Opinion: United approach to Tahoe-Reno Games the correct decision
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the April 7, 2012, Reno Gazette-Journal.
Thursday’s agreement between the lieutenant governors of Nevada and California to join forces offers our best hope to lure the Winter Olympics back to Reno-Tahoe, which last played hope to the world’s winter athletes in 1960.
Nevada’s Brian Krolicki and California’s Gavin Newsom announced the merger of the two state committees that have been looking into the possibility of bidding for the event, most likely for 2022.
Because of an ongoing dispute between the U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee over the distribution of money from the sale of TV rights, it’s yet to be determined whether the U.S. will vie for the games in 2022. Negotiations are continuing, and the USOC is expected to make a decision in 2013.
If the decision is to go for it, it is critical that Reno-Tahoe be prepared with the strongest possible bid. Developing a winning bid would be difficult for Reno and the Lake Tahoe ski resorts. With the help of California, however, we would be a strong competitor the other communities expected to bid, Denver, Salt Lake City and maybe even Bozeman, Mont.
Working together, we could, in fact, win.