Munich voters back Olympic bid in landmark referendum

Overwhelming public support

Final polling results showed 66.4 percent of voters supported the proposal in Sunday’s referendum.

“Munich clearly voted yes,” said Mayor Dieter Reiter, while Joerg Ammon, president of the Bavarian State Sports Association (BLSV), hailed the outcome as a “dream result.”

Voter turnout reached 42 percent of the city’s 1.1 million eligible residents—the highest participation rate in Munich’s referendum history, surpassing the 37.5 percent turnout recorded in 2001 for the Allianz Arena vote.

Historical context and regional bids

Munich, which last hosted the Summer Games in 1972, is one of four German regions preparing Olympic bids, alongside Berlin, Hamburg, and the Ruhr region.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) will select the national candidate in late 2026 before submitting it to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Following Munich’s decisive vote, Bavarian Premier Markus Söder declared, “We will now flood the DOSB with our arguments.”

Support for Olympic bids has waned across Europe in recent decades due to concerns over cost and long-term infrastructure burdens. Munich’s referendum alone cost 6.7 million euros, with 1.8 million euros spent on public information campaigns.

Germany has made seven unsuccessful Olympic bids in recent history, many rejected by popular vote. In 2013, Munich voters narrowly rejected a proposal to host the 2022 Winter Games.

Looking ahead

Munich and Berlin remain the only German cities to have ever hosted the Summer Olympics. If successful, Munich’s future bid could return the Games to Germany more than a century after Berlin’s 1936 edition.

The next two Summer Olympics are scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032, with the next host beyond those years yet to be determined.