Mitt Romney Advising Boston Group Exploring Potential Bid For 2024 Olympics

Former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is advising a group of Boston business leaders exploring a potential bid for the 2024 Olympics, the Boston Globe reports.

Romney is serving as a key advisor to a group of volunteers led by John F. Fish, chairman of Suffolk Construction. According to the Globe, the group hosted a delegation of the United States Olympic Committee in October that met with group members and viewed potential Olympic sites around Boston.

Romney, who headed the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, described the Olympics as "a huge-impact event" that's "like 20 Super Bowls at once" in a phone interview with the Globe.

“It would be a marvelous community-building experience for Boston, and I think the people who would enjoy the games with or without tickets would say it was one of the best experiences of their life," Romney said.

Romney recently denied having interest in becoming the commissioner of a major sports league in an interview with NBC Sports, saying the "Olympics are different."

"That is America putting on an event for the world to attend. People ask why we spend $2, $3 and $4 billion and not give to the poor instead," Romney said. "Every now and then, it’s a good thing for America to host the world and have people to be here serving the world. Every 10 or 20 years, we need to invest to bring the world here."

In July 2012, months ahead of both the presidential election and the summer Olympics in London, Romney criticized the British, saying there were "disconcerting" signals that they might not be prepared to host the games. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) slammed Romney for the gaffe, saying he "insulted everybody."

Read more from the Boston Globe here.