Most Profitable Olympic Games, Ranked
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Yep, the Olympic Games are great, all right. But then the bill arrives, and everybody can’t get out of Dodge fast enough.
While numerous studies have been conducted about the Games and their financial viability, the results have been quite vague. Because so many variables are involved here, everything from subjective interpretations to educated guesswork, it’s not often economists read from the same chapter, let alone the same verse. In fact, so much mathematical gymnastics has been known to take place over the years, it could be an Olympic event itself.
This list per Wikipedia ranks the Games on the basis of profits or losses where such data is available. The figures are adjusted to reflect inflation. Global currency has been converted to United States dollars at current exchange rates.
Now you be the judge as to if hosting the Olympics is worth it. . .
27. 2000 Summer Olympics
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Total costs: $2.1 billion
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $3.3 billion
Profit/loss: -$2.1 billion
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$3.3 billion
Bottom Line: 2000 Summer Olympics
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By most accounts, Sydney hosted a heckuva 16-day bash. But when it came time to pay for it, the party was over.
Let’s just say the Land Down Under got its Aussie kicked financially and leave it at that.
26. 2016 Summer Olympics
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Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Total costs: Not available (NA)
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: -$2 billion
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$2.3 billion
Bottom Line: 2016 Summer Olympics
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Those brand-new event venues sure are nice . . . for a week or two. Then what? The warm-up pool water turns a pukey orange, neglected infrastructure begins to crumble, and Maracana Stadium blacks out after a squabble about the electricity bill.
Rio, was it all worth it? Huh? Huh? Huh?
25. 1952 Summer Olympics
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Location: Helsinki, Finland
Total costs: -$943.3 million
Total costs adjusted for inflation: -$9.7 billion
Profit/loss: -$29.3 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$302.4 million
Bottom Line: 1952 Summer Olympics
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As the smallest and least economically impactful venue in Olympic history, Helsinki (population: 380,000) was a head-scratcher to say the least.
From an artistic standpoint, the Games held their own. But financially, they fell more than a few fins short.
24. 1992 Winter Olympics
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Location: Albertville, France
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: -$67 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$130.4 million
Bottom Line: 1992 Winter Olympics
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The event co-conspirators went 135 percent over budget, which was part of a trend at the time.
What they didn’t count on was the massive technical glitches and thousands upon thousands of empty hotel rooms.
23. 1924 Summer Olympics
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Location: Paris, France
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: -$6 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$95.7 million
Bottom Line: 1924 Summer Olympics
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This was the second time Paris hosted the Games, becoming the first city to host it twice. It also set the stage for Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell, later of “Chariots of Fire” movie fame.
Yet the preparation costs were so astronomical, they were doomed financially before the starter gun went off.
22. 2004 Summer Olympics
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Location: Athens, Greece
Total costs: $9 billion
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $13 billion
Profit/loss: -$14.5 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$21 million
Bottom Line: 2004 Summer Olympics
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Local taxpayers thought they would get world-class athletic competition for their bucks. Haha!
What they also got were the most expensive Summer Games in history at the time, complete with a new airport and metro system and enough debt to drown the entire country. Talk about a Greek tragedy . . .
21. 2006 Winter Olympics
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Location: Turin, Italy
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: -$3.2 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$4.3 million
Bottom Line: 2006 Winter Olympics
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For reasons not quite clear, these Winter Games became the first to finish out of the black in two decades. The given reasons had to do with technical issues related to taxes on revenues and donations.
We believe that translates to “somebody screwed up somewhere.”
19. 1980 Summer Olympics (Tie)
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Location: Moscow, Soviet Union
Total costs: $2 billion
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $6.7 billion
Profit/loss: -$1.2 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$3.9 million
Bottom Line: 1980 Summer Olympics
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Other than the Cold War and the United States-led boycott in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the fact that more than 50 nations were part of it, we can’t think of one good reason why Moscow shouldn’t have hosted these Summer Games and lost many rubles in the process.
19. 1956 Summer Olympics (Tie)
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Location: Melbourne, Australia
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: -$408,000
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$3.9 million
Bottom Line: 1956 Summer Olympics
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You want weirdness? Because of Australian quarantine laws, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden, nearly 10,000 miles away.
