Buffalo Bid For the Olympics In 2024? | News

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Comments from a member of the Toronto City Council have sparked Olympic optimism in Western New York, after the politician said Toronto should team up with a U.S. city like Buffalo to host the 2024 Olympics.

Toronto already has two previous failed bids for the Olympics, so Councillor James Pasternak wanted to try out the joint-bid idea, according to a weekend report in the Toronto Sun.

"If you could have a Great Lakes Olympics where you are having cities on the Great Lakes that are partnering for events - that not only makes sense geographically, from a logistical point of view, but financially as well," Pasternak told the Sun, adding "Geographically Buffalo and Toronto are pretty close."

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown described the idea as "intriguing", adding that he would love to discuss the matter further with leaders in Toronto.

The only problem is that the International Olympic Committee has repeatedly said it will not consider joint bids from different cities or countries, according to Robert Livingston, an Olympic historian who runs the Web site GamesBids.com.

"It's pretty much a non-starter," Livingston said, giving the Buffalo-Toronto joint bid a zero percent chance of happening.

Still, the vast majority of Western New Yorkers who spoke with 2 On Your Side and wrote on our Facebook and Twitter accounts liked the idea and hoped it would lead to more discussions.

Because Monday was a holiday weekend, 2 On Your Side was unable to reach Mr. Pasternak's office in Toronto.