Report: Red Sox CEO in Talks to Join Boston 2024
Boston 2024, the group bidding to bring the Olympics here, added some sports star power to its roster earlier this week, when it announced David Ortiz, Larry Bird, Jo Jo White, Meb Keflezighi, and Michelle Kwan were joining its new board of directors.
But it may have a bigger move up its sleeve, according to a Boston Globe report. According to The Globe, Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino has reportedly discussed joining the bid committee as it seeks to codify public support and sell Boston as the site of the 2024 Summer Games to the International Olympic Committee.
Red Sox principal owner John Henry also owns The Boston Globe and Boston.com.
It’s not clear what sort of a role Lucchino would take, only that he’s had discussions with Boston 2024. The Globe says the role would be “senior.’’
If Lucchino were to join the committee in a leadership capacity, it would bring further representation of Boston’s sports industry elite to the bid committee. While Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft have been connected with the bid, Boston 2024 has largely been defined by the politicos and business leaders on its team. That team is led by CEO Rich Davey, who is a former state secretary of transportation, and its chairman John Fish, CEO of Suffolk Construction.
Boston 2024 would surely hope an added emphasis on the region’s sports stars and leaders will help to boost its meager public support, a key metric as the bid moves forward—including toward a proposed referendum next year. A poll from Boston 2024 last year found that more Bostonians said they trusted Kraft than they trusted Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, then-Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and The Boston Globe, so there may be something to the idea that Bostonians will follow its sports leaders. However, the bid has struggled to take root in the region, with polls showing that voters don’t believe hosting the Olympics would not require significant public funding.
A Boston 2024 spokesperson declined comment to Boston.com.
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