I've always wondered how much revenue the olympics actually make for a country considering the massive cost of building the facilities for just a few weeks.
The Olympics, aside from one or two exceptions, have always been a way put the hosting city further into debt.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but have there been studies showing this? I actually thought the Olympics would bring quite a bit of money into the city but I guess I didn't think about cities/countries building all these buildings for them as I assumed they'd make use of what was there primarily (a criteria I thought would be heavily considered for even hosting the Olympics).The Olympics, aside from one or two exceptions, have always been a way put the hosting city further into debt.
All told, the budget for the Sochi games is massive, some $18 billion. That includes $2 billion for the organizing committee; $8 billion for constructing the venues; and another $7.2 billion for the rail and highway project, which is being paid for by state-owned Russian Railways. Then there are additional government infrastructure projects.
But the $7.2 billion cost estimate for the rail and highway project, in particular, has raised eyebrows. Russian Esquire quipped that for the price, the road’s 30 miles could be paved 1.1 centimeters deep in beluga caviar.
To the best of my knowledge, this didn't really happen in Atlanta. The venues either already existed, were taken down afterwards (the velodrome was reassembled in Florida, I think), or were converted to structures that are still being used (the Braves baseball stadium for example).
What I was thinking as well. I see the olympic torch structure when I drive through the city but otherwise everything seems to of been repurposed. Seems they planned pretty well for it.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but have there been studies showing this? I actually thought the Olympics would bring quite a bit of money into the city but I guess I didn't think about cities/countries building all these buildings for them as I assumed they'd make use of what was there primarily (a criteria I thought would be heavily considered for even hosting the Olympics).
Yeah after seeing the link Ns1 posted... jeez. I think the Olympics are great but man, I knew it costed money to run the thing, but in the tens of billions? Wow.I think by having some infrastucture in place it just shows you are capable of handling the Games but you're still spending billions in improving/building facilities and so on. Whatever revenue you generate during the Games is paying off that and what do you do with the infrastructure after it's all over? That's one of the biggest sore spots with the Olympics is post-games repurposing the new buildings and facilities rarely work out so the city is stuck paying upkeep.
I think Montreal is still paying for Olympic Stadium. That was an unmitigated disaster. Toronto has the Pan Am games. They're trying to build a Velodrome where I am, even though nobody here is in to indoor cycling. Talk about a white elephant, on my dime.
What are those exceptions? Atlanta and?
Financial
Canada Olympic Park in 2006Organizers and government claimed that the Calgary Olympic Games turned a profit. They declared a surplus of between $90 and $150 million, and this money was used to fund the various Olympic venues in Calgary. Ever mindful of the financial disaster of the 1976 Summer Olympics, Calgary organizers attempted to be financially successful, because there was political pressure on them to erase the spectre of a second Canadian Games at a loss. Organizers claimed that their use of these profits for the future Canada Olympic Park and the funding of Canadian athletes through the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) gave Calgary a lasting legacy and impact on the Canadian sports scene, and also provided funds for the maintenance and upgrading of athletic facilities in Calgary, Banff, and Lake Louise. Well after the Olympics ended, they declared, CODA continued to use its resources to develop resources for Olympic athletes in the city, which included supporting the National Sport School, Canada's first high school designed for Olympic calibre athletes, in a partnership with the Calgary Board of Education.
However, The Toronto Star, citing a 1993 audit, challenged CODA's claim of profitability. The paper argued that $461 million in government funding, primarily for the construction of games facilities, should have been considered in the final total.[3] General infrastructure and venue costs do not go into the balance sheets of an Olympic Organizing Committee. Only costs directly related to hosting the Games are included in the OOC's budget and balance sheets, as venues are often private or government built.
However, the games fuelled an endowment fund of $70.5 million that is now worth $185 million and continues to fund sport in a variety of ways. Additionally, the Calgary Olympic Committee (OCO) gave the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) $40 million, which after investment is now worth $110 million; those funds assist the COC's $8 million annual contribution to national teams, coaches and athletes and permits its existence as a self-sustaining organization that does not rely on government funding.[4]
Infrastructure
Five world class facilities were built for the games, and several others were improved.
Nakiska at Mt. Allan
Olympic Saddledome
Olympic Oval
Canada Olympic Park
Canmore Nordic Centre
Eight national teams use Calgary or Canmore as a home base, and Calgary has hosted 200 national and international competitions between 1987 and 2009 because of its Olympic facilities.[4]
Of 30 world records in speed skating, 17 of them have been set at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, considered the fastest ice in the world.[4]
1932 Los Angeles, USA X Olympiad
First Games ever to turn a profit - a feat not repeated until Los Angeles hosts the Games again in 1984
I spent about a month in Sarajevo a few years back. It's a really beautiful city with such a wide variety of architecture. A ton of the stuff from the Olympics is still around like welcome boards and the '84 logo in the cement but in horrible condition. Of course, the city itself was under siege for years so it's remarkable that any of it is left. One day the locals took us hiking in the mountains nearby and at the end of one path was a steep hill cleared out of trees. To the edge was a steel structure so of course we had to climb on it. I didn't think anything of it really except it was another piece of ruins after the war. Well, a year later I was looking at images of the 1984 games and there it was, an image of the hill in 1984. We had climbed on the scoreboard for the giant slalom course.also Bosnia is a country devistated by war, understandable those are not used and in ruin
a good amount of the stuff in the US is still used, the suff from the winter games over at lake placid is still used, same with the stuff in atlanta