USOC Asks Nashville to Consider Olympic Bid

US Olympic officials have reached out to Nashville and more than 30 other cities to gauge their interest in bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The request came in the form of a letter to Mayor Karl Dean.

Most of the cities on the list were picked because of their population. US Olympic Committee President Scott Blackmun sent letters to the mayors of the 25 largest cities. He asks mayors to consider the benefits of hosting the summer Olympics, calling it an unparalleled opportunity for a city to evolve and grow. But he warns it will be expensive. Just making a bid could cost around 10 million dollars. Staging the games themselves could run as high as three billion.Nashville has tried for Olympic glory before. It was one of the cities vying to represent the US in a bid for the 1996 games, which were awarded to Atlanta.

While Nashville isn’t actively bidding for 2024, Dallas and Tulsa, Oklahoma have already expressed interest.

Read the letter here [PDF].

UPDATE: A spokeswoman for Nashville Mayor Karl Dean gave the following statement:

“We got the letter, along with 34 other cities, and it’s nice they thought of us and asked. Hosting the Olympics is a massive undertaking and would be extremely expensive.”

–