Prompt Cast
The Financial Burden and Negative Consequences of Hosting the Olympics
TLDR Hosting the Olympics can lead to financial problems and negative consequences for host cities, as seen in examples such as the 1976 Winter Olympics in Colorado and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Despite the risks, cities still bid on the Games due to the social impact and the potential for sportswashing by unsavory leaders.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The Tokyo Olympics will have no spectators, which presents a financial problem for the organizers who have already gone over budget, a common occurrence for Olympic host cities.
04:43
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been behind every Olympic Games for the past 127 years, creating and spreading the mythology of the event, marketing, innovating, and bringing in billions of dollars of revenue, but often leaving host cities like Tokyo on the losing end.
09:04
The 1976 Winter Olympics in Colorado were rejected by voters, while the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal went significantly over budget and left the city with a large debt, leading to cities becoming wary of hosting the Olympics.
13:59
Los Angeles, being the only option for the International Olympic Committee, was able to negotiate a deal with the United States Olympic Committee to share financial responsibility for the games, rather than the city being solely liable, leading to the privatization of the Olympics and a reliance on corporate sponsors to fund the event.
18:00
The financial success of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles led to the International Olympic Committee modeling their own corporate sponsorship program after it, despite the negative impact on marginalized communities in the city.
23:51
The success of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics led to more cities wanting to host the Games, giving the International Olympic Committee more leverage, but also resulted in negative consequences such as the decimation of public housing in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics.
28:12
The 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro highlighted the negative impacts of hosting the Games, including overspending, government corruption, and the heavy presence of security forces in impoverished areas.
33:32
The 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro resulted in forced evictions of 77,000 people, including activist Luisa Elena Costaberto, and failed to fulfill promises of treating 80% of the polluted water in Guanabara Bay, leaving 169 million gallons of untreated water flowing into the bay daily.
37:49
Hosting the Olympics can be a risky proposition for cities, but they still bid on the Games because of the social impact and the opportunity for sportswashing by unsavory dictators or authoritarians.
Categories:
History
Society & Culture
