The Games are coming back: Salt Lake City named preferred host for Olympics in 2034

Not all the I’s have been dotted nor all the T’s crossed on Utah’s designation as the host of the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Yet on the steps of the Salt Lake City and County Building on Wednesday, the hats flew and the tears flowed anyway.

More than a decade of patience and planning paid off. Finally, Salt Lake City will be an Olympic city once again.

The announcement came with much suspense but little fanfare at the start of a press conference for an International Olympic Committee executive board meeting being held this week in Paris. In addition to naming Salt Lake City its preferred candidate for the 2034 Winter Games, Karl Stoss, chair of the Future Host Commission, announced France is the preferred host for 2030. Sweden was invited to host in 2038.

(Aurelien Morissard | AP) International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, center, chairs an IOC Executive Board meeting to discuss the Paris 2024 Olympic plans and the upcoming editions of the Olympic Games, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023 in Paris. (Aurelien Morissard/)

The 2002 Olympics are considered one of the most successful Winter Games and one of very few to turn a profit. That money was placed into an endowment fund used for the upkeep of the Olympic venues. The successful effort was a key reason Salt Lake City is at the doorstep of winning its second bid with an IOC that is increasingly concerned with sustainability.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall celebrate at City Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, following the announcement by the International Olympic Committee of Salt Lake as a "preferred host" of the 2034 Olympic Games following an IOC live broadcast from Paris. (Francisco Kjolseth/)

In the budget of the 2034 Games, local organizers have built-in $200 million to replenish the endowment. The $2.4 billion budget also includes $1.75 billion in operating expenses and a $250 million contingency fund. Organizers have promised that price tag will be privately funded, it doesn’t include expenses incurred outside the event’s walls. For example, additional police presence during the 2002 Games cost about $300 million, much of which was footed by taxpayers.

Technically, Salt Lake City can’t take the reins to the Games just yet. The IOC requires preferred hosts to produce numerous government contracts and assurances before it will put at site up for a vote by its general membership next July. Of course, local organizers already have those assurances in pocket, so they will just need to avoid any other pitfalls. As a preferred host, their bid will undergo increased scrutiny by the IOC. According to its website, “The IOC commissions independent reports in key areas such as venue costs, public opinion and potential environmental impact.”

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