February 10, 201412 yr Getslow had commented in another thread about how he believes the US needs to focus on maintaining 2 or 3 Olympic host bid cities to try to bring the Olympics back to time and time again rather than having individual cities make their own bids for the games. At first glance, I thought that was somewhat ridiculous, seeing as the games are an obvious economic boon for host city and the area immediately surrounding. Then after a little further pondering, I got to thinking about how so many of the host cities famously have these enormous investments that they've placed in facilities that sometimes never see use ever again after the games leave town and head elsewhere. A few examples: 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games: Sarajevo spent $142.6 million (US) to host the 14th Winter Olympiad. The country has since been torn apart by the Bosnian War For Independence, contributing one of the major reasons for their venues to fall into extraordinary disrepair or abandonment. What the Bobsled Track from the Sarajevo '84 Olympics Looks Like Today 2004 Athens Summer Games: Athens and Greece spent approximately $11.2 billion (US) to bring the games to Greece - representing 7% of their GDP. In less than a decade, virtually all of the facilities built for the games sat in complete ruin. The games are cited by many as one of the primary causes of Greece's current economic woes. Here are some shots of the venues, taken 8 years after their opening for the 2004 Summer Games: Athens Olympics Venues In Decay 8 Years After 2004 Games (PHOTOS) 2008 Beijing Summer Games: China spent $40 billion (US) to host the 2008 Summer Games. In less than 6 years, most of the facilities have already fallen into abandoned conditions. Even after publicized scrutinization by the IOC during the selection stage for host cities, wherein bidding cities were asked for future planning and interest in what continued use could be made of the new facilities they were proposing, the facilities In Beijing are still turning themselves into dilapidated and unused eyesores. Decrepit: Four Years After Hosting the Beijing Olympics, This Is What China?s $40B Investment Looks Like | TheBlaze.com
February 10, 201412 yr Author Additionally, cost of hosting the Olympics is showing the tendency of grossly snowballing. In 2002, when the Winter Olympics were hosted in Salt Lake City, UT, there were Americans crying foul about the US government putting forth just under half of the overall $2.7 billion spent on hosting the games. The irony of that is, the 2002 Winter Games were the least expensive games to have taken place in the last decade-and-a-half. The Sochi Games alone are estimated to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 billion. The Economic Impact Of The Winter Olympics: Not Great For Russia But Sochi Stands To Gain
February 10, 201412 yr Author So, in light of the constant teeter-tottering on behalf of so much of the world's economy these days, does the Olympic spending need to be reigned in? Is it on the shoulders of the IOC, or do the host cities/countries need to peel back the big spending? Should there be a smaller number of repeat "venues" that should be developed in countries for hosting?
February 10, 201412 yr Additionally, cost of hosting the Olympics is showing the tendency of grossly snowballing. In 2002, when the Winter Olympics were hosted in Salt Lake City, UT, there were Americans crying foul about the US government putting forth just under half of the overall $2.7 billion spent on hosting the games. The irony of that is, the 2002 Winter Games were the least expensive games to have taken place in the last decade-and-a-half. The Sochi Games alone are estimated to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 billion. [ATTACH=CONFIG]42705[/ATTACH] The Economic Impact Of The Winter Olympics: Not Great For Russia But Sochi Stands To Gain So if something has a history of hemorrhaging money we should put Mitt Romney in charge! I wonder if there is something else going in debt more and more each second maybe he could have helped with...hmmmm
February 10, 201412 yr Author So if something has a history of hemorrhaging money we should put Mitt Romney in charge! I wonder if there is something else going in debt more and more each second maybe he could have helped with...hmmmm Now there's a perspective I honestly didn't see coming out of my post :lol2:
February 10, 201412 yr I was talking the other day with someone about the Olympics, and my question was whether the Olympics should take place at all any more if light of the unbelievable financial waste.
February 10, 201412 yr Hosting the Olympics brings substantial one-time revenue to the host city. The problem is sustainability. With all of the venues that are built for the various events, it is not likely that they will be consistently used for their intended purposes after the game. The exception may be Lake Placid where a fair amount of past training occurred. I was just telling Ms. Birdbrain last night that the figure skating venue would be windowless in less than a year after the games because there is no revenue to sustain the basic maintenance of the venues. It's obvious that the IOC does not enforce the contract parameters of the bid process once it is awarded as evidenced by the number of social media pictures and stories of the Olympic village facilities. Like many other major sporting events, money is the key and someone is getting paid along the line. Sad that we spend this much money knowing it is down a well… in particular when hosted by unstable countries.
February 10, 201412 yr Did I hear right in that the Sochi "Fish" arena will be only used twice EVER (once for the opening and once for the closing ceremonies)?
February 10, 201412 yr There needs to be no more than two venues for Summer and Winter each and rotate them with each getting to host every 4 years. Maybe "Host" country duties could be bid out and the winning country got to Host the opening and closing ceremonies. Summer permanent host: North America, maybe somewhere in Canada or LA and then somewhere in Eurasia Winter Games permanent host: Nagano Japan (I just like the name Nagano) and somewhere in Europe
February 10, 201412 yr Seems like it would be a much better idea to have 2-4 locations that would rotate each time instead of wasting billions of dollars building brand new structures that are used for 2 weeks.
February 10, 201412 yr Seems like it would be a much better idea to have 2-4 locations that would rotate each time instead of wasting billions of dollars building brand new structures that are used for 2 weeks. In the off years when not hosting the Olympics, they could host the world championships in many sports to ensure facilities are kept up
February 10, 201412 yr If I rember right London used a lot temporary structures. I think I even remember them saying the basketball arena is going to be reused in Brazil. That is a great way to go
February 10, 201412 yr Author If I rember right London used a lot temporary structures. I think I even remember them saying the basketball arena is going to be reused in Brazil. That is a great way to go Qatar's successful bid on the 2022 FIFA World Cup was largely successful due to their proposal to have large stadiums that could be broken down into modular sections after the fact and sent to places that couldn't afford stadiums of their own. At the same time....the cost of Qatar's bid is estimated at a vomit-inducing $220 billion (US). That's 60 times the cost of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
February 10, 201412 yr I wish Cincinnati would be awarded the games so I could rent my house out at $4k a week.
February 10, 201412 yr I wish Cincinnati would be awarded the games so I could rent my house out at $2k a week. per night...not week!
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