Bidding for the Olympics: Fools Gold? (original) (raw)
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In this paper, we explore the costs and benefits of hosting the Olympic Games. On the cost side, there are three major categories: general infrastructure such as transportation and housing to accommodate athletes and fans; specific sports infrastructure required for competition venues; and operational costs, including general administration as well as the opening and closing ceremony and security. Three major categories of benefits also exist: the short-run benefits of tourist spending during the Games; the long-run benefits or the “Olympic legacy” which might include improvements in infrastructure and increased trade, foreign investment, or tourism after the Games; and intangible benefits such as the “feel-good effect” or civic pride. Each of these costs and benefits will be addressed in turn, but the overwhelming conclusion is that in most cases the Olympics are a money-losing proposition for host cities; they result in positive net benefits only under very specific and unusual ci...
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As cities compete for jobs and capital in the context of limited federal aid and increasing global economic competition, a new and potentially high-risk strategy for stimulating local economic growth has emerged. This strategy, called the mega-event strategy, entails the quest for a high-profile event to serve as a stimulus to, and justification for, local development. We examine how the mega-event strategy has played out in the three US cities with contemporary Olympic experience: Los Angeles (1984), Atlanta (1996), and Salt Lake City (2002). We analyze the approaches taken by these three cities to bidding for and staging an Olympic mega-event. Our comparison focuses on the decade long period that cities use to prepare to host the games. We conclude with a discussion of lessons learned and the policy implications of the mega-event strategy on urban politics.
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This paper provides an empirical examination of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our analysis of taxable sales in the counties in which Olympic events took place finds that some sectors such as hotels and restaurants prospered while other retailers such as general merchandisers and department stores suffered. Overall the gains in the hospitality industry are lower than the losses experienced by other sectors in the economy. Given the experience of Utah, potential Olympic hosts should exercise caution before proceeding down the slippery slope of bidding for this event.
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This article argues that much of the literature on Olympic cities misperceives the role played by a city’s business and political elites due to the failure to take into account the historical and socioeconomic circumstances of the country concerned. The article demonstrates that the Chinese Communist Party used the Olympics as a vehicle to consolidate its legitimacy and Beijing as a showpiece to project the country’s identity and modernity internationally. The emphasis here is the interests of the Party and not urban entrepreneurialism. The essential contribution of this article is to propose a matrix as a tool for exploring the motivations of cities and countries for hosting the Olympics. The matrix comprises Olympic cities in democratic and authoritarian, and in developed and developing, countries.
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This article discusses agency problems in sport organizations in which the same individuals are involved in both the management and control of decision making. We focus our analysis on the case of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by reviewing the behavior of selected IOC members with regard to the bidding process for the Olympic Games and the resulting reform attempts made by the IOC in an effort to address issues of corruption. After a review of examples of corrupt behavior on the part of IOC members, agency theory is introduced to discuss IOC reforms and provide some suggestions for future reform. We propose incorporating other stakeholders (in addition to the IOC members), such as corporate partners, media conglomerates, and other members of the Olympic movement (e.g., athletes, coaches, officials), into management and control functions. The rationale here is that, because these individuals have a stake in the ideals of the Olympic movement and the Olympic Games, they have the incentive to protect the image of the IOC and the Olympic movement. More specifically, it is suggested that these stakeholders comprise a board that oversees the operations of the IOC (similar to the IOCʼs current executive committee) and be given the ability to remove and/or sanction IOC members who act self-interestedly to the detriment of the Olympic movement. Thus, by delegating the control function of decision making to a board and the management function to internal agents, greater accountability for all organizational members can be achieved.
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African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 2020
In this studies the possible social and economic impacts on former host cities based on their experience of the major sports events. An assessment of the Socio-Economic profiles of bidding for the Youth Olympic Games, helping to create a competitive advantage over competing cities in the world. Thailand has bid to host the first Youth Olympic Games 2010. This study focuses on "how to improve strategies for winning the 2026 the Youth Olympic Games bids" The studies based on Thailand hosting experience of staging major sports events, could serve as reference for Thailand to host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The study on the impact of hosting major sports events goes beyond the assessment of economic impacts. The games can also be leveraged for social benefits, and the study of the social impact of hosting a major sports event is relevant for Thailand. The experiences of the international games studied manifest the following possible social impacts generated by staging the e...