Here's what Utah's Olympic organizers learned from the 'uniting' World Cup

SALT LAKE CITY — During this year's FIFA World Cup, watch parties at Real Salt Lake's home stadium in Sandy attracted 90,000 Utah soccer fans eager to share in the excitement of the international tournament hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

It's the type of experience that Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company and vice chairman of Utah's Olympic organizing committee, wants to make available throughout the state during the 2034 Winter Games.

"It's a reminder that sports bring people together. It's a common language between cultures and nations," Starks said of the America First Field events, describing crowds showing up in U.S. Men's National Team kits as well as team apparel from Mexico and other countries.

"Patriotism was on full display during the World Cup. But it was patriotism in a way that was uniting, that was joyful. It wasn't patriotism in a political way that divided people," he said. "We were all here having a shared experience."

Just like the World Cup, Starks said, the Olympics can unite people in powerful ways.

The Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Games is already focused on using the privately funded $4 billion event to bring together Utahns, going so far as dropping Salt Lake City from the name when a new logo was unveiled last year.

The intent is to ensure residents up and down the state engage in the Games, not just those living near the competition sites, all located within an hour of the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City.

"That's why the name change," Starks said. "That's why it's Utah 2034. We want those experiences for people that live in Richfield or people that live in the Uintah Basin and not just isolated to the Wasatch Front."

Watch parties are one way to make what will be the state's second Olympics "bigger than any one venue," he said. "If you can't be at the venue, you can still be in a place where you can feel the energy and be part of an experience that you'll remember for the rest of your life."

Utah's chance to be 'a great example for the rest of the world'

National pride will be prominent at the Utah Olympics, Starks said.

While he hopes there's "tremendous patriotism" for Team USA in 2034, especially since many winter athletes call Utah home, Starks said he also wants spectators coming from other countries to cheer on their teams at the Olympics to feel welcome.

"We have to remember that Utah is hosting the Games, but it is America's Winter Olympics. We are representing the country in 2034," he said. "America is hosting the Games. I think sometimes we forget that because we get so localized."

Utah has a big responsibility, Starks said, to show the world not only the best of the state but also the best of the nation.

He said it's a chance for the state "to be a great example for the rest of the world. I think one of the things we take away from the World Cup is that across the board, international travelers who came to our country left with a very good impression of America."

The U.S. World Cup matches were spread across eight states — California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and Washington — offering a broad look at what the country offers.

"There's been a lot of healing, where there may have been misperceptions," Starks said, citing social media posts that often highlighted instances of American hospitality that surprised visitors. "We ought to have the same experience in 2034."

How the Utah Olympics can showcase America

Utah needs to be "world-class" to showcase the country in 2034, but it isn't starting from scratch, he said.

"It's hospitality. It's convenience. It's friendliness. It's (being) bilingual. It's all the things that Utah did so well in 2002, and we can build on that. And we can build on what the World Cup just reinforced," Starks said, adding, "this is already part of Utah's DNA."

Fraser Bullock, the organizing committee's president and executive chair, agrees. He served as the chief operating officer for the 2002 Winter Games, when schoolchildren along the Wasatch Front in the "One School, One Country" program were taught about the participating countries.

Each school "adopted" a country, learning its history, customs and national anthem. When the students went to watch that country compete in a preliminary hockey match, they cheered and even sang the team's national anthem from the stands.

After seeing how World Cup cities embraced fans, as Boston did with Scotland's "Tartan Army," Bullock said Utah could launch a new effort to "adopt" countries in 2034, this time involving entire Utah communities.

"We could broaden it," he said, making the more than 90 countries that send athletes to a Winter Olympics feel welcome while giving more Utahns an opportunity to form a special connection with the Games participants.

Many Utahns already have strong ties to other parts of the world through serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Bullock said. "Not only do they have language skills, they've lived in those countries and they understand the culture."

At the 2002 Winter Games, visitors hearing their native language spoken by someone familiar with their homeland was "very surprising, mind-blowing and fun," he said, showing them what he called the true nature of the United States.

"We hope to go much deeper in that discovery in 2034," Bullock said.

Will Utah Olympic tickets be pricier than the World Cup?

There are, of course, practical considerations for organizers as they make plans for 2034.

Although their $4 billion budget is projected to come entirely from private sources, largely through the sale of broadcast rights, sponsorships and tickets, Utah taxpayers are responsible for covering any shortfalls under the host contract with the International Olympic Committee.

Read the rest of the story at deseret.com.

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