GamesBids.com launched July 27, 1998 as Torontosummergames.com, and was published to follow the bid by the city of Toronto to organize the Games of the XXIXth Olympiad in 2008. After

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

was eventually elected to host the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, the site continued to operate, generally addressing and analysing the overall Olympic bid business. Having launched in 1998, GamesBids.com was on the leading edge of publishing original news online. The site has been the source of some key exclusives including the leaking of the official Beijing 2008 Olympic Games logo and providing information before it was due to be released to the public. The logo was leaked ahead of a planned unveiling of the coveted brand that had been delayed by the

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...

epidemic, and the website received international criticism for the publication. Many international websites, newspapers, and news stations have mentioned Gamesbids in connection to the Olympic Movement, for instance the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

'' and

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

that wrote "GamesBids.com, an influential, independent Web site based in Canada that looks at the business of the bidding process." As an English-language publication, GamesBids.com is frequently referenced as a key source by mainstream and specialty media across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and was particularly influential during campaigns by

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to host the 2016 Games and New York to host in 2012. In 2020, GamesBids.com created headlines across India when it received official clarification from the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

that India remained in the running for the 2032 Olympics after the IOC Vice President said the nation was out of the running. GamesBids.com is also well-respected by key industry insiders. Baku 2020 Olympic bid chief Konul Nurullayeva said "GamesBids is one of the most influential websites that disseminate information about the preparation for the Olympics, the election process and the candidate-cities." Olympics critic, activist and author Helen Jefferson Lenskyj wrote that GamesBids.com is "a good source for bid committees but of limited use to critics" in her book . GamesBids.com however regularly covers Olympic Games and events live and on-site and is used as a source for other publications that are not on the scene. In 2015 GamesBids.com provided exclusive coverage of the Tibetan protests of the

Beijing 2022 The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

Olympic Games bid in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

The website is referenced by Olympic authors and textbooks. In 2010 GamesBids.com became one of the first web-only publications to receive official Olympic Games accreditation, to cover the

Vancouver 2010 )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

Olympic Winter Games. Such access had only been typically granted to print or broadcast media outlets. In 2013 GamesBids.com was given a rare accreditation to report from

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

, a country that does not issue journalist visas GamesBids.com has interviewed many prominent figures connected with sport, politics and royalty. In 2019 the website had a rare exclusive interview with Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden during the Stockholm 2026 Olympic bid campaign.

Awards and nominations

In 2015, GamesBids.com was nominated for an inaugural International Sports Press Association Sport Media Pearl Award in the category of "Journalistic Weblog". In 2018, GamesBids.com was ranked first in North and South America.

BidIndex

The site publishes and regularly updates the BidIndex, an Olympic bid rating system in which the relative strength of the different bids and their chances of succeeding is measured. The BidIndex was correct when it predicted Beijing, though wrong with

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

. The prediction model is further enhanced after each bid. BidIndex has accurately predicted the last four elected host cities, including Rio de Janeiro for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, Pyeongchang for the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

, Tokyo for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

and Beijing for the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

2022 BidIndex

BidIndex for the

, which normally is issued during the early days of the application phase, have been delayed due to the volatility of the field of contestants. It was eventually announced on 21 July 2015, ten days before the host city election.

BidIndex History

Cities are sorted by final BidIndex score for each Games. Only cities who progressed to the voting stage are shown. The final BidIndex scores are published before the election night, and therefore does not take into account factors such as the quality of each candidate city's final presentations.

Past Olympic Host Election Results

GamesBids has curated and publishes a comprehensive list of past Olympic Host election results that documents bid cities, IOC Sessions, locations and dates of elections, round-by-round vote counts and other notes for all past Olympic Games, Olympic Winter Games and Youth Olympic Games. This information is not compiled elsewhere, including on the

website.

Founding

GamesBids.com was founded in 1998 About GB - GamesBids.com
/ref> as an Olympic bid news and information web site created in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, by

Robert Livingstone Robert Livingstone is a Canadian journalist. He is the creator and producer of GamesBids, a news and information website for the Olympic Games bid process, since 1998. He is a member of the International Society of Olympic Historians and "is wid ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

GamesBids.com

GamesBids.com Forum
Olympic Games bids Canadian news websites 1998 establishments in Canada