Goodwill Games

The Goodwill Games were held for the first time in 1986 in Moscow. They were the brainchild of Ted Turner of Atlanta, Georgia, the head of Turner Broadcasting and the Cable News Network (CNN). Turner was upset about the boycotts of the Olympics in both 1980 and 1984 and saw the need to hold a “peaceful” sporting festival outside of the Olympic Movement. They were held in 1990 in Seattle, Washington, 1994 in St. Petersburg, Russia (the former Leningrad and Petrograd), 1998 in New York City, and in 2001 Brisbane, Australia. In 2000, the 1st Winter Goodwill Games were contested in Lake Placid, New York, USA. The 2005 Goodwill Games were planned for Phoenix, Arizona and the Winter Goodwill Games were planned for Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but with the break-up of the Soviet Union, the need for a Goodwill Games was far from clear. In addition, all of the Goodwill Games hemorrhaged money, and the Goodwill Games were discontinued after 2001.