The survey of 504 registered voters in the Boston area, conducted by local radio station WBUR together with MassINC Polling Group, also shows that only 36 per cent are in favour of bringing the Olympics and Paralympics to the city.

The results follow a poll in February which put the amount of people who oppose the bid to 46 per cent, which constituted a rise of 13 per cent from the previous survey carried out.

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) insisted recently they had no concerns over this seemingly rapid decline in popularity for Boston's bid, with chief executive Steve Blackmun saying that "it is much more important those numbers be high two-and-a-half years from now".

Back in January, the figure swayed largely in the favour of support for Boston 2024 as only a third of those surveyed were against the bid, and the sharp fall has been put down to a number of factors, including recent bad weather in the Massachusetts area and also the appointment of former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick as a Global Ambassador as he will be paid a reported $7,500 (£5,000/€7,000) per day for his work.

"One of the things that was happening in February [during the last WBUR poll], people were dissatisfied with the way the trains were running, and they were sort of grumpy because they had to stay home and couldn't get to work and were having all sorts of other problems," Steve Koczela, President of MassINC, a public policy think tank, said. 

"But in fact the numbers have continued to get worse."

The news will be greatly received by opposition group No Boston Olympics who are contuining to campaign against the city's bid ©No Boston Olympics



Despite the clear wavering in support for their attempt to bring the Summer Olympics and Paralympics to the United States for the first time since Atlanta in 1996, Boston 2024 have remained defiant, claiming the bid will provide great economic and social benefits to both the region and the country.

"After one of our worst ever winters, we know that we need to be out across the city and the state over the forthcoming days, weeks and months to build support and make the case that the 2024 Games would leave an extremely positive legacy for generations to come," Boston 2024 chief executive Rich Davey said.

"The more one-on-one conversations we have - discussing the benefits and addressing concerns - the more support will grow.

"That is why Boston 2024 has scheduled 20 public meetings in 20 weeks across Massachusetts in addition to the nine neighbourhood meetings Mayor [Martin J.] Walsh is hosting in Boston.

"The Games' economic impact and job creation opportunities - estimated by independent researchers to be over $9 billion (£6.05 billion/€8.3 billion), and tens of thousands of jobs - will be transformative.

"We also believe the Games will spur dramatic infrastructure upgrades, transportation improvements, and affordable housing construction that will leave a tremendous legacy for Boston and the region."

USOC chief executive Steve Blackmun recently suggested they weren't worried by the recent drop in support for Boston's 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid ©Getty Images


Boston was considered a surprise choice from USOC to be the United States' bid city for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics after they beat off competition from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

They could come up against Rome and also Hamburg after the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) announced on Monday (March 16) they were putting forward the city ahead of Berlin.

The campaign does not even properly start until September 15, when countries have to officially inform the International Olympic Committee whether they will bid or not.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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