THE BIG PICTURE: Reno-Tahoe out for U.S. bid for 2030 Winter Games

Beyond the drama in Calgary for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games was the announcement that the Reno-Tahoe Winter Games Coalition announced on Monday that it would not pursue the U.S. designation as a candidate city for the 2030 Games. The announcement included:

“After reviewing the workbook and undertaking significant deliberation, the RTWGC regrettably, but respectfully, declined the USOC’s invitation to provide a response.

“The RTWGC did not come to this decision lightly. However, it was a necessary decision. The RTWGC determined that the potential for a near-term U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2030 would not be feasible financially for our region. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will have exclusive marketing rights from early next year through the Games completion in 2028. Budget models for the Reno-Tahoe bid are based on a traditional seven-year marketing and sponsorship cycle and the RTWGC does not see an alternative business model to make a significantly shorter time span work.”

“‘We have maintained from the start that a Reno-Tahoe bid would have to make sense economically, environmentally and socially,’ said Brian Krolicki, RTWGC Board Chairman. ‘Given the parameters and conditions presented, we cannot make the numbers pass muster. To continue, at this point, would be untenable and unwise.’

“Despite this decision, Reno-Tahoe will continue to pursue its Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games hosting aspirations, so that should a traditional time-lined bid cycle beyond 2030 arise, the region will be poised to once again engage.”

That leaves front-runner Salt Lake City, Utah and Denver, Colorado as the U.S. candidates for 2030, with Sapporo (JPN), Barcelona (ESP), Lillehammer (NOR) and others also in the mix. Salt Lake City will be hard to beat, so losing Reno-Tahoe does not hurt the U.S. chances.