 | |
| Available in | English |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Founder(s) | Robert Livingstone |
| URL | www |
| Launched | July 27, 1998 |
GamesBids.com launched July 27, 1998 as Torontosummergames.com, and was published to follow the bid by the city of Toronto to organize the Games of the XXIXth Olympiad in 2008. After Beijing was eventually elected to host the Olympic Games, the site continued to operate, generally addressing and analysing the overall Olympic bid business. Having launched in 1998, GamesBids.com was on the leading edge of publishing original news online. The site has been the source of some key exclusives including the leaking of the official Beijing 2008 Olympic Games logo and providing information before it was due to be released to the public.[1] The logo was leaked ahead of a planned unveiling of the coveted brand that had been delayed by the SARS epidemic, and the website received international criticism for the publication.
Many international websites, newspapers, and news stations have mentioned Gamesbids in connection to the Olympic Movement, for instance the International Herald Tribune [2] and The New York Times that wrote "GamesBids.com, an influential, independent Web site based in Canada that looks at the business of the bidding process."[3]
As an English-language publication, GamesBids.com is frequently referenced as a key source by mainstream and specialty media across the United States and Canada and was particularly influential during campaigns by Chicago[4][5] to host the 2016 Games and New York to host in 2012.[6] In 2020, GamesBids.com created headlines across India when it received official clarification from the International Olympic Committee that India remained in the running for the 2032 Olympics after the IOC Vice President said the nation was out of the running.[7]
GamesBids.com is also well-respected by key industry insiders. Baku 2020 Olympic bid chief Konul Nurullayeva said "GamesBids is one of the most influential websites that disseminate information about the preparation for the Olympics, the election process and the candidate-cities."[8]
Olympics critic, activist and author Helen Jefferson Lenskyj wrote that GamesBids.com is "a good source for bid committees but of limited use to critics" in her book Lenskyj, Helen Jefferson (15 April 2020). The Olympic Games A Critical Approach. p. 25. ISBN 9781838677732.. GamesBids.com however regularly covers Olympic Games and events live and on-site and is used as a source for other publications that are not on the scene. In 2015 GamesBids.com provided exclusive coverage of the Tibetan protests of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games bid in Lausanne[9] The website is referenced by Olympic authors and textbooks.
In 2010 GamesBids.com became one of the first web-only publications to receive official Olympic Games accreditation, to cover the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.[10] Such access had only been typically granted to print or broadcast media outlets. In 2013 GamesBids.com was given a rare accreditation to report from Turkmenistan, a country that does not issue journalist visas [11] GamesBids.com has interviewed many prominent figures connected with sport, politics and royalty. In 2019 the website had a rare exclusive interview with Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden during the Stockholm 2026 Olympic bid campaign.[12]