The 2034 Winter Olympic organizers on Monday unveiled a nine-digit fundraising effort that involves a list of prominent families and organizations in Utah and is touted as the largest such campaign in the history of the Games movement.
The Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games wants to raise $300 million and had secured more than $200 million by Monday’s announcement, made in Salt Lake City. The monies will be put toward unspecified initiatives in sport and for communities, possibly including youth sports, arts and culture, education, mental health and community engagement, according to the organizing committee.
“Podium34 is our team,” Catherine Raney Norman, vice president of development and athlete relations, said during the announcement as she referred to the name of the effort.
She said the effort shows what is possible with teamwork.
Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, described the early work toward 2034 as the most impressive start to a Games ever seen.
Fraser Bullock, the executive chair and president of the organizing committee, called the dollar figure “stunning in its magnitude.” Bullock noted that the fundraising is the only source of monies for the organizing committee until other revenue streams begin.
“The Games have an extraordinary power to unify,” Bullock said. “This is the first time a host for the Olympic and Paralympic Games has seen anything like this. We are deeply grateful to our donors for making it possible. Their leadership is a vital part of our commitment to host financially successful Games.”
The organizing committee described Podium34 as laying the financial foundation for the Games in 2034. The donor contributions will be spread out annually to the year of the Games.
The organizing committee publicized a list of families from Utah and giving organizations that have committed monies, with many of them being longtime champions of causes in the state. Matthew and Tatiana Prince, who live in Park City, are listed as having contributed $20 million to the organizing committee, putting them into the Founding Captains category — the highest of two levels of contributions listed by the organizing committee. The Princes own The Park Record. Others at the $20 million level include the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, the Huntsman Family Foundation, the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation and the Ryan and Ashley Smith Foundation.
There was limited reference to the Park City area during the announcement on Monday. The area is a key to the Games, with Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park slated to host competitions in 2034. Park City and surrounding Summit County will also be crucial to the transportation, security and celebration plans. There is a roster of figures from the Park City area serving in various roles in the leadership hierarchy of the organizing committee.
The International Olympic Committee awarded the Games of 2034 to Salt Lake City on the eve of the Summer Olympics last year in Paris. The IOC made the 2034 selection nearly 10 years prior to the event, providing additional time for the preparations in the state than the seven years that were traditionally given between the awarding of a Games and the staging of them.
The organizers in Utah have long seen the additional years as a benefit as they consider concepts for 2034. The Podium34 is one of the ideas the organizing committee said benefitted from the earlier awarding of the Games.
PARTICIPATING UTAH FAMILIES & ORGANIZATIONS
Founding Captains ($20 million contribution)
- The Daniels Fund
- George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation
- Robert H. and Katharine B. Garff Foundation
- Huntsman Family Foundation
- Maverik
- Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation
- John and Marcia Price Family Foundation
- Matthew and Tatiana Prince
- Ryan and Ashley Smith Foundation
Founding Donors ($1-15 million)
- The Andrus Family Foundation
- The Boyer Company
- The Coburn Family
- Gregory and Julie Cook Family
- Intermountain Health
- The Kahlert Foundation
- Frederick Q. Lawson Foundation
- Janet Q. Lawson Foundation
- Blake and Sandy Modersitzki Family
- S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney Foundation
- Blake and Nancy Roney Family