There’s already more than $200 million in contributions committed to Utah’s 2034 Winter Games, organizers announced Monday at a reception for individuals and foundations giving as much as $20 million each.
The amount of money already raised through the “Podium34″ program is unheard of, said Fraser Bullock, president and executive chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
“What is happening here has never happened for any Games host in history,” Bullock said. “It speaks to the strength and support of our community for the opportunity to bring Utah together and ultimately our nation and the world together on the Olympic and Paralympic stages.”
The donors are all either from Utah or have strong ties to the state, he said. Those giving $20 million are being recognized as “Founding Captains” of Utah’s second Olympics and Paralympics that follow for athletes with disabilities:
- George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation
- Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation
- Robert H. and Katharine B. Garff Foundation
- Daniels Fund
- Huntsman Family Foundation
- Maverik
- John and Marcia Price Family Foundation
- Matthew and Tatiana Prince
- Ryan and Ashley Smith Foundation
Also being recognized are the founding donors giving between $1 million and $15 million to the organizing committee:
- The Andrus Family Foundation
- Boyer Company
- Coburn Family
- Greg and Julie Cook Family
- Intermountain Health
- Kahlert Foundation
- Frederick Q. Lawson Foundation
- Janet Q. Lawson Foundation
- Blake and Sandy Modersitzki
- S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney Foundation
- Blake and Nancy Roney
One donor at this level has chosen to remain anonymous, Bullock said.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also has a role in supporting the Games, he said.
“As we all know, support by the church was critical to the success of the 2002 Games — the prominent medals plaza would not have been possible without their support,” Bullock said. “We thank the church for its early support and commitments for 2034.”
Organizers “are aware the church will make its contributions public in coming weeks,” he said, noting “the time, talents and resources that the church and its members bring to these Games tells a story of friendship and volunteer service that is appreciated and unique."
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he’s “not surprised that we did something historic because I know the people in this room,” describing them as representing “not the very best of our state, but the very best of humanity, of who we are or at least who we should be, who we’re aspiring to be.”
The Olympics, the governor said, are about “all of humanity coming together” to “hopefully inspire us to be better human beings,” and an opportunity for Utahns “to share with the world who we are and what we believe in. And who we are, are people that serve and give back.”
Both the International Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee were represented at the reception, held at the downtown Salt Lake City office space donated to the organizing committee by the University of Utah.
IOC President Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, who was elected to lead the Switzerland-based organization earlier this year and is likely to still be in office in 2034, recorded a video message thanking the donors for “sending a powerful message to the world.”
Coventry said Utahns understand the Olympic spirit “very deeply. It’s in your DNA. The people of the community of Utah are warm, welcoming and open,” embracing the role of families in shaping values as the “state has grown in diversity, vibrance and global relevance.”
Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the Colorado Springs-based USOPC, told the more than 200 people gathered for Monday’s event that they’re “now part of Team USA for good.” Many donors wore blue United States Olympic Team jackets.
Gail Miller, owner and co-founder of The Larry H. Miller Company, told the Deseret News her family stepped up first to donate to Podium34 because “we want to lead the way in goodness and that is how we feel about the Olympics and the Paralympics.”
The Games are “something that will bring the state together in goodness. There’s a lot of opportunity, a lot of learning, a lot of growth, a lot of education, mental health, the whole gamut. It’s going to be great,” she said, adding, “This is one we can have fun at.”
Why contributions to Utah’s Olympics are needed
Bullock said the contributions are key for the organizing committee’s early years. Formed earlier this year, the private nonprofit has less than a dozen employees. Bullock and CEO Brad Wilson, are not being paid.
“This puts us on very solid footing financially,” Bullock said.
Like Utah’s 2002 Winter Games, the state’s next Olympics relies on private funding to cover the $4 billion price tag. Much of that money will come from the sale of broadcast rights, sponsorships and tickets.
But this time around, Utah is in a unique position, having to wait nearly four years to start soliciting sponsors and sharing in revenues raised by the IOC, to avoid competing with another U.S. Olympics, the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
That’s where the donors come in. The contributions, spread out over the 8½ years until the start of the state’s next Winter Games, are the organizing committee’s only source of revenue until 2029.
The IOC’s July 2024 decision to give Utah the Games earlier than the typical seven years out made organizers even more dependent on donors. While they could have borrowed money, Bullock said he always expected that the community would come through.
Some of the contributions will go toward youth sports and education programs ahead of 2034, as well as Games-time events, he said, although the main goal of the organizing committee is to cover the costs of staging the Olympics and Paralympics without tapping taxpayers.
“We have to first of all break even,” said Bullock, who served as chief operating officer of the 2002 Games. “Our ability not to use taxpayer money is a result of very disciplined budget management. Some of us have done that before. We know what it looks like.”
Donors can also take credit, he said. “The fact that we have these donors stepping up, it gives us that cushion, that the state won’t have to come up with taxpayer funds to support these Games.”
The names on the list as well as future donors are also sending “inspirational messages” to the world about Utah, Bullock said. “When you think of the values of Utah, volunteerism is a huge part of our Games,” along with being “the most welcoming place in the world.”
How much money Utah’s Olympic organizers hope to raise
In May, organizers announced they were nearly doubling the amount of money anticipated from contributions, to $300 million, saying the fundraising effort was off to a good start but declining then to be more specific.
Last month, they confirmed about $150 million already had been raised, during a presentation to lawmakers at the first meeting of the Utah Legislature’s Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Coordination Committee since the bid award.
“That was a surprise to me,” the committee’s House chairman, Rep. Jon Hawkins, R-Pleasant Grove, said after the meeting. “Six months in and you’ve raised $150 million? That’s a phenomenal track record.”
At Monday’s reception, organizers reminded the attendees several times that the $300 million goal has not yet been reached.
What donors get for their contributions besides recognition is the ability to purchase Olympic tickets and hospitality packages, just like the sponsors who pay for the right to advertise their relationship to the Games.
The founding donors have the knowledge “they laid the foundation for the Games’ success,” Bullock said, adding their support shows “they believe in the purpose and the vision, that this is important for our community.”
In 2002, he and then-organizing committee leader Mitt Romney also turned to Utah donors for help closing the budget gap left by the global bribery scandal surrounding the million dollars in cash, gifts and scholarships Utah bidders had handed out to IOC members.
Then, Bullock said, Utahns stepped up with $44 million through what was called the 2002 Olympic Ambassadors program toward what was a $1.4 billion budget, contributions that he said would add up to about $81 million adjusted for inflation.