Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford is proposing bringing the International Olympic Games to Birmingham, Alabama. Mayor Langford dreams big and considers himself a visionary, but few citizens in Birmingham are optimistic about Birmingham's chances of hosting the Olympics. Larry Langford is the 30th Mayor of the city and was one of Birmingham's first African-American TV news anchors in the 1970s. His 1970s on-screen persona is still very well known partially due to his enormous Afro back then.Birmingham would compete directly with the city of Chicago which has spent about $50 million on its bid to host the Olympics in 2016. If their bid is successful, then there would be no chance for any American city to host in 2020. The city of Tampa, Florida - much bigger than Birmingham, failed to make it past the first round of the International Olympic Committee hosting trials. Tampa recruited generous support from the surrounding metropolises of Orlando, St. Petersburg, and Walt Disney World ... tourist areas with plenty of 4-5 star hotel rooms. Tampa also lined up thousands of corporate sponsors and raised over $10 million for their failed Olympic bid. Larry Langford has pledged paying the Alabama Sports Festival $250,000 over 5 years to develop Birmingham's Olympic bid.
Mayor Langford. Image From His Official Website.
When looking at the requirements that a city must have to qualify to host the Olympics, the numbers reveal that the great city of Birmingham is not fit to host the games. The host city must have 40,000 four or five star hotel rooms. The greater Birmingham area only has 20,000 hotel rooms total and many are below four stars. The cost of hosting the Olympic games is in the multi-billions and Jefferson County (home to Birmingham) may go bankrupt soon. In addition to these multi-billions, the host city must guarantee the success of the games. Which means that we would have to pony up even more money to cover potential losses. The city of Tampa was willing to cover up to $120 million in losses for their Olympic bid. Again, Jefferson County is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Mayor Langford. Image From His Official Website.
Some citizens praise Mayor Larry Langford for his unique dreams for our city. However, even some of Langford's supporters realize the Olympics in Birmingham is not possible.
John F. Kinney (28) a lifelong Alabamian and sports enthusiast said regarding Mayor Langford's Olympic plans: "I think Mayor Langford is completely detached from reality."
Here's to the a successful 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing! This is David Whiteside with MTV Choose or Lose 2008 reporting for Alabama.
Olympic Medal winners at NBC Olympics.com!