The Road to 2026: Calgary’s Risks and Rewards

The Olympics definitely have their downsides and detractors, as we’ve discussed in some detail over the past few days. But there are a lot of people that have a sentimental attachment to the games, as the 1988 Olympics were huge for Calgary stepping into global prominence. And while the Olympics of the modern era may in fact be a device for wealth transfer, throwing a bunch of shiny baubles into a tiny geographic area, holding some sporting events and then asking the governments of the day to pay for it afterwards, is it possible for that model to work in Calgary’s favour?

If you are, like me, still somewhat optimistic that Calgary can host a 2026 Olympic Winter Games that can have a net positive result for the city (and the sporting infrastructure, amateur and otherwise, in the general area), what would that Olympics look like?

First and foremost, let’s get one thing out of the way: it appears that the IOC is pretty excited that Calgary is even thinking about putting together a bid for 2026, according to a comment from Calgary Sports Tourism Authority chair Doug Mitchell: “The IOC have actually even already asked the COC if they thought we would be putting a bid forward for Calgary.”

For the record, Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi went to the Rio Olympics. He’s a huge fan of the Olympics, having attended the 1988 event as a 16-year-old. While Nenshi was just there on vacation and reports are that nobody officially associated with the bid development were in Rio, it’s probably naive to believe that Nenshi – who does his homework before diving into situations – didn’t chat with people on an informal basis about Rio’s experience or the Olympics in general. He’s not going to go into this process blind.

While chatting with our friends at Sportsnet 960 The Fan following the announcement of the bid development phase, Nenshi had two separate comments that probably summed up what he (and the city) probably hope to get out of the bidding:

Let’s be really honest here: the federal and provincial government are both on an infrastructure kick, as it’s probably the only way to run budget deficits and still be able to sell it to the electorate. But their ability to sink funds into a money-pit Olympics is minimal, so a 2026 Olympics that results in a few strategic new pieces of infrastructure – such as a potential new home for the Calgary Flames – and perhaps an LRT extension to the airport would have to have a really smart budget and maximize the existing sporting infrastructure in the Calgary area.

Using the list of events and venues from the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea as a guide, I’ve briefly sketched out a few ideas for what venues could end up being used (or reused) for 2026, and which holes would need to be filled somehow.

First thing’s first: how many arenas would be necessary? The short answer? One more than they have. The Flames building (the Saddledome or a new barn) could handle men’s hockey while the Markin MacPhail Centre at Winsport could easily handle the women’s tournament, but scheduling would mean that you couldn’t cram all the hockey into one building. The speed skating (long and short track) could probably all be staggered in the Olympic Oval, which would need a bit of refurbishing and perhaps some additional seating. And curling could probably be housed at Max Bell, which would also need some work. But that leaves the bid needing a figure skating venue. In an ideal world, the bid would result in a new building (where men’s hockey would go) while the Saddledome would be used for figure skating. (If a new building results in the Saddledome being decommissioned before the Olympics, or
there’s simply no money for a new building, you could always utilize the
Centrium in nearby Red Deer, too.)

There are a lot of great skiing facilities between Calgary and the Rockies. You could probably put some of the snowboard half-pipe events at Canada Olympic Park if you really needed to, but it’s also likely that the various snowboarding and downhill skiing events could go into the existing nearby mountain resorts (with a bit of work to their facilities). The cross-country events could probably go to the Canmore Nordic Centre (perhaps with a bit of refurbishment). The sliding events could probably be held at the existing facilities at Winsport. They’d need to find a place to do the ski-jumping events, though, as the current COP jumps are a tad small by modern standards.

The Corral is planned to be moth-balled and incorporated into a BMO Centre expansion, as they need more capacity for bigger events. Between that planned expansion and the existing big facilities at the Telus Convention Centre, the media and broadcast facilities likely fit in with existing plans for Stampede Park.

What would need to be built? Probably an arena, perhaps some additional skiing and snowboarding facilities, and almost definitely an Olympic Village. Maybe new ski jumps. Existing facilities in the Calgary area would be reused wherever possible, but it’s also likely that a fair amount of money would need to be spent for upgrades to get everything up to IOC standards.

Could the 2026 Winter Olympics be a chance for city council and the Flames to have their cake and eat it, too? The modern Olympics are, at their heart, a cash grab. The city wants to get some funding for transportation infrastructure, and the Olympics represent perhaps the best chance for a game-changing LRT to the airport. For the Flames, and likely a lot of the winter sports community, it represents a great chance to get an injection of government cash into some aging facilities (and perhaps get a couple new ones built). Odds are that the city will have a fairly well-developed Plan B from the Flames for a new arena – likely one ear-marked for Stampede Park – on their hands by the end of this year. A little bit after that, the bid exploration committee should have a rough plan of what facilities need upgrades, what needs to be built, and begin shaking trees to see what money is available (which will probably dictate the feasibility of the bid).

If the Flames ownership is willing to kick in some money for a new arena, and the federal and provincial governments are willing to help out the city fund some upgrades to facilities (and perhaps kick in some funding for an LRT to their airport like they did in Vancouver), the 2026 bid suddenly begins to sound pretty decent. But it’s far from a slam-dunk, as the preceding statement included several things that are far from sure bets.

A 2026 Olympics could be really, really expensive. But it could result in a new building for the Flames, as well as a bunch of new (or upgraded) resources for sports in the Calgary area. By the end of the 2016-17 NHL season in April, we should have a much clearer idea of what’s going to happen with both the proposed new Flames arena and the possibility of hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics. The two proposals are independent of each other, but because the feasibility of one is so closely tied with the other, they’re now likely to be inextricably linked.