★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ STEERING COMMITTEE ≡
Tuesday’s meeting of the Utah 2034 organizing committee’s Steering Committee did not have any splashy announcements, but confirmed continuing, behind-the-scenes progress on the organization of the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
There was a lot of discussion about the learning trip of a large delegation to the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, with a total of 81 people attending, including State of Utah officials, representatives of four of the Games host communities and seven of the host venues.
This was a unique opportunity for the Utah folks, who will also be able to see the French Alps 2030 Games and how their approach will differ. It was noted that where the Milan Cortina organizers were able to meet their goal of 1.3 million tickets for the Olympic Games, the Utah 2034 projection is to have about 2.9 million tickets available.
As for the behind-the-scenes work:
● The Utah 2034 “Games Plan,” which is a more formalized blueprint of how and where the Games will be staged, is expected to be completed in its first edition on or about Olympic Day – 23 June 2026 – and released to the public.
● Discussions have started with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee on the marketing joint venture which will stand up following the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Utah 2034 will only be able to begin sponsorship sales in 2029.
● A new technology infrastructure to help manage the Games development and then staging is being developed, in coordination with the International Olympic Committee.. This is an exciting project for Utah 2034 because of its long lead time to the Games, allowing exploration of new concepts in the tech field.
● A significant effort to energize and impact youth in the area and beyond is being developed for a 2026 roll-out. Chief executive Brad Wilson explained:
“Our objective is a pilot program in at least six school districts – rural to urban school districts – across the state this year, and it will evolve into a full-blown Olympic values-based education program, starting in 2027.
“It is remarkable to me that we are this far out, we’re going to be impacting the lives of school children across the state of Utah. And lastly, I would just say that our objective is not just to end inside the borders of this state of Utah. But as this program builds momentum, we want this curriculum to become available to school teachers coast-to-coast, in school districts all across America, that they can build on the momentum that we’ve got for 2034.”
Wilson also noted the desire to create a strategy to engage more young athletes, but not just Americans, to use the full set of facilities available now and that will be used for the Games. It was pointed out that 106 athletes competing at the Olympic Winter Games trained in Utah – from 20 nations – and who won a total of 26 medals. The existing Youth Sports Alliance will be a key element in youth engagement going forward.
The Steering Committee meeting, which was public, ended and a Utah 2034 Board meeting followed, which was private. Afterwards, Utah 2034 Executive Chair Fraser Bullock told reporters that the organizing committee is not doing any detailed Games planning, but has other goals right now:
“We’re leaving the bulk, the vast majority of the planning of the Games, to start four to five years out, so we recognize that because we don’t want to spend unnecessary resources at this point in time.
“So we’re focusing on a couple of key areas that are important. One is to generate revenues, and we have our Podium34 program ongoing that’s very successful [$250 million raised so far] and providing us the funding that we need in these early years.
“Number two, we’re gearing up for when we can raise more money, so we’re focused on the revenue side, and that’s not the Games day-to-day planning, per se, but they are important elements of putting on a Games.
“Then, operationally, we’re focused on the technology like we talked about, because that needs to be done so far in advance that it needs to start now. And finally, a big area of focus for us is to have an impact on our communities, because we don’t want to waste the next eight years and just have an impact in 2034. We want to have an impact all the way along. And that’s why we’re kicking off our education program, our youth-sport program; those aren’t elements of planning, those are elements of having an impact on our community.”
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 45-sport, 910-event International Sports Calendar for 2026 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
