The Economics of Hosting the Olympics

The Economics of Hosting the Olympics

Cities and countries สนุกกับการเดิมพันสดที่ UFABET เว็บหลัก spend billions on their Olympic Games, including constructing new athletic facilities, upgrading public transit and airports, reaching the requisite hotel capacity, and implementing other infrastructure improvements. The Olympics also generate substantial revenue from ticket sales, sponsorships, and broadcast rights—but these revenues only cover a fraction of the games’ costs. The International Olympic Committee keeps the vast majority of the television revenues, and a host city’s other sources of income—such as hospitality spending by visitors and tourism-related expenditures—drop significantly during the games.

Even before the games begin, cities invest millions of dollars evaluating, planning, and submitting their bids to the IOC. They spend even more on constructing and renovating sports venues, building specialized facilities such as a velodrome or swimming pool, and making other infrastructure improvements. Disentangling these from planned upgrades that would have happened anyway can be difficult, but the best estimates put the total cost of a modern Olympics at $5-15 billion.

The Economics of Hosting the Olympics

Cities mount a bid for the Olympics because they believe that doing so will give their economy a boost, but research shows that these purported benefits are dubious. The economic benefits from the games are typically limited to capital gains, and the additional visitors that result may offset some of those gains by skipping other activities such as visiting museums or shopping for souvenirs. A few studies have found that cities that hosted the Games see a small increase in export trade, but these gains are far less than the cost of the games.