Topic:
Country: Switzerland
Delegate Name: Marcos Calderon
Marcos Calderon
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Mitigating Negative Impacts on Host Cities
Switzerland
Forest Hills Northern
Throughout the history of the Olympics, the prices host cities have to pay has only gotten higher and higher. As time goes on, many countries barely bid anymore to even host the games because of just how expensive the games have truly gotten. When citizens have a choice to vote if they want their city and country to host, many citizens will vote no because they don’t want to be left hopelessly bankrupt after the games have ended. That makes it hard for the IOC to get a country to host if there are low bids for the games.
The Olympic games started 776 B.C in Greece. In 1896, they re-started with other countries participating and that marked the beginning of other countries taking pride in hosting the games. From 1924 to 1992, the winter and summer olympics would happen the same year making two different countries host every four years. In the 1900s, the price wasn’t too harsh for the cities. They would leave the Olympics without being hopelessly bankrupt. The first time the financial cost was concerned was the 1976 Summer Olympics games in Montreal. Montreal left the Olympics with 1.5 billion dollars in debt that took them three decades to pay off.
That unfortunately was just the beginning. As a result of how much debt Montreal was given, the 1984 summer games only had one bid and that was Los Angeles. Los Angeles was able to do it because they already have many past stadiums that could be used. When countries get ready for the Olympics, the IOC gives them about 10 years to get ready. The IOC also only gives 800 million in international television money, 500 million of international sponsorship revenue making that a total of 1.3 billion to help defray the costs the country will have to pay. The country in the ten years they’re given will most likely have to build new stadiums, new hotels, roads, airports, train lines and more. They also need to make sure the safety measures are met so no attacks happen during the games.
Switzerland has only hosted two times for the Olympic games. Once in 1928 and the other in 1948. The way the Swiss government works, the citizens get to decide whether they want their city to bid to host the games. Their last real attempt to host the games were back in 2006 but they backed down after the bid was too much for the government. The other attempts failed quickly due to how many citizens did not want to bid their city for the games, knowing the aftermath of hosting.
To make cities want to host again, the IOC needs to refresh how the whole system to get a city to bid works. First things first, the IOC needs to create a better way to support the countries after the games have ended. The main issue countries wont bid anymore is because they don’t want to be hopelessly bankrupt for the next decade or more. The IOC could also make a handful of cities designated for the games and go in a circle between those cities every two years. The bidding process also needs to be refreshed. Many countries waste money with bidding because the IOC has a habit of giving the spot to the city who has the best plans. The curse is that the city often will overshoot the actual value it should’ve been for hosting.
Works cited
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-games
https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/04/19/why-cities-no-longer-clamor-to-host-the-olympic-games/
