Quote:
Originally Posted by Table 5
The main point of the Olympics is not to break even or make money....it's to advertise and expose your city to the rest of the world. The giant spotlight you bring to your city, and the legacy that comes afterwards, is why cities do it...not because it's economically prudent.
I know the number crunching citizens of Calgary are proud that they made money on the Olympics, but that really seems minor compared to the real benefit of name-recognition around the world and potential tourism dollars that it brings. Calgary was some random faceless city before 1988...afterwards it was a place to visit, a place to spend money, and a place to go raise a family.
I remember being a 7 year old living in Austria, who had never heard of the place before, and the Olympics changed everything. I had no idea my family would eventually end up there, but seeing the city on tv was mesmerizing, and made me think of it as a pretty great place. And it sure has hell wasn't because of finances.
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The only reason why the Calgary Olympics 'made' money is because the Federal and Provincial governments absorbed a significant portion of the capital construction construction costs while letting CODA keep all the gate receipts.
Don't fool yourself, the Calgary Olympics didn't make any money.