Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympics — now terminated — underestimated costs for hosting the Games, potentially leaving Massachusetts taxpayers on the hook for significant cost overruns, according to a state-funded report.
Boston 2024, the local group that organized the bid, had projected that construction costs for the Olympic stadium, athletes’ village and other key facilities would total $918 million, out of a proposed $4.6 billion plan. But the Brattle Group, a consultancy, concluded a “more reasonable estimate” for construction costs would most likely have been more than $970 million higher, based on previous Games. The firm also cast doubt on Boston 2024’s savings, revenue and other projections.