USOC says IOC members have encouraged U.S. bid

Though the 2024 Summer Olympics seem far away, the clock is ticking for a possible U.S. bid.

After the U.S. Olympic Committee's board of directors meeting on Tuesday in Los Angeles, CEO Scott Blackmun said the USOC would like to narrow its candidate cities to two or three and make the decision whether to bid for 2024 by the end of the year.

"We have spent some time visiting cities and we will continue to do so," said Blackmun, declining to detail any specifics. "It's a very informal process."

Cities under heavy consideration include Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Dallas, according to a person with knowledge of the city visits who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Bidding for the 2024 Games begins next year and the winning city will be announced in 2017.

The last Olympics on U.S. soil was in 2002 in Salt Lake City. The last Summer Games was in 1996 in Atlanta. The USOC is in much better position to bid for the Games compared to the previous two attempts.

Both American bids to host the 2012 and 2016 Olympics (New York and Chicago) failed miserably in large part to a revenue-sharing feud between the USOC and IOC. Two years ago the two sides resolved that dispute and under Blackmun the USOC is now back in the IOC's good graces. Both USOC chairman Larry Probst and Blackmun have spent significant time the past two years building friendships and support, and Probst is now an IOC member.

"We've received plenty of encouragement from multiple IOC members about a bid," Probst said.