Usoc Advising Seattle, Other Cities, To Drop Olympics Bid

The U.S. Olympic Committee’s leaders are recommending that the organization’s board doesn’t bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, after eight U.S. cities submitted $100,000 deposits with hope of securing the sporting event.

Seattle was among the eight cities that paid the deposit.

While the committee said it will refund the cities’ deposits, the USOC Executive Committee said it didn’t want organizing groups to spend as much as $40 million on a bid that would likely fail.

“We couldn’t in good conscience ask the cities and their volunteers and their corporate partners to go through all of this for something we believe has little chance of happening,” said Dick Schultz, the committee’s executive director.