Joseph Spector

Albany Bureau Chief

ALBANY – New York will consider whether to bid on the 2024 Olympics, Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed Wednesday.

Some New York City leaders, including Dan Doctoroff, top aide to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, are pushing for the city to compete for the Olympics. Bloomberg unsuccessfully bid on the 2012 Olympics.

"We are looking at it, and I look forward to talking to Dan about it," Cuomo told reporters in Manhattan.

The Financial Times, citing an unnamed source, reported Wednesday about talks between Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio about whether to bid for the Summer Games and create an advisory committee.

De Blasio said in February that the games are not a priority and "not something the administration is considering at this time." It would require a massive investment to develop new facilities and infrastructure to host the games.

CEO Scott Blackmun said in April that the U.S. Olympic Committee 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.

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 IOC announced last week that NBCUniversal has paid $7.75 billion for broadcast rights through 2032. The deal covers six Olympics, from 2021 to 2032. Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Sports Group, said a games in the U.S. "would be good for our business."

New York failed in its bid to host the 2012 Olympics, which went to London, while Chicago lost a bid for the 2016 Olympics, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro. The last Olympics on U.S. soil were in 2002 in Salt Lake City.

Cuomo said the staffs for the city and the state have had discussions about whether to submit a bid.

"We have had staff-level conversations, but it's at a very preliminary point," Cuomo said.