I was right.
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1130333/chungcheing-awarded-2027-fisu-games
1 Like
Much like Quatar getting the World Cup, SK getting these games for the 3rd time reeks of insider-ism.
2 Likes
Hopefully they release some sort of postmortem that identifies why the US bud failed. I know Amazon released some stuff when the HQ2 bid failed down here. Think the state would benefit in the long run learning what they need to do so they can host events like this in the future.
3 Likes
How far apart from each other were the Korean facilities? I wonder if we lost it because our facilities were spread from here to Greensboro (~80 miles).
2 Likes
Aw man, that’s a bummer. It’s a huge deal in Europe and Asia, I wonder if they were just going to pony up for nicer facilities
It sounds like the government was all in, and I don’t doubt they’ll be putting up a bunch of nice stuff that our government and private sponsors wouldn’t dream of. We can’t even get a downtown stadium or commuter/light rail. I feel like the Triangle thinks it’s cool because we keep popping up on little lists, but in reality it’s practically rural compared to actual major cities. And that’s fine, I like it here and don’t want to live in Shanghai or something. But for outsiders looking at us for this kind of thing, I can’t think they’d be super impressed. Though we did make it to the final 2, so maybe I’m just a grouch.
6 Likes
I don’t that that we can discount the impact of the diminished American brand on the global stage over the last 6 or so years.
4 Likes
I don’t think it’s the maximum distance; the two farthest-apart venues in Chungcheong’s bid (that I could approximate on Google Maps) is Boryeong’s ports (which will probably become their future Sailing Center) and the World Martial Arts Park in Chungju, which are 89.7mi apart.
Instead, the most obvious advantage of the Korean bid was that more of their venues were clustered together in easily-accessible places. Sure, it will take you longer to travel between some of the venues in the Korean bid, but 26 of the 30 venues are within a 25-mile radius of Sejong - including major events like opening/closing ceremonies, trak and field, and swimming. Combine this with how it’s MUCH easier to travel within that area without a car, and it could’ve been a simple problem of logistics.
I don’t mean this in an “I told you so” way, but I did mention that as a possible weakness (especially as soon as Greensboro got involved) back in February. Like with HQ2, it seems like transit options are starting to consistently show up as a weakness for our region in high-profile ways…
5 Likes
Totally agree, I didn’t mean to discount that. You can have big distances between World Cup venues, it’s that competition’s whole thing (except this year), but for an Olympic-style event where you want to maximize the festival feeling and sample a lot of sports the sprawl is a huge downside.
No one wants to travel to a new country for a big party and slate of events and then spend half the time driving. At least on a train you can drink.
2 Likes
Exactly. Plus, hiring event-only buses (which is what we used in the 80s, and I bet the NC bid organizers were planning on using again) would’ve made for a logistical nightmare, as well, on top of it being an entirely avoidable budget drain. I know people can be dismissive of BRT, buses, and/or our commuter rail efforts, but this is one of those places where it especially matters.
I dug into some of the press coverage that’s been happening around the Korean bid, and it seems like FISU might have also preferred Sejong’s potential for massive, regional developments in their civic culture and economy. This could have been a potent argument since the “Chungcheong megacity” wasn’t even a real thing until this bid. This could be one reason why Greensboro was brought into the bid so suddenly: by allowing Greensboro to join the bid and leaving the door open for Charlotte to also join, our bid could’ve been pitched as a net benefit for the entire Piedmont plains (which is growing into an inter-state megacity anyways) instead of something just for the Triangle metro region.
Since this addition only happened after North Carolina’s finalist status was announced, it makes me think it happened due to worries over what seemed like a weaker strartegy. I wonder if one or both of these things happened?
-
The FISU bid evaluators fell for a logical fallacy. It’s well-known in the literature that Olympic game bids like to be splashy and to promise regional economic revitalization, but the actual evidence on their success is flimsy at best. The Korean bid could’ve followed this exact pattern by highlighting all of the economic growth that could benefit their future new capital. This could’ve implied that the World University Games could help the Republic of Korea build a new, 21st-century capital that is farther from North Korean threats or a history as a Japanese colony… a perfect way to stoke the evaluators’ egos by celebrating them as history-makers.
-
North Carolina’s bid committee became too insecure about their own value proposition once they looked into the Korean bid’s marketing pitch. Once they realized their competitor’s bid is about regional and national revitalization, the North Carolina committee could’ve become envious and felt like they had to push for the same message. Of course, a revitalization of the entire American economy on something only based in North Carolina’s silly (plus there’s bad blood from the last time US presidents tried to get involved in an Olympic bid), so a state-centric bid could’ve been seen as the next best thing.
Either way, I think North Carolina tried to look too much like the Chungcheong bid when they had plenty of opportunities to double down on their strengths and differentiate themselves from the competition. Our bid would’ve maintained existing venues (or upgraded them in useful ways) and strengthened existing infrastructure, which would’ve made for a more sustainable and frugal Games; I think that could’ve been a perfectly strong and valid pitch, if only our bid stuck to its guns.
