Cost of the Olympic Games

The Cost of the Olympic Games is a unique megaproject of the host city and country to build the infrastructure and venues to host either the summer or winter games. In modern times, budgets allotted to the hosting the Olympic games have reached into millions and billions of US dollars and often produces profits and losses of the host city.

The table below is listing the not so hard costs of the Games. Due to the multitude of reporting methods, the table contains both the operating costs and total final costs (which include various infrastructure upgrades and security costs), known and not estimated. Net loss or gain are measured against the operating budgets. Intangible costs (such as to the environment and society) and not so total benefits (through tourism) are not included here.

Table

Host City	Year	Final Operating Budget	Total Costs	Initial Budget	Taxpayer Contribution	Profit/Loss	Year Debt Paid Off	Notes
London	1948	£761,688[1]
Melbourne	1956	££5.4 million[1]
Tokyo	1964	US$72 million[1]
Mexico City	1968	US$176 million[1]
Montreal	1976	CDN$207 million[2]	CDN$1.41 billion[2]		CDN$990 million[2]	2006[3]	A special tobacco tax was introduced in May 1976 to fund the loss
Lake Placid	1980	US$49 million[4]	US$169 million[4]		USD $8.5 million deficit
Moscow	1980	US$231 million[5]	US$1.35 billion[5]		USD $1.19 billion deficit		This was the year that The United States and 64 other Nations boycotted due to the invasion of Afghanistan.
Sarajevo	1984	US$55.4 million[6]	US$110.9 million[6]		US$10 million [6]		The first Olympics since 1932 to make a profit
Los Angeles	1984	US$320 million[7]	US$413 million[7]	$75 million[8][9]	US$250 million[10]	1984	The first Summer Olympics since 1932 to make a profit[9]
Calgary	1988	CDN$438 million[11]	CDN$899 million[11]	CDN$425 million[11]	CDN$32 million[11]
Seoul	1988	USD $4 billion spent in brass			US$300 million[10]	1988	A record profit for a government-run Olympiad
Barcelona	1992	US$850 million	US$9.3 billion[12]		US$10 million[10]	1992	Operating costs were put at 9.1% of the total cost. The vast majority of spending was to improve infrastructure.[13]
Albertville	1992			USD $1.2 Billion on infrastructure[14]	USD $67 million[14]
Lillehammer	1994	US$1.1 billion[15][16]		US$0.25 billion[15][16]
Atlanta	1996	US$1.8 billion		US$609 million[8]	US$10 million	1996	Despite the profit, Atlanta's heavy reliance on corporate sponsorship drew criticism of commercialization
Nagano	1998			~US$10 billion in new infrastructure[17]	Net loss	Estimated 2015[17]	The full cost of the Nagano Olympics is unknown, due to Nagano Olympic Bid Committee vice-secretary general Sumikazu Yamaguchi ordering accounting documents burned[17]
Sydney	2000	A$6.6 billion [18][19]	A$3 billion (A$363.5 million borne by the public)	A$1.7–2.4 billion[20]	USD $2.1 billion loss [21]	2000
Salt Lake City	2002	US$2 billion [22]	US$1.2 billion [23]	US$600 million[24]	US$101 million[25]	2002	Additional security costs were incurred in the wake of the September 11 attacks
Athens	2004	US$15 billion[26]	US$9 billion[27]	US$6.2 billion[28]	US$14–15 billion[29]		The cost of the 2004 Athens Summer Games has been cited as a contributor to the Greek government-debt crisis. Many of the venues lie vacant and rotting; the Independent newspaper reports as many as 21 out of 22 are unused.[30]
Torino	2006	US$700 million[31]			USD $3.2 million[32]		The Italian government created a lottery game to cover its financial losses.
Beijing	2008	US$44 billion[33]			CNY 1 billion (US$146 million)[34]	2008
Vancouver	2010	CDN$1.7 billion[35]	US$6.4 billion[36]	US$2.3 billion[37]	CDN$925 million[35]	?	Included in the total US$6.4 billion cost are the $1 billion for security, $2.5 billion for transportation extensions and upgrades, and $900 million for the new Vancouver Convention Centre (An additional $554 million was spent by the city including a portion on the Olympic Village).[36][38][39]
London	2012	US$10.4 billion[40]	US$14.6 billion[41]	US$4.4 billion[42]	GBP £52.8 million[43]	2013	Additional costs include $90 million for converting the Olympic Stadium (London) to a football venue[44]
Sochi	2014		Estimated US$51 billion[45]	US$12 billion[45]
Rio de Janeiro	2016			US$11.6 billion [46] [47]

See also

• List of megaprojects

External links

• What did Olympics bring Sydney

References