Birmingham agrees to $5M bailout of World Games debt

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — City leaders in Birmingham have agreed to a $5 million bailout to help The World Games 2022 reduce a roughly $15 million debt. Organizers told the City Council about potential long-term benefits and other positive aspects of the Olympics-style competition during a meeting Tuesday, But members say they were kept in the dark about the budget deficit. The head of the Birmingham organizing committee says expenses were lower than expected, but so were revenues. The Birmingham games marked only the second time a U.S. city had played host to the event in its four-decade-long existence.