The Economics Of The Olympic Games

"This book arises from the need to analyse, in detail, the various economic aspects that the Olympic Games mean for host cities. Since 1984 increasingly more cities in the world have announced their interest in staging the Olympic Games, making it a festival with significant economic dimensions. What followed have been economic triumphs and tragedies, glories and fiascos - all are included in the 36 years of Olympic history reviewed in this book." - foreword.

The Olympic Games have become the world’s greatest media and marketing event—a global celebration of exceptional athletics gilded with corporate cash. Huge corporations vie for association with the "Olympic Image" in the hope of gaining a worldwide marketing audience of billions. In this provocative critical study of the contemporary Olympics, Jules Boykoff argues that the Games have become a massive planned economy designed to shield the rich from risk while providing them with a spectacle to treasure. Placing political economy at the center of the analysis, and drawing on interdisciplinary research in sociology, politics, geography, history, and economics, Boykoff develops an innovative theory of "celebration capitalism", the manipulation of state actors as partners that drives us towards public–private partnerships in which the public pays and the private profits. He argues that the Athens Games in 2004 marked the full emergence of celebration capitalism, with London 2012 representing its quintessential expression, characterized by a state of exception, unfettered commercialism, repression of dissent, questionable sustainability claims, and the complicity of the mainstream media. Controversial, challenging, and forthright, this book opens up a fascinating new avenue for understanding the contemporary Olympics in the context of global capitalist society. It is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the Olympic Games, the relationship between sport and society, or global politics and culture.

Beyond the headlines of the world’s most beloved sporting events Brazil hosted the 2016 men’s World Cup at a cost of $15 billion to $20 billion, building large, new stadiums in cities that have little use for them anymore. The projected cost of Tokyo’s 2020 Summer Olympic Games is estimated to be as high as $30 billion, much of it coming from the public trough. In the updated and expanded edition of his bestselling book, Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup, Andrew Zimbalist tackles the claim that cities chosen to host these high-profile sporting events experience an economic windfall. In this new edition he looks at upcoming summer and winter Olympic games, discusses the recent Women’s World Cup, and the upcoming men’s tournament in Qatar. Circus Maximus focuses on major cities, like London, Rio, and Barcelona, that have previously hosted these sporting events, to provide context for future host cities that will bear the weight of exploding expenses, corruption, and protests. Zimbalist offers a sobering and candid look at the Olympics and the World Cup from outside the echo chamber.

Hosting the Olympic Games reveals the true costs involved for the cities that hold these large-scale sporting events. It uncovers the financing of the Games, reviewing existing studies to evaluate the costs and benefits, and draws on case study experiences of the Summer and Winter Games from the past forty years to assess the short- and long-term urban legacies for host cities. Written in an easily accessible style and format, it provides an in-depth critical analysis into the franchise model of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and offers an alternative vision for future Games. This book is an important contribution to understanding the consequences for the host cities of Olympic Games.

Ever since the first Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, sports have become an integral part of human civilization. The last decade has been commemorated by the centennial celebration of the modern Olympic movement. With great anticipation, the Olympics return to Athens, Greece, and we are once again reminded that we live in one of the most exciting periods in the history of sports. Reflecting back on my years of service as the International Olympic Com mittee president, I cannot overlook the remarkable changes that have taken place in the world of sports during these two decades. The technological de velopment and consequent globalization of the world economy opened up a window of new opportunities for the sports industry. As a result, manage ment, economics, and other sciences have become a significant part of modern sports. It is my pleasure to introduce this volume comprising an interesting collec tion of papers dealing with various aspects of management, economics and optimization applied to sports. May this book serve as a valuable source of information to researchers and practitioners as well as to casual readers look ing for a deeper insight into the magnificent world of sports.