One Expensive Game
When most people think of the Olympics, common words that first come to mind are pride, uniting, competition. But behind all of the glitz and glamour of ceremonies, games and celebrities, stands the hard truth of the cost of the Olympic games. From 1968 to 2010 an average Olympics costed the host city an average of 3.6 billion dollars, and the numbers have been skyrocketing ever since. A prime example of an immense budget overrun was shown in the 1976 Olympic games held in Montreal. This brings forth the argument: was the great deal of money spent on the 1976 Olympics a waste? Based on the reasonings that will follow, it can be argued that the money spent for hosting the 1976 Montreal Olympic games was not justified because …show more content…
In fact, his exact words were, “the Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby.” Famous last words. The games ended up running over 1 billion dollars over budget. The original estimate of the final cost of these games was 360 million dollars but the costs soon increased to 1.6 billion. This money then had to be paid off, which was left to the taxpayers of Montreal. Today there are still some furious Montrealers who disagree with the way in which the games were funded. Not only did the people of Montreal have to help finance the overruns in the form of higher taxes, but these increased taxes carried on for some thirty years after the Olympic were over. To sum it all up, the games were more than 1 billion dollars over budget which was paid off by taxpayers of Montreal, Quebec and Canada. This process was finally completed a full three decades after the Olympic torch was extinguished in 1976. Looking back, there were probably more beneficial items to spend the money on such as schools, hospitals and …show more content…
Canada ended up with zero gold medals, five silver medals and six bronze medals. The incredibly low amount of podium finishes from Canadian athletes in the 1976 Olympics puts into question why all of the money spent on the home field facilities did not translate into results. This was somewhat humiliating to Canada as so much money, time and effort was put into these Olympics and for Canada to not even win one gold medal, is embarrassing to a country that wants to be respected internationally. This was very disappointing with all things considered. While not the most important thing, part of the reason for hosting the Olympics and the investments that go along with it is to support Canadian athletes and help them succeed. If this doesn’t happen, are the investments really worth it? While the 1976 Olympics helped increase the profile of Canada on the world stage, Canada was not able to prove it could pull off such a large event in a cost-effective manner. Canada and Montreal bore the financial burden while the rest of the world used our facilities, won their medals and left Canadians with the
When most people think of the Olympics, common words that first come to mind are pride, uniting, competition. But behind all of the glitz and glamour of ceremonies, games and celebrities, stands the hard truth of the cost of the Olympic games. From 1968 to 2010 an average Olympics costed the host city an average of 3.6 billion dollars, and the numbers have been skyrocketing ever since. A prime example of an immense budget overrun was shown in the 1976 Olympic games held in Montreal. This brings forth the argument: was the great deal of money spent on the 1976 Olympics a waste? Based on the reasonings that will follow, it can be argued that the money spent for hosting the 1976 Montreal Olympic games was not justified because …show more content…
In fact, his exact words were, “the Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby.” Famous last words. The games ended up running over 1 billion dollars over budget. The original estimate of the final cost of these games was 360 million dollars but the costs soon increased to 1.6 billion. This money then had to be paid off, which was left to the taxpayers of Montreal. Today there are still some furious Montrealers who disagree with the way in which the games were funded. Not only did the people of Montreal have to help finance the overruns in the form of higher taxes, but these increased taxes carried on for some thirty years after the Olympic were over. To sum it all up, the games were more than 1 billion dollars over budget which was paid off by taxpayers of Montreal, Quebec and Canada. This process was finally completed a full three decades after the Olympic torch was extinguished in 1976. Looking back, there were probably more beneficial items to spend the money on such as schools, hospitals and …show more content…
Canada ended up with zero gold medals, five silver medals and six bronze medals. The incredibly low amount of podium finishes from Canadian athletes in the 1976 Olympics puts into question why all of the money spent on the home field facilities did not translate into results. This was somewhat humiliating to Canada as so much money, time and effort was put into these Olympics and for Canada to not even win one gold medal, is embarrassing to a country that wants to be respected internationally. This was very disappointing with all things considered. While not the most important thing, part of the reason for hosting the Olympics and the investments that go along with it is to support Canadian athletes and help them succeed. If this doesn’t happen, are the investments really worth it? While the 1976 Olympics helped increase the profile of Canada on the world stage, Canada was not able to prove it could pull off such a large event in a cost-effective manner. Canada and Montreal bore the financial burden while the rest of the world used our facilities, won their medals and left Canadians with the