Olympics overrated
Games don’t always pay off
Faster, higher, stronger is the motto Pierre de Coubertin created when he reimagined a modern Olympics in 1896. If he were around today, his words could be replaced with “expensive, exploitation, overrated.”
Calgary city council put the final nail in the Olympic coffin Monday when it voted unanimously to scuttle the 2026 bid to host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, This followed a non-binding plebiscite where 56 per cent of Calgarians were opposed.
The Olympics would be phenomenal, but at $5.1 billion (if it were to come in on budget), it’s not worth the money.
Calgary hosted the Games in 1988 and, by all reports, made money. It was one of the best Winter Games ever staged.
But, much has changed since now and then. Security costs alone are out of this world.
Hosting an Olympic Games should be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Calgary had its turn ... time to let somebody else host.
Calgary also benefits from the annual Stampede, one of Canada’s top-attended festivals.
Fewer and fewer cities now want to bid to host the Games. It costs millions just to bid. Cities have caught on, so much so that there’s finally legitimate talk of a permanent site for both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
The huge myth is hosting an Olympics results in amazing exposure for the host city. While title cards may show parts of the host city, very few — if any — people sitting at home will say, “This summer, we’re going to Calgary.”
The start of Greece’s financial downfall was when Athens hosted the Summer Games in 2004. They lost their shirt and never recovered.
Many visitors from around the globe came to Greece to enjoy the Olympics. They were impressed with the country, but never returned.
The Winter Olympics — which half of the world doesn’t participate in — don’t draw the same exposure as the summer counterpart.
“There’s a winter Olympics,” Homer Simpson gasped in shock in the famous 2010 episode of “The Simpsons,” where the family travels to the Vancouver Olympics.
There’s no greater exposure in North America than a plug on “The Simpsons,” but it’s doubtful it increased ticket revenue at the Games.
With uncertainty in the oil industry, people with full-time jobs living on the streets, and a spike in crime, Albertans have other priorities.
—Valley editor James Miller