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By SCOTT BARANCIK
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 18, 2001
With its pledge of $250,000, Bank of America is among the largest contributors to the Tampa Bay area/Orlando bid for the 2012 Olympics. But Florida's largest bank apparently won't be too tearful if another city gets the nod.
The 21-state uber bank is hedging its bets. It is supporting at least five of the eight cities vying to host the 2012 summer games, including Dallas (about $200,000), Houston ($180,000) and Los Angeles ($30,000).
Bank officials say there's a logical reason for betting on more than one horse: Local executives make the call on contributions, not the honchos in Charlotte, N.C. And they pay for it out of local budgets.
Perhaps that's what happens when a giant bank gobbles up smaller ones such as Florida's Barnett Banks. If Barnett still were around, it probably could have been counted on to back the Central Florida bid . . . exclusively.
There is some rhyme and reason to Bank of America's contributions. Since the bank has no Ohio branches, for example, it gave nothing to Cincinnati's committee. But that doesn't explain why San Francisco got zilch. After all, the city is the birthplace of Bank of America (before that bank, and its name, were snapped up by NationsBank), and Bank of America is California's No. 1 financial institution.
The amount Bank of America contributed to the Washington, D.C., committee was not immediately available. But mid-Atlantic bank president John Morton 3d is chairing it.