Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Organizers for Utah's 2034 Winter Games held their inaugural meeting, emphasizing a lean start.
- The $4 billion budget will be privately funded, focusing on broadcast rights, sponsorships, and tickets.
- Community engagement and youth involvement are priorities, with a "listening tour" planned statewide.
SALT LAKE CITY — The first meetings of Utah's 2034 Winter Games organizers got a little emotional for longtime bid leader Fraser Bullock.
"Today was a special day. We kicked off our organizing committee for 2034," said Bullock, now executive chairman and president of the board that will oversee Utah's next Olympics. "After 22 years of work, we're off and running."
He also told reporters after a closed-door virtual meeting of the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games that "basically all the authorizations" needed to get underway were approved.
The initial year's budget was not made public but is expected to be paid for by private donations.
When the organizing committee officially opens for business next month, there will be only two paid employees, bid chairwoman Catherine Raney Norman, a four-time Olympic speedskater, and bid lead Darren Hughes, who put together the massive bid submission.
That submission included what Bullock labeled a "very thorough" budget for hosting a second Winter Games that adds up to $4 billion, all of it privately raised largely from the sale of broadcast rights, sponsorships and tickets.
Having that and other details already in place frees up organizers to focus on "loftier aspirations" over the coming years, Bullock said.
Organizing committee CEO Brad Wilson said there will be no more than six employees on the payroll during the first year, promising he'll run "a lean, mean fighting machine and be very frugal in terms of the way we ramp up towards the Games."
Gearing up to make the most out of another Winter Games
Earlier Thursday, the organizing committee held an open meeting with the newly named steering committee, a nonvoting advisory group made up of athletes as well as community, business and elected leaders that's headed up by Bullock.
Hosting another Games is "really a gift for us to be able to serve the world," Bullock told the joint meeting after reminiscing about the award made by the International Olympic Committee last year in Paris on July 24, celebrated in Utah as Pioneer Day.
"When I think about that, and the opportunity to bring unity to our communities, whether it's local, national or worldwide, it's such a powerful tool," he said, promising that those assembled online are "going to drive that to make sure we make the most of it that we can."
But Bullock also reminded them that there's no need to rush.
"We've got nine years. Let's be patient. This will come over time," the former chief operating officer of the 2002 Winter Games advised. "We're going to build this together, and we have time to do that."
Wilson, a former Utah House speaker, told the meeting participants that "you're the folks in this state that make things happen. We're absolutely going to put you to work." He added, however, there may be a "little bit of a slow burn" as the organization gets up and running.
Organizers are gearing up for a "listening tour" around the state, he said, to talk about how to bring together the IOC values of sport, education and culture to "make our state shine in nine years."
Engaging youth throughout the state is already a priority, Wilson said.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, an honorary chairwoman of the organizing committee along with Gov. Spencer Cox, said the communities where Games events will be held are "ground zero" for Utahns who want to be involved.
"Part of what makes Utah, Salt Lake City and every one of the host communities so unique is we live the benefits of these Games every day," the mayor said, distinctions that they're "excited to show the world" in 2034.
Mendenhall and Park City Mayor Nann Worel are heading up a host communities committee, one of several smaller groups organizers are forming to focus on specific aspects of organizing the Games and involve more people.
What the Utah Jazz, Utah Hockey Club owner says about the Olympics
Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, who brought a National Hockey League franchise to the state last year, was announced as head of a new strategy committee charged with tracking how the sports world is evolving.
"I think this is really cool. It's exciting. I look around and see so many different people that are just willing to help out," Smith, a member of the organizing committee board, said at the joint meeting with the steering committee.
He cited the impact of this month's 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament that set viewership records as the "type of momentum that is boding well, is kind of this organic groundswell coming into the Olympics."
While hockey players will face off internationally again at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, Smith said there's an opportunity at Utah's next Games "to do something super special. I'm really excited about opening up as much as we can to our community."
That was the experience when Utah hosted the 2023 NBA All-Star Game at the Delta Center, also owned by Smith, that's being remodeled to better accommodate hockey now and in 2034 as part of a massive downtown Salt Lake City revitalization project.
"It's not just for the people that are coming from all over the world," Smith said. "If you are a Utahn, what is your Olympic experience?"
At the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, locals were able to feel a part of events held throughout the French capital, including at the Opening Ceremonies, where the traditional parade of athletes was held on boats sailing the Seine River.
"We're going to be able to do something that's never been done locally for the Olympics," Smith said, calling the access Parisians had to the 2024 Games "one part that they got right, where if you were from there, you were able to have that experience."
