'No Boston Olympics' Group Celebrates After USOC Drops Bid

BOSTON (CBS) - The big winners in the battle over Boston 2024 celebrated their victory at a party in downtown Boston Monday night. The "No Boston Olympics" group came out on top as the games go down in flames.

Chris Dempsey with "No Boston Olympics" says "Our hope was always to be a voice for people in Mass. who were skeptical and had questions and we hope we were successful."

Related: USOC Drops Boston 2024 Bid

And it was the growing chorus of anti-Olympic voices that, ultimately, was too much for the U.S. Olympic Committee to look past.

Governor Charlie Baker says, "There has been pretty robust conversations and look I've lived here my whole life and one thing I like is we do have loud and robust policy and political debates on stuff like this."

The governor admitting, what was bad for the USOC, was good for the state. Fighting it out is sometimes how it's done and issue number one was the money.

House Speaker Robert Deleo says, "The major thing that came to mind was money how are we going to do this."

It's why Mayor Marty Walsh refused Monday to offer up taxpayer money as a safety net, another blow in the bid and one Walsh does not regret.

Mayor Walsh says, "Looking back at the events of today knowing I shouldn't put the City on the hook for any city overruns, was the best way to go."

Boston 2024 chair Steve Pagliuca did not hide his disappointment, releasing a statement in part that said, "Although we had hoped for a different outcome, we know that Boston will still benefit from the bidding process. Ours is a world-class city, but we face challenges when it comes to the cost of housing, our aging infrastructure."

But as they bid farewell to our bid for the games. The mayor admits, when it comes to winning cities, there was no contest.

Mayor Walsh says, "In 2024 we will be watching the Olympics knowing we could have done as good a job if not a better job."