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Cost of the Olympic Games

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The Olympic Games are considered to be the world's foremost international sporting event with over 200 nations participating.[1] It historically had the highest costs and expenses for the hosts, with the estimated cost of the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro being at approximately US$11.1 billion.[2]

Sports-related costs since 1960 have been on average $5.2 billion (USD) for the Summer Games and $393.1 million dollars (USD) for the Winter Games. The highest recorded total cost was that of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, costing approximately US$55 billion. The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games experienced the biggest loss recorded at approximately $2 billion (USD).[3]

Costs

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The current highest cost of hosting the Olympic Games was the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games, costing approximately US$11.1 billion. In order to meet the requirements set out by the International Olympic Committee (IOC),[4] the Rio de Janeiro council had to invest heavily in building the necessary facilities/venues, and an entirely new subway line. The lack of a solid infrastructure to support these investments led to the council underestimating their costs by 25%.[5]

The costs of hosting the Olympic Games can be classified into 2 categories: infrastructure and operational costs.

Infrastructure

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General infrastructure

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The costs of general infrastructure consist of preparing the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the influx of tourists and athletes in the host city. The International Olympic Committee requires a minimum of 40,000 hotel rooms available for visiting spectators and an Olympic Village that is able to house 15,000 athletes, referees, and officials.

Internal and external transportation facilities that can transport spectators into and out of the host city and from venue to venue are also required by the Committee. These requirements are often met through renovations to already-built facilities or construction of entirely new facilities. These facilities include train/subway lines, roads, and airports.

Sports infrastructure

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The host city is also required by the Olympic Committee to invest in sport-specific infrastructure that meets their requirements. Facilities must have specified minimum sizes and reach the specific seating and safety protocols which often require refurbishments or new construction, particularly less-used facilities such as natatoriums, velodromes and sliding tracks.

Host city selection

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The Winter Games require high mountains, especially for the alpine events. Traditionally, there were requirements of fairly short distance between the host city and the alpine slopes, which often has made smaller cities to be chosen as winter host cities, such as Lake Placid, Lillehammer and Sochi. After the 2012 when no democratic country bid for the Winter Games due to the high cost, a larger distance was accepted, allowing existing slopes to be used together with a large host city with more existing infrastructure, for example Milan at a distance of 410 km by road to Cortina.

Operating costs

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Once the necessary infrastructure is put in place, the Olympics require a large amount of spending on operating costs throughout the duration of the Games. Historically, the most significant operating costs for the hosts have been in event management, organization and preparation of the opening and closing ceremonies, and increasingly in recent years, security.

Table

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The table below lists the costs of hosting the Olympic 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), as well as both known and not estimated figures. Net loss or gain are measured against the operating budgets. Intangible costs (such as to the environment and society) and benefits (through tourism) are not included here.