Not only that, but the organizers claimed to be unaware of the guidelines until after the fact. Is it any wonder that the Aussies lost their grundies here?
18. 1976 Summer Olympics
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Location: Montreal, Canada
Total costs: $1.1 billion
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $5.3 billion
Profit/loss: -$772,200
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$3.7 million
Bottom Line: 1976 Summer Olympics
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Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau was correct in his prediction that "the Olympics can no more lose money than a man can have a baby.”
His city and its residents had a cow when miscalculations, mismanagement and misdeeds resulted in a sizable debt that took 30 years to remove from the books. This remains the only Summer Games in which the host country didn’t win one stinkin’ gold medal. Woe Canada, indeed.
17. 1928 Winter Olympics
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Location: St. Moritz, Switzerland
Total costs: $769,540
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $12.3 million
Profit/loss: -$114,232
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$1.8 million
Bottom Line: 1928 Winter Olympics
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All you need to know is that the weather was so good this year that it sucked for the winter events.
Temps soared above 75 degrees Fahrenheit some afternoons, which caused a number of events to be canceled or rescheduled and wreaked havoc on the Olympic atmosphere.
16. 1928 Summer Olympics
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Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Total costs: $1.2 million
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $18.9 million
Profit/loss: -$18,000
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: -$287,372
Bottom Line: 1928 Summer Olympics
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Despite the debuts of a fixed schedule, Coca-Cola and the Olympic Flame, these Games were a loser.
The organizers didn’t just mail it in, though. A commemorative stamp fetched $210,000 in sales to soften the financial blow.
15. 2012 Summer Olympics
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Location: London, England
Total costs: $14.6 billion
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $17.4 billion
Profit/loss: Broke even
Total costs adjusted for inflation: Broke even
Bottom Line: 2012 Summer Olympics
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According to a $2 million study that it commissioned, the English government made a wise investment here. The consensus is that the Games created some jobs, increased some home prices and triggered some development in the area, but was it really $15 billion worth?
We probably won’t know the answer for a while.
14. 1908 Summer Olympics
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Location: London, England
Total costs: $394,000 (estimated)
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: +$8,673
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$239,167
Bottom Line: 1908 Summer Olympics
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In wake of a Mount Vesuvius eruption two years earlier, the U.K. became the alternate site for this year’s Games, but the flow of hot lava didn’t stop there.
These Games set an unofficial record for most protests.
13. 1948 Summer Olympics
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Location: London, England
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: +39,400
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$446,320
Bottom Line: 1948 Summer Olympics
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Few Brits wanted any part of these Games, not in the midst of a World War II recovery. (Germany and Japan were not invited.)
So, the organizers went on the cheap and turned a small profit — or so their financial report claimed 16 months after the fact. Sure.
12. 2010 Winter Olympics
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Location: Vancouver, Canada
Total costs: $6.4 billion
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $8 billion
Profit/loss: +$1.5 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$1.9 million
Bottom Line: 2010 Winter Olympics
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Accommodations and transportation were a challenge before the opening ceremonies. A recession made them worse. Even so, these Games finished in the black, and by most accounts, their impact will reap dividends for years to come.
Besides, Canada would have paid billions for Sidney Crosby and his epic Golden Goal alone.
11. 1992 Summer Olympics
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Location: Barcelona, Spain
Total costs: $9.3 billion
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $18.1 billion
Profit/loss: +$10.0 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$19.5 million
Bottom Line: 1992 Summer Olympics
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At the time, only the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games were more expensive than this money pit.
In fact, the extravaganza was so expensive that Spain was forced to sell the Rock of Gibraltar to Morocco for a modest package of mint tea and pastries.
10. 1932 Summer Olympics
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Location: Los Angeles, California
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: +$1 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$19.9 million
Bottom Line: 1932 Summer Olympics
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The first Games at the Coliseum were conspicuous by the absence of President Herbert Hoover amid a world-wide depression. Newspaper accounts claimed a $1 million profit “after all expenses are paid and all bonds are retired,” per the New York Times.
That committee organizers didn’t utter a single word about the financials suggests a different outcome.
