Battered Olympic brand equals shortage of cities interested in hosting the 2022 Winter Games

After the $50-billion Olympics blowout in Sochi, cities aren't exactly lining up to host the 2022 Winter Games.

The Guardian has listed numerous cities—Munich, Davos, St. Moritz, Krakow, and Stockholm—as pulling out of the race.

Oslo apparently doesn't want the Games either.

But the Chinese capital of Beijing and Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, are reportedly still in the running, as is Lviv, Ukraine.

It's hardly an endorsement of the Olympic brand when cities ruled by repressive dictatorships or a country on the verge of civil war are the only ones ready to welcome athletes from around the world for the biennial spectacle.

Meanwhile, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has declared that the Big Apple has no interest in hosting the Summer Games in 2024.

Philadelphia has also pulled out.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach is aware of the problem.

Last week, he announced his Olympic Agenda 2020 working groups to address a range of issues, including bidding procedures, management of the Games, ethics, and governance.

Vancouver journalist Bob Mackin pointed out to me that the Canadian Olympic Committee's Marcel Aubut and Dick Pound are among the participants.

Mackin also noted that nobody on any of the 14 committees was on the executive team of Vanoc, which organized the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.