Olympics 2016

CHICAGO (CBS) ― The Olympic-sized price tag to host the 2016 Summer Games is estimated to cost $900 million, according to organizers – and that's just for the venues. As CBS 2's chief correspondent reports, the city should still make a profit, and that may give us a leg up on the other bidding cities.

In addition to that, Chicago Olympic organizers estimate the Athlete's Village will cost another $1 billion. CBS 2's chief correspondent Jay Levine reports on why they're predicting the games will still be in the black and how Chicago's vision for the 2016 games compares to the ideas of the other bidding cities.

Grant Park would be in the middle of what Chicago Olympic officials call the Central Cluster, for 19 Olympic sports, the international press center and the Athlete's village.

Most of the venues already exist and the village will be built with private money, and as a result, Chicago believes those construction costs of $900 million will be more than offset by more than $3 billion in revenue in from sponsorships, broadcast rights fees and ticket sales.

"Chicago 2016 is without question, the most thoroughly prepared bid the USOC has ever taken forward," said Darryl Seibel of the United States Olympic Committee.

A new Olympic stadium in Washington Park, accounts for the lion's share of construction costs--$385 million. It's one of only five of 27 sports venues which need to be built.

"We will build permanent structures only when there's a viable legacy of after use for the venue -- no white elephants," said Chicago 2016 CEO Pat Ryan.

Chicago's compact Olympic plan with four clusters of sports venues, less than 15 minutes from the Olympic village, is similar to other applicant cities – but as Mike Conley Sr. of World Sport Chicago said, "there's one thing to be compact and another thing to be walking distance."

"It is in fact, you can walk from venue to venue. It is in fact, you can walk from your hotel to the venue, and it is in fact, that you can enjoy the vibrant city of Chicago while you're enjoying the games," Chicago 2016 vice president Doug Arnot said. "It's the fact that we've taken the very heart of the city and put so much of the games right there --- that is unparalleled in any games."

Chicago's $3 billion+ revenue projection is far more than any of the other applicants. It includes $1.28 billion from sponsorships, $705 million from ticket sales, $170 million from merchandise. The rest will come from the IOC, the Paralympic Games and other revenue sources. 

Chicago's price tag is likely to grow if history is any guide. Costs for the 2012 London Olympics are now more than more triple original estimates, topping $19 billion.

Chicago 2016 estimates it will spend $49.3 million in its bid process, and that assumes it will be one of the finalists chosen in June. Ryan pledged all of that money will come from private sources. More than $32 million already has been raised.

But it'll take more than optimistic financial projections to convince the IOC that Chicago's the best choice. Ryan says the spirit of Chicago has already had an impact as evidenced by Chicago's reaction to winning the U.S. bid last April, and its enthusiasm for international boxers last fall weren't lost on IOC officials.

"They saw the spirit of the people of Chicago," Ryan said. "They're talking about that, that buzz is out there in the IOC world."

That's Chicago's hope anyway.

The IOC will narrow the current list of seven applicant cities to four or five approved candidates this June. The IOC will select the host city in October 2009.

Chicago would hold the games July 22-Aug. 7, 2016. The paralympics would follow Aug. 18-28. Organizers would give 500,000 free tickets to Chicago schoolchildren.

As Chicago released its bid documents, details also emerged Tuesday about the other six bid cities' plans.

Tokyo said 95 percent of its competition venues would be within five miles of downtown. Organizers in Madrid, Spain, said the eastern edge of its city would be the focus for the Olympics. There would be 15 competition venues there, and all but five of the 30 venues would be about seven miles from the city center. 

Rio de Janiero, thought to be Chicago's toughest challenger seems to have benefited from hosting last year's Pan Am games, refining its plan for 2016. But while Chicago projects revenues of $2.5 billion dollars plus money from the IOC, Rio says it'll take in just $700 million.

"Very weak it seems for a country that will be having the Olympics for the first time," said Olympic expert Ed Hula of aroundtherings.com. "The most populous country in South America, a continent with 400 million people, you'd think they could do better than that."

Hula helped CBS 2 analyze the applications from Rio and the others -- including Tokyo, which proposes an ambitious ocean-front site on reclaimed land.

"The price tag for this is very expensive and you have some venues, for example the rowing venue, they want to locate out there -- the price tag is $300 million," Hula said.

Madrid may be the European favorite. But its application appears much less polished and its venues away from the center of the vibrant Spanish capital.

"Seems a bit scattered, seems a bit spread out from what Chicago's offering," Hula said.

And then there's Doha, the first Arab nation to bid for the games. Its oil-rich leaders are offering over $10 billion to build venues and improve infrastructure.

"How can you ask a country to host the Olympic Games when it can't field a competitive team in many of the sports that are on the Olympic program?" Hula said. 

We don't know much about Prague because it's not making its application public reportedly due to political problems with the bid in the Czech Republic. That's not a good sign. And there's no word from Baku in Azerbaijian, either.



On paper, Chicago seems to have the right stuff. And if the revenue numbers are correct, there's no need to worry about taxpayers having to foot any bills. Just like the last three Olympics held in the U.S, Chicago is likely to make a big profit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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