Park City ends bid for Winter X games

Winter sports • City says cost and timing main reasons it wouldn't work out.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Park City Chamber/Bureau on Tuesday ended the city's bid for the Winter X Games, determining that the action-sports event could be costly and have impacts on an important part of the ski season.

The Chamber/Bureau said it informed ESPN via e-mail on Tuesday afternoon. Park City in mid-January had qualified to advance in the bidding process for the event. It was one of at least four places that advanced.

The Chamber/Bureau had been considering a bid that involved each of the three local mountain resorts. The bid contemplated holding the Winter X Games in April instead of January, when they are now staged.

Preparing for the event, though, would have taken between four and six weeks, impacting the resorts and the lodging industry during the normally busy spring break period, the Chamber/Bureau said.

ESPN also required a large bloc of complimentary hotel rooms, the Chamber/Bureau said. The figure climbed into the thousands of room-nights, a term that refers to a hotel room being occupied for one night. The rooms would be for athletes, staffers and sponsors before and during the event.

It appeared the overall cost to organize and host the Winter X Games in Park City would cost between $5 million and $10 million, the Chamber/Bureau said.

"It wasn't a good fit for Park City at this time," Bob Kollar, the director of special events for the Chamber/Bureau, said.

The Chamber/Bureau, the three mountain resorts, the Park City Area Lodging Association and City Hall had been discussing the bid since November. Kollar said the decision to end the bid was unanimous.

ESPN is considering bids to host the Winter X Games in 2015, 2016 and 2017.