Olympiad Host Final Operating
Budget 		Total Costs Taxpayer Contribution Profit/Loss Year Debt Paid Off Notes
1896 Summer Olympics Greece Athens 3,740,000 ₯[6] Donations by George Averoff of 1,000,000 ₯ covered potential losses
1900 Summer Olympics France Paris
1904 Summer Olympics United States St. Louis
1908 Summer Olympics United Kingdom London US$394,000 est.[6] Increase £6,377 1908 First known profit for an Olympic Games.
1912 Summer Olympics Sweden Stockholm
1920 Summer Olympics Belgium Antwerp
1924 Winter Olympics France Chamonix 3,500,000₣ 2,000,000₣
1924 Summer Olympics France Paris Decrease 5,496,610₣[6] First known loss for an Olympic Games.
1928 Winter Olympics Switzerland St. Moritz CHF706,000 Decrease CHF104,800 First known loss for a Winter Olympics.
1928 Summer Olympics Netherlands Amsterdam $1,183,000[6] Decrease $18,000
1932 Winter Olympics United States Lake Placid
1932 Summer Olympics United States Los Angeles Increase $1,000,000[6] 1932
1936 Winter Olympics Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen
1936 Summer Olympics Germany Berlin $30,000,000[6]
1948 Winter Olympics Switzerland St. Moritz
1948 Summer Olympics United Kingdom London £761,688[7] Increase £29,000[6] 1948
1952 Winter Olympics Norway Oslo
1952 Summer Olympics Finland Helsinki 1,580,000,000 mk[6] Decrease 49,000,000 mk
1956 Winter Olympics Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo lira 460 million
1956 Summer Olympics Australia Melbourne A£5,400,000[7] DecreaseA£300,000[6]
1960 Winter Olympics United States Squaw Valley US$80 million[8]
1960 Summer Olympics Italy Rome
1964 Winter Olympics Austria Innsbruck
1964 Summer Olympics Japan Tokyo US$72,000,000[7] US$1,926,000,000[6]
1968 Winter Olympics France Grenoble
1968 Summer Olympics Mexico Mexico City US$176,000,000[7]
1972 Winter Olympics Japan Sapporo
1972 Summer Olympics West Germany Munich 1,972,000,000 DM[6]
1976 Winter Olympics Austria Innsbruck
1976 Summer Olympics Canada Montreal CDN$207,000,000[9] CDN$$1,596,000,000[9] Decrease CDN$990,000[9] 2006 A special tobacco tax was introduced in May 1976 to fund the loss
1980 Winter Olympics United States Lake Placid US$49,000,000[10] US$169,000,000[10]
1980 Summer Olympics Soviet Union Moscow US$231,000,000[11] US$1,350,000,000[11]
US$2,000,000,000[6] 		Decrease US$1,190,000 deficit [citation needed] This was the year that The United States and 64 other Nations boycotted due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
1984 Winter Olympics Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sarajevo US$55,400,000[12] US$110,900,000[12] Increase US$10,000,000 [12] 1984 The first Olympics since 1948 to make a profit and the first known Winter Olympics to make a profit.
1984 Summer Olympics United States Los Angeles US$320,000,000[13] US$413,000,000[13] $75,000,000[14][15] Increase US$250,000,000[citation needed] 1984 The first Summer Olympics since 1948 to make a profit[15]
1988 Winter Olympics Canada Calgary CDN$438,000,000[16] CDN$899,000,000[16] CDN$425,000,000[16] IncreaseCDN$32,000,000[16] 1988
1988 Summer Olympics South Korea Seoul US$4,000,000,000 [citation needed] Increase US$479,000,000[17] 1988 Record profit for a government-run Olympiad[17]
1992 Summer Olympics Spain Barcelona US$850,000,000[citation needed] US$9,300,000,000[18] Increase US$10,000,000[citation needed] 1992 Operating costs were put at 9.1% of the total cost. The vast majority of spending was to improve infrastructure.[19]
1992 Winter Olympics France Albertville US$1,200,000,000 on infrastructure[20] Decrease US$67,000,000[20]
1994 Winter Olympics Norway Lillehammer US$1,100,000,000[21][22] US$250,000,000[21][22]
1996 Summer Olympics United States Atlanta US$1,800,000,000[citation needed] US$609,000,000[14] Increase US$19,000,000[citation needed] 1996 Following the model of LA 1984, Atlanta achieved a healthy profit
1998 Winter Olympics Japan Nagano ~US$10,000,000,000 in new infrastructure[23] Decrease Net loss[citation needed] Estimated 2015[23] The full cost of the Nagano Olympics is unknown, due to Nagano Olympic Bid Committee vice-secretary general Sumikazu Yamaguchi ordering accounting documents burned[23]
2000 Summer Olympics Australia Sydney A$6,600,000,000 [24][25] A$3,000,000,000 (A$3,635,000,000 borne by the public)[citation needed] A$2,050,000,000[26] Decrease US$2.1 billion [27] 2000 Largest loss from hosting an Olympic Games.
2002 Winter Olympics United States Salt Lake City US$2,000,000,000 [28] US$1,200,000,000 [29] US$600,000,000[30] Increase US$101,000,000[31] 2002 Most profitable Winter Olympics. Plus additional security costs were incurred in the wake of the September 11 attacks
2004 Summer Olympics Greece Athens US$15,000,000,000[32] US$9,000,000,000[33] US$6,200,000,000[34] Decrease US$14,500,000[35] 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.[36]
2006 Winter Olympics Italy Turin US$700,000,000[37] Decrease US$3,200,000[38] The Italian government created a lottery game to cover its financial losses.[citation needed]
2008 Summer Olympics China Beijing US$44,000,000,000[39] Increase CNY 1,000,000,000 (US$146,000,000)[40] 2008
2010 Winter Olympics Canada Vancouver CDN$ 1,700,000,000 (US$1,260,000,000)[41] US$ 6,400,000,000[42] US$ 2,300,000,000[43] IncreaseCDN$ 1,900,000[44]
 2014 [45] Included in the total US$6,400,000,000 cost are the $1,000,000,000 for security, $2,500,000,000 for transportation extensions and upgrades, and $900,000,000 for the new Vancouver Convention Centre (An additional $554,000,000 was spent by the city including a portion on the Olympic Village).[42][46][47]
2012 Summer Olympics United Kingdom London £GBP6583688684.12[48] US$14,600,000,000[49] US$4,400,000,000[50] GBP £nil[51] 2012 Additional costs include $90 million for converting the Olympic Stadium (London) to a football venue[52]
2014 Winter Olympics Russia Sochi US$51,000,000,000[53] Increase US$53,150,000[54] The most expensive Olympic Games in history, surpassing the previous record set by the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.[55]
2016 Summer Olympics Brazil Rio de Janeiro US$13,100,000,000[56][57] US$11.6 billion [58][59] Decrease US$2.0 billion [60]
2018 Winter Olympics South Korea Pyeongchang US$2,190,000,000[61] US$12,900,000,000[62] Increase US$55,000,000[63]
2020 Summer Olympics Japan Tokyo US$15,400,000,000 [64] US$28,000,000,000 [65]
2022 Winter Olympics China Beijing US$3.9 billion[66] Increase US$52,000,000[67]
2024 Summer Olympics France Paris US$8.2 billion[68] US$3.22 billion[69]
2026 Winter Olympics Italy Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo US$1.6 billion[70]
2028 Summer Olympics United States Los Angeles US$6.8 billion[71] US$500,000,000 The city of Los Angeles & the state of California will each provide $250 million to cover possible shortfalls. The cites reserve would be spent first if needed. The games overall are expected to be entirely funded by the private sector.[72]
2030 Winter Olympics France French Alps US$2.3 billion[73] This is a preliminary budget from the IOC's future host commission.
2032 Summer Olympics Australia Brisbane US$4.5 billion[74] This is a preliminary budget from the IOC's future host commission.
2034 Winter Olympics United States Salt Lake City–Utah US$3.9 billion[75] This is a preliminary budget from the IOC's future host commission.

See also

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References

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