Last Minute Poll

[Amadeus]

This is your last-minute chance to vote on what city you think will be allowed to host the 2012 Olympic Games - all competitors are listed with the current odds to win as given on Ladbrokes.com, so get voting before it's too late!

 

Will the frogs get it? Can London pull it off? Or are we all going to have to learn Russian in a few years time? Come on, get voting!

 

And if London loses the bid, you can still slag of the Frogs here - not that London will lose - I mean, they have Fish and Chips, Big Ben and all that...

[ans]

Down to London or Paris

 

Edit: Voting over. Announcement at 1230.

[Stavros]

I'll go with London, only because I've seen that they have made quite a big effort to try and get this. I'm sure that the other places have made an effort as well but London has been pushing hard to win this.

 

I guess we'll see!

 

Stav.

[Bill Posters]

I'd love London to get it. Sadly, I fear that Paris will get it.

[Coroner]

London has won ..........

[Stavros]

Excellent!

 

Stav.

[the-rhymes]

Good good good... That will teach them for slagging off Haggis.

[Rog]

The award of the 2012 games tothe UK is NOT good news.

 

The 2004 event cost the Greeks IRO $10-12 billion US .

 

Television rights, corporate sponsorships and ticket sales helped them but $12 billion is a lot for a government to find.

 

Returns? Difficult to quantify in fiscal terms nut indications are a massive overall loss to the host nation. for example in the case of Greece NBC paid IRO $800 million for broadcast rights to the Olympics in the U.S.

 

Ticket sales were not good for the 2004 Olympics as was obvious from the telecasts and the large number of empty seats and even as close as two weeks before the start of the Olympics, some 2 million seats were still unsold.

 

Residual value of the new facilities that will remain? Four years after the Sydney Olympics, under-used venues are costing taxpayers in Oz $32 million US

 

The Chinese have budgeted $23 billion for the 2008 Olympic games.

 

So will someone explain to me just how the award of the 2012 games to the UK is good news?

 

Or is it much more likely that Bleah will take the perceived credit knowing full well that it will be someone else, probably a Conservative, who will have to sort out yet ANOTHER NuLabour financial disaster.

 

I suspect that the winner in all this was Paris after all.

[The Old Git]

So will someone explain to me just how the award of the 2012 games to the UK is good news?

 

It's good new for us here in the Isle of Man

 

It's even better news that Paris didn't get it, I needed a good laugh. Chirac is a liability for the French.

[Stavros]

I think that you have to take account of the amount of money that has already been spent on facilities that have been built to make a bid for Olympic games. £757m has / is being spent on Wembley Stadium. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and London Mayor Ken Livingstone have agreed a £2.4 billion funding package for the games, with the bid costing an estimated £17 million.

 

The lottery is the biggest contributor to the bid. The Olympic Lottery will involve a weekly draw with cash prizes between £20 and £200,000.

 

A twice yearly Olympic Mega Draw, will cost £5 to enter and offer cash prizes of £10 - £15 million with themed non cash prizes including holidays to Olympic resorts. There are also plans for a new Olympic lottery television show.

 

Camelot’s Chief Executive, Dianne Thomspon, said: “We are thrilled to have been asked by the government to raise money for the London Olympics. It is a responsibility that Camelot takes very seriously which is why we have already developed these robust game concepts. We hope to launch the first Olympic lottery game as early as next year. "

 

Concerns over the cost are inevitable at such an early stage. But the success of 2002's Commonwealth Games boosted the government’s credibility, making the Olympic bid a viable proposal.

 

The bid’s revenue raising potential is awesome and the tourism industry has embraced it with open arms. London has the potential and the cash to host the greatest games on Earth.

 

I think that it is a good thing and will be good for England in general.

 

Stav.

[Alias]

Is everything about money though ?

 

Just hope the construction bill doesn't go like the MEAs..

[Rog]

Is everything about money though ?

 

Just hope the construction bill doesn't go like the MEAs..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

When the sums involved run into tens of billions of pounds then YES.

[Speckled Frost]

My problem is that the British tax payer will be footing a large part of the bill for what will only be regional benefits - and feckin' London no less.

[The Old Git]

When the sums involved run into tens of billions of pounds then YES.

 

You're not complaining about the UK government wasting billions on a project are your Rog?

[Rog]

When the sums involved run into tens of billions of pounds then YES.

 

You're not complaining about the UK government wasting billions on a project are your Rog?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This willbe one of if not the biggest waste of taxes in years.

 

The worst part is that Bleah will reap the kudos and probably (hopefully) a Conservative government will have to sort out the mess. Again.

 

And get the blame for doing what must be done to do so. Again.