Philadelphia will not bid on 2024 Summer Olympics

The front of the Olympic Park stadium in London bearing the Olympic Rings. The stadium was used during the Summer 2012 games. Credit: Wiki Commons.

While it still considers itself a viable option, the city decided to hang back and wait for another opportunity to make a serious push to host the Olympics.

Mayor Michael Nutter today released his letter to the United States Olympic Committee officials, which pulls Philadelphia out of the running to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Nutter said in a statement that city officials spent a year determining whether or not to place a bid and concluded the city wasn’t ready.

“However, we do believe that Philadelphia has what it takes to bid on and host an Olympic Games in the future, and will continue to foster our successful working relationship with the USOC and support their efforts,” Nutter said.

Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, said it was the right decision for the city to do its due diligence.

“I think Philly has shown that we can do big events here of an international scale and that they’re very good for us to do,” Levitz said, “but not all events are equally good for us to do.”

Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen, who was part of a team chosen to advise Nutter, said in a statement that he supports the decision to not pursue the 2024 Games.

“We’ve looked closely at this opportunity over the past year with the city and a number of other key stakeholders, and agree that the timing is not right for Philadelphia,” Cohen said. “We are very confident that we are on a short list of U.S. cities that can ultimately deliver an incredibly successful Games, and intend to continue down our current path towards Philadelphia one day bidding on and securing the Olympics for our city, state and region.”