort. If the answer is yes, things here could start to move quickly.

Within the past two months, discussions have quietly started about whether to make another go of it. In recent weeks, Mayor Fred Eisenberger had a meeting with Sport Hamilton head Gene Sutton to discuss the issue. No decision on how to proceed was reached, but the issue wasn't spiked. Instead, it was left, for now, in the hands of Tourism Hamilton.

"The big question is, do we want to go after a big multi-sport event or not?" Tourism Hamilton executive director David Adames asks.

Good question.

The reasons to go for it are pretty clear, just as they were for the two Commonwealth Games bids we launched in recent years. Most of the positives revolve around the new infrastructure it would bring.

Canada desperately needs new training facilities for its summer athletes. With Vancouver hosting the Winter Olympics in 2010 and Calgary having handled them in 1988, our winter sports infrastructure is set.

Adames says the COA would like to see those summer facilities established in central Canada where many of the athletes are from. Which is why Toronto has also been named as a possible bidder for the Pan Am Games.

But anyone who's been following the news lately understands the depth of Toronto's financial woes. And there are real questions about whether a city the size of Toronto would support anything less than the Olympics.

With hundreds of millions of provincial and federal dollars being thrown in, Hamilton could build new facilities for a fraction of the cost it would normally take. That's certainly enticing for a town that could use a boost.

Plus, unlike the Commonwealth Games that draws about 4,000 athletes, this event is more Canadianized with fewer fringe sports like netball and lawn bowling and it includes the United States which would likely generate greater interest and higher revenues.

But there are just as many reasons to turn and run from any bid.

The Games that are currently under way in Rio de Janeiro have attracted more than 5,600 athletes from 42 Western Hemisphere nations. But they've come in at a cost of $1.7 billion, more than three times what was expected when the bid was made in 2001. That's enough to give any taxpayer -- or their children and grandchildren who'll be paying the levies for the next several generations -- chills.

Adding to the cost would be the requirement that an entirely new bid strategy would have to be created. Due to the increased size of the event and the time that's passed, the Commonwealth bid book couldn't just have a new title page attached and be submitted. That's a costly venture by itself as evidenced by the fact that Hamilton's last bid cost roughly $425,000 to launch.

"We have a plan that's a lot different," Sutton says.

There's got to be concern that Hamilton, too, might let out a collective yawn at such a Games. The Pan Ams have fallen from their once lofty status in recent years to the point where there's been almost no TV coverage of this year's competition. For an event that relies heavily on ticket sales to break even, apathy could be a significant problem.

Perhaps more than anything though, winnability is key. Eisenberger says there's some real hesitation about jumping back into bidding for a multi-sport Games after the depressing experiences of the last two go-rounds.

"In all sectors, there's some bid fatigue," he says.

Bids aren't due for another three years but Lima, Peru, Bogota, Colombia and Caracas, Venezuela have already declared their candidacies for the 2015 Games. However, some experts predict that with the 2003 Games in the Dominican Republic, this year's in Brazil and 2011's in Guadalajara, Mexico, it's North America's turn to host, meaning Hamilton would have a decent chance of winning. And the mayor thinks if we jump into the fray once again, our number eventually has to come up.

"We're due," Eisenberger says.