Benefits of Olympics outweigh the costs
From revenue to a new arena to happy, healthy citizens, this bid is a no-brainer
I’ll likely never use the $245-million main library being built in downtown Calgary. Nevertheless, I’m delighted the city is constructing that state-of-theart institution and that it’s not just a hideous cement rectangle like the old one — but that it’s designed to be visually iconic as well as functional to help educate and enrich our society for generations to come and beautify our city.
There are city parks, golf courses, Harvie Passage — which is being rebuilt (following damage from the June 2013 flood) to make white-water kayaking safer in Calgary — sidewalks, roads and bike paths I’ll never use, either. I’m glad, however, that they’re there and that my taxes have helped make those public amenities possible for others, and that their taxes helped make the sidewalks, bike paths and roads I use available for me.
Trust me, no one wants to believe they’ll ever have to use a cancer centre, but it’s impossible to conceive of a sane person who wouldn’t want this city to have a really good one.
Great cities are not just places that have something for everyone — they have myriad things for everyone — to do, see and experience. We don’t all use every amenity — some people scarcely use any — but having numerous attractions and services makes our city more attractive, competitive and livable. Which brings us to Calgary’s Olympic bid and the need for a new hockey arena if we want to win that bid and keep the Calgary Flames.
It was revealed Monday at Calgary city council, that it will cost $2.4 billion in net funding to cover the costs of hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics, according to the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee. In total, the cost is expected to be $4.6 billion to host the games, but with revenues of $2.2 billion and by using existing facilities from the 1988 Calgary Olympics, $2.4 billion is all that’s required to live the Olympic dream again in this city. According to the bid exploration committee, headed up by Calgary’s former and best ever chief of police, Rick Hanson, the Olympics is estimated to boost GDP anywhere from $2.2 to $2.6 billion, which includes $500 million in tax revenues for all three levels of government.
In other words, we stand to break even or even make some money from hosting the Olympics, and that makes this bid a no brainer, plus we get a new arena that ensures the Flames continue to burn bright in this town and sign a long-term lease for the new building, something Flames president Ken King said Monday is not going to happen with the 40-year-old Saddledome.
An Olympics will bring Alberta invaluable exposure from the television coverage that will be watched by billions of people; Calgary and surrounding communities like Canmore get upgraded facilities that will help inspire young people to dream big and train to become Olympians themselves (which keeps them healthy and out of trouble); and Calgary gets a new professional arena in Victoria Park that will for decades attract headline concerts that now pass us by as well as conventions. As Hanson pointed out last month, “You do require two full-sized arenas to host the Olympic Games.”
There are other more intrinsic benefits to hosting an Olympics and having a sports team to identify with and cheer for. Evidence shows that people are healthier and happier when they cheer for a sports team or their country during the Olympics. According to Daniel Wann, author of the book Sports Fans: The Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators, following a successful team makes people jubilant (recall the elation most of us felt when the Flames were in the Stanley Cup final in 2004), but even being a fan of a losing team (consider the long-suffering fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs) is also a recipe for greater happiness and less loneliness. Just ask people from Winnipeg whether they were happier with the Jets or without the Jets.
So what’s the answer to the seemingly age-old (and admittedly compelling) question that tax dollars should not go into an arena where millionaires play a game for a team owned by billionaires?
King has a great answer: “It shouldn’t. What it should go towards is critical city infrastructure that would eventually have to exist with or without the Flames. It’s better with us.”
He’s right. Just like a library is better with books in it.