Cost of the Olympic Games

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

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

General infrastructure

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

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

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

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

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	Notes
1896 Summer Olympics	Athens		3,740,000 ₯[6]			Donations by George Averoff of 1,000,000 ₯ covered potential losses
1900 Summer Olympics	Paris
1904 Summer Olympics	St. Louis
1908 Summer Olympics	London		US$394,000 est.[6]		£6,377	First known profit for an Olympic Games.
1912 Summer Olympics	Stockholm
1920 Summer Olympics	Antwerp
1924 Winter Olympics	Chamonix		₣3.5 million	₣2 million
1924 Summer Olympics	Paris				5,496,610₣[6]	First known loss for an Olympic Games.
1928 Winter Olympics	St. Moritz		CHF706,000		CHF104,800	First known loss for a Winter Olympics.
1928 Summer Olympics	Amsterdam		$1.183 million[6]		$18,000
1932 Winter Olympics	Lake Placid
1932 Summer Olympics	Los Angeles				$1 million[6]
1936 Winter Olympics	Garmisch-Partenkirchen
1936 Summer Olympics	Berlin		$30 million[6]
1948 Winter Olympics	St. Moritz
1948 Summer Olympics	London	£761,688[7]			£29,000[6]
1952 Winter Olympics	Oslo
1952 Summer Olympics	Helsinki		Mk1.58 billion[6]		Mk49 million
1956 Winter Olympics	Cortina d'Ampezzo			lira 460 million
1956 Summer Olympics	Melbourne	A£5.4 million[7]			A£300,000[6]
1960 Winter Olympics	Squaw Valley	US$80 million[8]
1960 Summer Olympics	Rome
1964 Winter Olympics	Innsbruck
1964 Summer Olympics	Tokyo	US$72 million[7]	US$1.926 billion[6]
1968 Winter Olympics	Grenoble
1968 Summer Olympics	Mexico City	US$176 million[7]
1972 Winter Olympics	Sapporo
1972 Summer Olympics	Munich	DM1.972 billion[6]
1976 Winter Olympics	Innsbruck
1976 Summer Olympics	Montreal	CDN$207 million[9]	CDN$$1.596 billion[9]		CDN$990,000[9]	A special tobacco tax was introduced in May 1976 to fund the loss. Debt paid off in 2006.
1980 Winter Olympics	Lake Placid	US$49 million[10]	US$169 million[10]
1980 Summer Olympics	Moscow	US$231 million[11]	US$1.35 billion[11] US$2 billion[6]		US$1.19 million 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	Sarajevo	US$55.4 million[12]	US$110.9 million[12]		US$1 million[12]	The first Olympics since 1948 to make a profit, and the first known Winter Olympics to make a profit.
1984 Summer Olympics	Los Angeles	US$320 million[13]	US$413 million[13]	$75 million[14][15]	US$250 million[citation needed]	The first Summer Olympics since 1948 to make a profit[15]
1988 Winter Olympics	Calgary	CDN$438 million[16]	CDN$899 million[16]	CDN$425 million[16]	CDN$32 million[16]
1988 Summer Olympics	Seoul	US$4 billion [citation needed]			US$479 million[17]	Record profit for a government-run Olympiad[17]
1992 Summer Olympics	Barcelona	US$850 million[citation needed]	US$9.3 billion[18]		US$10 million[citation needed]	Operating costs were put at 9.1% of the total cost. The vast majority of spending was to improve infrastructure.[19]
1992 Winter Olympics	Albertville			US$1.2 billion (infrastructure)[15]	US$67 million[15]
1994 Winter Olympics	Lillehammer	US$1.1 billion[20][21]		US$250 million[20][21]
1996 Summer Olympics	Atlanta	US$1.8 billion[citation needed]		US$609 million[14]	US$19 million[citation needed]	Following the model of LA 1984, Atlanta achieved a healthy profit
1998 Winter Olympics	Nagano			~US$10 billion (infrastructure)[22]	Net loss[citation needed]	The full cost of the Nagano Olympics is unknown, due to Nagano Olympic Bid Committee vice-secretary general Sumikazu Yamaguchi ordering accounting documents to be burned[22] Debt paid off around 2015.[22]
2000 Summer Olympics	Sydney	A$6 billion[23][24]	A$3 billion (A$3.635 billion borne by the public)[citation needed]	A$2.05 billion[25]	US$2.1 billion [26]	Largest loss from hosting an Olympic Games.
2002 Winter Olympics	Salt Lake City	US$2 billion[27]	US$1.2 billion [28]	US$600 million[29]	US$101 million[30]	Most profitable Winter Olympics. Plus additional security costs were incurred in the wake of the September 11 attacks
2004 Summer Olympics	Athens	US$15 billion[31]	US$9 billion[32]	US$6.2 billion[33]	US$14.5 million[34]	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.[15]
2006 Winter Olympics	Turin	US$700 million[35]			US$3.2 million[36]	The Italian government created a lottery game to cover its financial losses.[citation needed]
2008 Summer Olympics	Beijing	US$44 billion[37]			CNY 1 billion (US$146 million)[38]
2010 Winter Olympics	Vancouver	CDN$ 1.7 billion (US$1.26 billion)[39]	US$ 6.4 billion[40]	US$ 2.3 billion[41]	CDN$ 1.9 million[42]	Included in the total US$6.4 billion cost are $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).[40][43][44] Debt paid off in 2014.[45]
2012 Summer Olympics	London	£GBP6.584 billion[46] [Not in given citation]	US$14.6 billion[47]	US$4.4 billion[48]	GBP £nil[49]	Additional costs include $90 million for converting the Olympic Stadium (London) to a football venue[50]
2014 Winter Olympics	Sochi	US$51 billion[51]			US$53.15 million[52]	The most expensive Olympic Games in history, surpassing the previous record set by the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.[53]
2016 Summer Olympics	Rio de Janeiro	US$13.1 billion[54][55]		US$11.6 billion[56][57]	US$2.0 billion[58]
2018 Winter Olympics	Pyeongchang	US$2.19 billion[59]	US$12.9 billion[60]		US$55 million[61]
2020 Summer Olympics	Tokyo	US$15.4 billion[62]	US$28 billion[63]
2022 Winter Olympics	Beijing	US$3.9 billion[64]			US$52 million[65]
2024 Summer Olympics	Paris	US$8.2 billion[66]		EUR€5.96 billion[67][68]	EUR€76 million[69]	The first Summer Olympics since 2008 to make a profit
2026 Winter Olympics	Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo	US$1.6 billion[70]
2028 Summer Olympics	Los Angeles	US$7.1 billion[71]		US$500 million		The city of Los Angeles & the state of California will each provide $250 million to cover possible shortfalls. The city's reserve would be spent first if needed. The Games overall are expected to be entirely funded by the private sector.[72]
2030 Winter Olympics	French Alps	US$2.3 billion[73]				This is a preliminary budget from the IOC's future host commission.
2032 Summer Olympics	Brisbane	US$4.5 billion[74]				This is a preliminary budget from the IOC's future host commission.
2034 Winter Olympics	Salt Lake City–Utah	US$3.9 billion[75]				This is a preliminary budget from the IOC's future host commission.

See also

• List of megaprojects
• Olympic Games