Utilizing a lengthy presentation that showcased all of the its top level personnel, Boston 2024 unveiled its “2.0” plan to the public on Monday morning. The main takeaway from the rollout centered more on what was conspicuously absent instead of what was included. This is both good and bad for Boston’s struggling bid.
Within minutes of the 2.0 bid being released, it became evident that (along with eight major event venues) one massive aspect of the bid had been left out: the insurance plan.
“We’ll get the details out”
Boston 2024, to an enormous degree, proposes relying on a multifaceted insurance plan in order to protect the taxpayers of Massachusetts from being left on the hook to cover any possible cost overruns. The bid has promised to deliver a surplus on the privately funded 2024 Summer Olympics, estimating a profit of over $260 million:
Still, if Boston 2024 fails to net that surplus and runs into unexpected cost overruns (which have occurred in every Olympics since 1960), the bid has previously promised a massive insurance program designed to protect the taxpayers from the IOC-imposed financial guarantee.
The details of the insurance program were thought to be arriving with the 2.0 bid, but remain missing. Boston 2024 chairman Steve Pagliuca touched on the insurance when asked in post-presentation questions. He mentioned multiple levels of protection for taxpayer-funding of cost overruns.
“First level is the surplus,” Pagliuca said, alluding to the estimated $260 million profit that Boston will allegedly make on the Games’ budget.
“Second level of protection is insurance for each of the projects,” said Pagliuca. It’s a look at what could potentially happen, as each venue that requires construction will be individually insured.
“And then an umbrella policy, modeled on the Chicago policy, which covers anything else, if something goes wrong,” Pagliuca noted, alluding to the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid that proposed a similar insurance mechanism. “So as we look at it, and we’ll be getting the detailed proposals in the coming weeks; those insurances will cover any contingencies.”
Asked what would happen if one of the private builders backed out, Boston 2024 CEO Rich Davey explained that the insurance would ensure that the project was fully funded and continued.
“Capital insurance will cover that,” Davey explained.
Pagliuca, in step with the 2024 bid’s ever-evolving status, explained that the insurance details, while still largely unknown, will begin to emerge soon.
“Suffice to say, we’ll get the details out,” he calmly explained.
Of course, No Boston Olympics co-chair Liam Kerr had a different take.
“Giving details on venues without an insurance policy is like measuring for drapes in your new home without the bank approving your mortgage.”
The “1.0” plan had more venue sites than the “2.0” version
For all of the problems in the initial “proof of concept” plan from Boston 2024, it was wide-sweeping in its scope, omitting only a small number of Olympic events (whitewater canoe and kayak slalom, for example). What was expected in the 2.0 plan was an update on where major venues would go, such as the aquatics center as well as the velodrome (used for cycling).
Again, like the insurance question, those hoping for answers were left disappointed by the 2.0 plan. There was a lot of “TBD” listings:
In all, eight Olympic events are currently without established venues, including two of the three biggest (aquatics as well as the velodrome).
In other words, the 1.0 plan had more venue sites than the supposedly more detailed 2.0 successor. Still, the 2.0 plan includes sites that have been vetted more deeply, and has rolled back other sites that met with disapproval. In that sense, Boston 2024 organizers are learning from their mistakes.
It’s also important to point out: The fact that Boston 2024 is taking its time in finding sites for these events is ultimately a good thing for the bid. It indicates that unlike the mistakes of the past, Boston 2024 organizers will at least not rush into a proposal without consulting the community it wishes to partner with, along with other important groups in the discussion (though the community meeting in Quincy wasn’t held until after the area was selected as the site of beach volleyball).
Again, 2024’s bid is defined by what is lacks, but in this case that’s indicative of a more methodical (and more intelligent) approach from organizers.
This meshes with what Pagliuca said in terms of why proposed venue cites weren’t specifically mentioned.
“We don’t want to publicize those discussions because we want to talk to communities before we say we’re having something there,” the Boston 2024 chairman asserted.
Pagliuca spoke for the organizers when he also explained that the 2.0 version of the 2024 bid is far from the end product. The details on the insurance plan and the eight unlisted events will emerge in the coming weeks and months. The question will be whether that’s enough to assuage both Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (who set the June 30 deadline to release the 2.0 bid) and also the public, whose approval will ultimately decide the bid’s fate.
Images via Boston 2024
