Alaska borough plans to bid to host 2024 Arctic Winter Games

Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Borough plans to submit a bid to host the 2024 Arctic Winter Games.

Leaders of the borough north of Anchorage issued a statement announcing the intention to contend for the event, Alaska's News Source reported Tuesday.

"The Games celebrate sport, social exchange and cultures," the statement said. "The Games provide an opportunity for the developing athlete to compete in friendly competition while sharing cultural values from northern regions around the world."

The Matanuska-Susitna Assembly voted Feb. 2 to move forward with a bid.

Following the decision, the borough said it received a verbal commitment of $2 million from the state to support the bid.

The Arctic Winter Games International Committee has $50,000 remaining from previous games in Fairbanks that will be donated to the host of the 2024 games, the borough said.

The anticipated cost of hosting the event is between $5 million and $8 million USD.

A post on the borough's website said the bid review process by the organizers of the games normally takes about a month.

Alaska has hosted the games six times in the past 50 years, with Fairbanks the most recent state host in 2014.

The next Arctic Winter Games is scheduled to take place in March 2022 in Wood Buffalo, Alberta.

The 2020 games in Whitehorse were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.