Could Boston bid for another Olympics? – Boston Globe

But numerous other cities have at first failed, only to later try again. And experts say a future bid for Boston is not out of the question, given the right circumstances.

“Boston could certainly try again, but they would likely need to get prior approval from the public,” said Olympics historian and author Tom Ecker. “You would need to have more of that public support upfront.”

Smith College economics professor Andrew Zimbalist said he expects that getting enough public support to try again will take years, if not decades for Boston.

“I really think it’s something that would have to be far off in the future,” said Zimbalist, a vocal critic of Boston’s bid who has questioned the value of such massive sporting events. “The memory of the Big Dig would have to be far in the past.”

Other cities, including in the United States and Canada, have made multiple unsuccessful tries at hosting the Olympics.

Detroit tried and failed seven times to host the Summer Olympics, ending with a final unsuccessful bid for the 1972 Games.

Chicago made back-to-back attempts to host the Summer Games in the 1950s, then re-entered the global contest recently, coming up short in a bid for the 2016 Olympics.

Montreal swung and missed several times before being awarded the 1976 Games.

“There is a precedent for taking that longterm approach,” said Pacific University professor Jules Boykoff, who researches the Olympics. “There is a theory among Olympics mavens that, in a way, cities try knowing that it’s a long game.”

But most times when bids have fallen short, it is not for a lack of public support in the city. Usually bids fail “just because the International Olympic Committee turns them down,” in favor of another city, said Zimbalist.

Experts could recall just a few instances in which cities tried to bid again after failing due to lack of public support.

However, Boykoff noted that such examples may be rare because only in more recent years has there been widespread study, skepticism, and debate about the Games, particularly their costs.

Denver was awarded the 1976 Winter Games, only to withdraw its bid after voters in Colorado banned the use of public money to fund the Olympics.

The city later bid again, for the 1998 Winter Games, drawing more local support from the belief that the bid could boost its then-sagging economy. That bid failed — as did a more recent effort by Denver to host the 2022 Winter Games.

Another case that holds some similarities to Boston is Toronto’s bid in 1996.

The city had previously expressed interest in hosting: for the 1960, 1964, and 1976 Games. But the city took a two-decade hiatus from the idea after watching its Canadian counterpart Montreal host the 1976 Games, running up debts of $1.5 billion that took 30 years to pay off.

So when another Olympics proposal was conceived in 1996, Toronto residents were less enthused.