The Seattle Sports Commission has begun informally exploring the possibility of hosting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, Sportspress Northwest reported.
“It’s not a bid; it’s just an opportunity for us to consider whether we want to be considered,” Ralph Morton, executive director of the commission told Sportspress Northwest.
Seattle was one of 35 states approached in February by the U.S. Olympic Committee in search of cities interested in bidding for the 2024 Summer Games.
The USOC sent letters to the mayors of 35 cities — including Portland — to gauge interest in a potential bid to bring the Summer Olympics back to the country for the first time since 1996.
The letters were sent to mayors of the country's 25 largest cities -- including New York, Chicago and former Olympic host cities Los Angeles, Atlanta and St. Louis -- and 10 others.
Other cities around the world that have expressed interest in bidding for the 2024 Games include Paris; Rome; Doha, Dubai; and Durban, South Africa. The IOC vote on the 2024 Games will be in 2017.
The USOC is skipping the bidding for the 2020 Olympics. The three candidates for those games are Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo, with the IOC to vote Sept. 7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.