SANDY • The organizers of Utah’s 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics are seeking more money from donors — nearly twice as much.
Steve Starks, a vice chair for the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said this week that the organization is striving to collect $300 million in donations. That is up from the $163 million goal set out in the budget the group submitted to the International Olympic Committee last July. The budget, the result of more than a year of fine tuning, was part of the state’s successful bid.
Organizers will need to collect an average of $33 million a year in donations to reach their goal by 2034. Most of that won’t be needed for expenses until later in the process, though. Over the next three years, the committee plans to spend just 1% of its $2.84 billion operating budget.
Starks and Fraser Bullock, the organizing committee’s president and executive chair, both said the group’s promise to not use any local or state taxes to fund the Games hinges on building a healthy pot of donations.
“As we plan for a budget and successfully executing a world-class Games, we rely on donations and contributions to avoid taxing the public,” Starks said. “That’s part of what makes Utah great, and that’s part of the legacy from 2002. And so it is a big number.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Steve Starks, the CEO of the Larry H. Miller Co. and the co-vice chair of the Salt Lake City 2034 Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee, speaks as state officials announce the organizing committee for the 2034 Olympics during a news conference at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025.
Despite increasing its donation goals, the committee has not increased its budget.
According to bid documents, the total cost of hosting the Winter Games in Utah will be about $4 billion in 2034 dollars. On top of the operating budget, that includes feeding $275 million into an endowment established during the 2002 Games to fund the upkeep of many of Utah’s Olympic venues. IOC leaders pointed to the state’s ability to reuse its facilities from 2002 as a key factor in granting Utah a second Olympics.
The majority of the operating costs, $1.8 billion, are expected to be gained through domestic sponsorships. However, a clause in their host contract prevents Utah organizers from seeking out those sponsorships until after the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. So for at least the next three years, their financial focus will be on soliciting donations.
“It’s an important element of our overall budget,” Bullock acknowledged. “It’s one of our four large revenue sources.”
(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utahns wait in line for over 12 hours in order to get tickets to the nightly medals ceremonies during the 2002 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2002. Having a wristband allowed them to return to the Salt Lake City Smiths where they can pick between Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters, Mary J. Blige, Bare Naked Ladies and a band to be named.Photo by Steve Griffin 01/07/2002
Starks said he was not prepared to share how much the committee has collected in donations to date.
The other two pillars of the 2034 Games budget include $1.2 billion from ticket sales and $751 million from the IOC. The majority of the IOC’s contribution consists of Utah’s share of the media rights.
Notably, the budget mentions — but includes no dollar figures for — government funding at the federal, regional and local levels. Bullock pointed out that the United States government has signed 10 letters of assurance guaranteeing it will handle certain aspects of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics. That includes tasks like providing security and utilities. However, Utah is also relying on Congress to approve the use of transportation funds for related Olympic projects, such as double-tracking the FrontRunner train, and other infrastructure initiatives.
Given the recent fluctuations in the financial markets, mostly due to shifting tariff policies, it is unclear how much money the federal government will be willing to allocate to such projects five years down the road. The cost of goods local organizers will have to purchase — from fruit at the Athletes Village to souvenirs sold in pop-up shops to gates for the slalom courses — is also increasingly unpredictable.
Bullock, a cofounder of the private equity firm Sorenson Capital, is fond of saying crafting a budget is its own Olympic sport. He has also often said that the 2034 budget could be adjusted if funds fall short by focusing on “the must-haves rather than the nice-to-haves.” Ultimately, Utah and its taxpayers are on the hook if the 2034 Games experience any cost overruns.
The push for more donations is not directly related to shifts in the United States economy, Bullock said. Still, it’s clear Games organizers are trying to do what they can now to protect against a future in flux.
“Part of Utah’s value is to have a rainy-day fund, so to speak, and to ensure that we’re always solid financially,” Starks said. “There’s going to be contingencies — literally things that happen that we can’t anticipate — and so that $300 million number gives us the ability to weather storms and to accomplish the broader goals of putting on another fiscally responsible Games that leaves a legacy for the future.”
Any surplus funds, Starks said, would be rolled into the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation endowment.