9. 1984 Winter Olympics
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Location: Sarajavo, Yugoslavia
Total costs: $110.9 million
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $291.4 million
Profit/loss: +$10.0 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$26.3 million
Bottom Line: 1984 Winter Olympics
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These Games received rabid support from the locals, many of whom donated 2 percent of their salaries to make them happen. They weren’t disappointed, either.
Yet it wouldn’t be long before a civil war turned many of the Olympic landmarks into a grim reminder of better days.
8. 1996 Summer Olympics
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Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: +$19.0 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$33.1 million
Bottom Line: 1996 Summer Olympics
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Largely privately funded and profitable, these Games offered some immediate benefits in and around Hotlanta, few would disagree. Yet others argue that many less fortunate local communities were left out of the process.
The Games may be over, but the debate continues . . .
7. 1988 Winter Olympics
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Location: Calgary, Canada
Total costs: $701.2 million
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $1.6 billion
Profit/loss: +25 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$57.6 million
Bottom Line: 1988 Winter Olympics
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You know how Olympic hosts waste pathetic amounts of money on arenas and stadiums that are practically useless after the Games are played? Well, here’s the exception. All five remain functional three decades later.
Money was invested in endowment funds for maintenance after the fact, and Stampede City has reaped the rewards ever since.
6. 2018 Winter Olympics
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Location: Pyeongchang, South Korea
Total costs: $12.9 billion
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $14 billion
Profit/loss: +$55 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$59.8 million
Bottom Line: 2018 Winter Olympics
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These Games left behind plenty of empty venues, arguments about who would pay for their upkeep and opinions about the bottom line. The organizers reported a hefty profit. City officials believe it was a much smaller amount.
The province where the Games took place claims to have lost its shirt. Us? We won’t pass judgment until we hear what the Russian judges have to say...
5. 2014 Winter Olympics
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Location: Sochi, Russa
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: +$53.15 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$61.3 million
Bottom Line: 2014 Winter Olympics
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Russian president Vladimir Putin and his co-conspirators promised the “most extravagant Olympics ever” and then shelled out a record amount (an estimated $50 billion) to make it happen.
Meanwhile, Corruption and Cronyism were so dominant, they finished second in the two-man bobsled event.
4. 2002 Winter Olympics
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Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Total costs: $1.2 billion
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $1.8 billion
Profit/loss: +$101.0 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +153.3 million
Bottom Line: 2002 Winter Olympics
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Ski City USA had been unable to close the deal several times before, so its co-conspirators allegedly bribed International Olympic Committee bigwigs to land this one. Whatever they did over or under the table, it was well worth it.
The Games triggered an economic rebirth, the results of which can still be felt years later.
3. 2008 Summer Olympics
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Location: Beijing, China
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: +$150 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$190.2 million
Bottom Line: 2008 Summer Olympics
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An estimated $4 billion expenditure was beyond exorbitant, but if any city could afford new roads, subways and stadiums, this was the one.
The full extent of its financial commitment remains as clear as Beijing air, but bet on this: One way or another, it will find a way to pay for it.
2. 1984 Summer Olympics
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Location: Los Angeles, California
Total costs: $413 million
Total costs adjusted for inflation: $1.1 billion
Profit/loss: +$250 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +$656.9 million
Bottom Line: 1984 Summer Olympics
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Despite media attempts to the contrary, this edition elevated the Summer Games to another level, as Organizing Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth sold the Olympic brand for all it was worth.
While events were spread over the entire region in facilities that were already in place, the SoCal weather contributed brilliantly. And almost nobody cared that the Soviets were in boycott mode.
1. 1988 Summer Olympics
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Location: Seoul, South Korea
Total costs: NA
Total costs adjusted for inflation: NA
Profit/loss: +$300 million
Profit/loss adjusted for inflation: +692.3 million
Bottom Line: 1988 Summer Olympics
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The events were memorable. (Hellooooo, Florence Griffith Joyner and Greg Louganis.) Even the ceremonies were must-see television. Hey, look, no major boycotts, either!
The sale of Olympic housing-turned-apartments helped erase a $6 billion budget overrun. We have ’84 Los Angeles and ’88 Seoul in a dead heat for the all-time Summer Games gold medal.