BOSTON (AP / MyFoxBoston.com) - Massachusetts leaders have released a state-funded report analyzing Boston's now-failed bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The 192-page report by the Brattle Group suggests local organizers underestimated construction costs for hosting the international event by as much as $970 million, among other things.
“These are really big numbers and in that context a much longer lead time with much more time to narrow what the risks are would be appropriate,” Gov. Charlie Baker said.
Boston 2024 had projected venue construction costs would total about $918 million out of a proposed $4.6 billion plan.
>>READ MORE: Boston 2024 organizers full response to Brattle Group report
Baker and legislative leaders tapped the Cambridge-based consultancy in June to analyze Boston's proposal and its financial implications to the state. The report cost taxpayers $250,000.
In a statement, organizers of No Boston Olympics said this report supports their worries that tax payers would have been on the hook.
"This independent analysis completed by experts hired by the state confirms that Boston 2024 was a risky deal for taxpayers. The healthy skepticism expressed by voters and leaders in the State House was warranted. Massachusetts dodged a bullet."
A spokesperson for Mayor Marty Walsh released a statement on Tuesday, saying that the questions raised in the report mirrored the same questions the Mayor had throughout the bidding process.
"Ultimately, without yet having confidence that the proposed financial plan would not result in any cost overruns, the Mayor was unable to commit to signing a financial guarantee that put taxpayers at risk," the statement reads.
Boston 2024 and the U.S. Olympic Committee announced on July 27 that they would to end the bid, just months after the USOC named Boston the nation's pick to go up against Paris, Rome and other international cities.
Click here to read the full report.