Game Relocation

During the nationalistic fervor of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games last winter, word on the street was a that formal bid to bring the 2026 Winter Games to Bozeman was underway. In fact, it’s been in the works since at least 2010, but recently a new potential site in Montana has taken center stage: Kalispell and Whitefish.

“At the request of the Governor’s Office, the Olympic bid is ‘adapting,’” says Jon Greenspon, President of the Big Sky Committee for the Winter Games. “We are looking at a Kalispell-Whitefish bid, and are presently in a Board of Directors reorganization.”

The move leaves some in town breathing a sigh of relief and others wondering what might have been, but ultimately the decision was made to increase the odds of a Montana Olympics, Greenspon says.

“The shift is in direct relation to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) wanting to see a more compact game structure,” he explains. A Bozeman Games would have had events spread over 100 miles; in Whitefish, the games could be held within a 20-mile radius. Either way, plans for a Montana bid are moving forward. Learn more at bozeman2026.com.