Baltimore Could Be Part of 2024 Olympic Bid

By Shaun Courtney

Imagine a trip downtown to take in a ball game. Now imagine, instead of the Orioles or Ravens, watching the worlds' finest amateur athletes.

The Baltimore area is again part of a bid to bring the Olympics to the mid-Atlantic.

A non-profit exploratory committee launched Tuesday morning, announcing Washington's Olympic hopes and its plan to raise $3 million to $5 million in the next two years as it vies for the approval of the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Washington Business Journal reports. 

The bid would be regional, including potential venues in Maryland and Virginia. Both states' governors, as well as professional sports teams, have offered their support, The Baltimore Sunreports. 

"With more state-of-the-art sports infrastructure in a 40-mile radius than any other U.S. city, thousands of hotels and lodging options, and a vast and expanding transportation system, the Greater Washington region is one of the best and most qualified in the world to host an event of this magnitude...," DC 2024's President Bob Sweeney said in a statement Tuesday morning, according to NBC Washington.

Sweeney told the Sun that the games could cost several billion dollars to host, but that the region has an advantage over Sochi, Russia (which will host the Winter Olympics next year) or Beijing (which hosted the summer games in 2008) in that many of its potential venues already exist, including Oriole Park at Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium and numerous waterways.

Other cities reportedly considering joining the mix are Atlanta, Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle, the Washington Business Journal reports. 

The U.S. Olympic Committee will select which American city will go into the running in 2015. That city will then compete with other nations' top choices before the International Olympic Committee, which would pick the 2024 host city in 2017.

Baltimore and Washington previously made a joint bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, which were ultimately held in London. In February, the U.S. Olympic Committee sent letters to both cities and 33 others asking about interest in bidding for the 2024 games, WBAL-TV reported.

Patch field editor Tyler Waldman contributed to this report.