LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Sports officials from a dozen U.S. cities went deep into the heart of the Olympic family this week to make clear their countries’ desire to host more world championships and top events.
Member cities across the country of the Sports Events and Tourism Association came to the Olympic host city of Lausanne to meet with most of the sports governing bodies of the Summer and Winter Olympics, which have been looking for host cities for their own games.
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“If we look beyond that, it’s just a broader outreach to America,” John David, president and CEO of Sports ETA, told The Associated Press, setting the goal of helping Olympic sports “feel the warm embrace America wants.”
The United States has booked its entire slate for the next decade’s biggest events – the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 and Utah in 2034, as well as the men’s and women’s soccer World Cups next year and 2031, respectively.
There’s still scope and room for championships, like the figure skating world championships that Boston hosts in March, which are usually awarded about three years in advance.
“This is long-term planning,” David said on behalf of the Ohio-based nonprofit Sports ETA. “We knew we had to come out here and build trust.”
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Bedside and bed
The weeklong figure skating championships at TD Garden occupy about 17,000 rooms — “and that’s just what we know,” said Greg Piatelli of Meet Boston.
“I think the United States wants more and more international tourists because they are the type of travelers. They want to explore more,” Piattelli told The Associated Press.
When it hosted the weightlifting world championships in 2015, Houston hosted visitors from 100 countries, said Janis Burke, who worked in Houston at the time and now oversees international strategy for ETA Sports.
Still, the soccer World Cup – which will take place in 11 U.S. cities next June and July, including three in Mexico and two in Canada – has highlighted problems for fans and team officials entering the United States.
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visa issues
Haiti and Iran have qualified for the World Cup, but their citizens face U.S. government travel bans. Two senior officials from Iran’s football federation were also denied access to Friday’s World Cup draw ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Burke said the key to hosting future international sporting events was good relationships with members of Congress.
“All of these cities have strong ties to their elected officials and communities,” said Burke, who also helps oversee the 2021 Table Tennis World Championships in Houston.
US President Donald Trump has pledged to provide visas for athletes and team officials attending the next World Cup and Olympics, but it is unclear which other championships could be classified as “major sporting events” to receive exemptions.
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“We’ve been doing world championships and we haven’t seen any challenges,” David said.
Baseball and softball are set to return to the Olympics in 2028 (in California and Oklahoma, respectively), and the governing body’s executive director said everything appears to be on track.
“I’ve just recently been to Los Angeles and Oklahoma City and I didn’t see any issues myself,” Michael Schmidt of World Baseball Softball told The Associated Press, comparing those places to recent trips to Lima, the Peruvian capital, and Vienna, Austria.
world cup spectators
The World Cup, which should attract at least 2 million visitors to the United States, will be the most obvious test.
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Burke said her hometown of Houston will be popular with fans who come to watch any of the Texans’ seven home games.
“I think people will be surprised by what a fantastic World Cup it is,” she said. “Safety will not be an issue.”
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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/sports