It turns out Turkey might stage a bid for the 2029 World University Games. If we’re going to resubmit a bid, I think we’ll want to think long and hard about what our priorities actually are.
Until then…
Maybe Obama was onto something, lol.
1 Like
I’m just saying but the event only buses aren’t a bad idea. I know the state partnered with Holiday Tours to provide shuttles from the further lots to the fair this year and it was a really good system with the GoTransit companies each adding shuttles from their respective hubs. I was up over at the bandwidth HQ and still had I think somewhere around 10 buses designated to that one lot at one point. Note, this wouldn’t happen until 2027. It gives plenty of time for the GoTriangle commuter to start, as well as the first few BRT areas to get running.
I’m not saying money talks but, the article Gucci shared above states they were investing around $1.8 billion towards the infrastructure of this.
Infrastructure projects totalling €1.7 billion (£1.5 billion/$1.8 billion) will be completed by early 2027, organisers vowed, although they insisted that development of the region - including nine of the proposed 10 new venues - would take place regardless of the outcome of the vote having received Governmental backing.
The only thing I could find from the NC-side about funding towards this was the state legislature ‘committed’ $25 million towards this if we were picked. The $25 million would cover a quarter of the estimated $100 it would have cost over here. Seems the South Korean government, and the cities involved, truly were going all in on this compared to what we were prepared to spend from my POV? I’m assuming the US federal government would have chipped in too but seems Korea was committed from the get-go.
7 Likes
That’s true, but I think we’re comparing apples to oranges at that point.
South Korea’s government has wanted to move a big fraction of their bureaucracy from Seoul to Sejong, a city built from scratch in the middle of historic Chungcheong, since at least 2003. This means the World University Games is a chance for their majority party to heavily invest in that move without having to fight right-wing coalitions in their supreme court (which was an issue that actually happened in 2005). The South Korean government’s been really hellbent on making Sejong a thing; I don’t think it’s fair to describe Raleigh or Washington as inept cheapskates when our motivations are fundamentally different.
Oh no, I’m not saying event-only buses are a bad idea in and of itself. I’m saying that it’s a hacky, lower-quality, and less hospitable way of moving people around when we’re competing against places where such a patchwork solution is not necessary to begin with. At a more practical level, the athletes, key staff members, and event volunteers would’ve probably been allowed onto those buses. But the media, guests, and the general public from all around the world? It’s likely that they’d be shit out of luck, especially since transit agencies are still missing about half of the bus drivers that they need for normal service.
(But I digress; we have a dedicated thread for future transportation needs in the Raleigh after all…)
Plus, the sad truth is that the transit solutions we have would simply not be enough. Lately, GoTriangle’s been thinking that commuter rail lines will start until the mid-2030s because it’s turning out to look more expensive than they thought (courtesy of bigger infrastructure needs, inflation, and supply chain fuckery). Even if that wasn’t an issue, no meaningfully frequent all-day/weekend transit services exist (or are even planned) between Athlete’s Villages and some key venues like the USA Baseball National Training Complex or venues in Greensboro.
6 Likes
Don’t call it a comeback, but the TBJ reports that North Carolina remains very much in the mix for the 2029 World University Games:
Hill Carrow, the Cary-based sports promoter who led the North Carolina group seeking the games, told Triad Business Journal they’re “cautiously optimistic” the state will receive the bid to host the 2029 summer World University Games. Word could come early next year.
7 Likes
The actual article sounded surprisingly optimistic -especially in the paragraphs immediately after what you quoted.
Also, it turns out track and field would’ve been held at NC A&T, swimming and gymnastics in the Greensboro Aquatic Center, and volleyball at Elon’s new Schar Center (plus track practices at Elon as well). So I’m not entirely sure if they’re thinking much about their failures (at least, in the ways I’m seeing them)…
5 Likes
Yeah that probably was the mail in the coffin.
I feel for you friend - my buddies give me non-stop grief about my typos, and writing with thumbs on a phone is a recipe for disaster, at least in my case.
To the larger point, this doesn’t sound so much like the Triangle hosting as it does the state. Unless RTP is now Raleigh in one corner, Greensboro in one and . . . Southern Pines in the other? lol
1 Like
Nice! I actually didn’t see the Triad BJ story, just the Triangle BJ’s summary in a rundown. Thanks for the added context!
1 Like
That’s amazing! So excited for the community, the World University Games are a huge deal internationally and are going to bring a LOT of foreign competitors, team support, family, and spectators to the area. It’s an elite level competition in almost every sport.
Of course, as a former collegiate swimmer, I’m a bit bummed Greensboro got the swimming, but that’s a very very minor gripe. Did they also get water polo?
10 Likes