On Dec. 1, the group known as Boston 2024 submitted its bid for the city to host the summer Olympic Games. Dan O'Connell, the president of Boston 2024, joined NECN to discuss the details of that proposal.
O'Connell called Monday's bid a "preliminary," "proof of concept" document that will be used to determine if Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Washington DC will host the Games.
"The Patriots don't let the playbook out before a game with the Packers," O'Connell began. "There's information in it that's fairly mundane- a number of hotel rooms, what kind of resources we have in terms of transportation- but there's also information about what our strategy is and what's unique about Boston's bid and we don't want that out in the other three cities."
To address Massachusetts resident concerns that the bid is not transparent, O'Connell says Boston 2024 has established a citizen advisory group to open the conversation with the public. He calls the support of locals on social media "overwhelming," adding that Boston 2024 has substantially more support online than any of the other cities who have submitted a bid.
In addition, O'Connell discussed the cost concerns of hosting the Games, saying that the bid is a privately funded effort with an extensive insurance package in the works.
The bid will be awarded to one of the four United States cities in January.
