Tribune Poll: Support for 2016 Olympics Sinks

By Kate Gardiner in News on Sep 3, 2009 4:40PM

Olympics support has dwindled to 47 percent, according to a Tribune/WGN poll released today.

Nearly as many city residents oppose Mayor Richard Daley's Olympic plans, 45 percent, as support them, 47 percent. And residents increasingly and overwhelmingly oppose using tax dollars to cover any financial shortfalls for the Games, with 84 percent disapproving of the use of public money.

The decline in popularity - especially as the public becomes more aware that it is faced with what could be an overwhelming tax burden if the Olympics don't succeed - could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. A report released earlier this week was not as gung-ho about bringing the Games to Chicago as the Mayor and 2016 rep Peter Sandusky might've hoped - the Olympics plan is at best, "ambitious." The plan does not, after all, have the overwhelming federal backing that the three other candidate cities do, though there's speculation that may be coming.