Cost-benefits of big sporting events
Published by Yazad Jal July 7th, 2004 in EconomicsThe Economist is sceptical of the economic and allied benefits of hosting big sporting events like Euro 2004 or the Olympics, especially if host countries like Portugal and Greece are small and have struggling economies. (Subscription article)
The tournament will surely give the Portuguese economy a bit of zing over the summer. For the past month it has been virtually impossible to find a hotel room in Lisbon or Porto. Super Bock, the local brewers, are reckoning on selling an extra 650,000 gallons of beer during the football tournament, although that figure may have to be revised downwards after the early elimination of England (along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain). Overall, the government reckons that Euro 2004 will bring in some 200,000 extra visitors and generate rather over €100m ($120m) in extra tourist revenues. A welcome boost no doubt, but it hardly adds up to a transformation. If the football adds 0.2% to this year’s GDP, Portugal will have done well.The Portuguese (and Greeks, when their turn comes) hope that a successful tournament will also have a longer-term impact. Some dub this the “Barcelona effect”, in homage to the way that the 1992 Olympics showcased the Catalan capital, helping to turn it into one of Europe’s most fashionable places for conferences and holidays. But such an effect is not inevitable. The image of Atlanta was not improved by the 1996 Olympics: if anything, the reverse. And Belgium did not become suddenly chic thanks to co-hosting Euro 2000. Had you forgotten that?
Essential reading for misguided Indian bureaucrats who harbour hopes of hosting sporting events like the 2016 Olympics or the 2014 Asian Games. We’re already saddled with the 2010 Commonwealth Games — check out it’s official website. Let’s see how that goes.
First keep ur fingers crossed for athens games. If everything goes well thr, we can’t doubt India’s capability. And anyway, I sincerely believe hosting such games gives a chance to be proud of one’s nation, how childish that may sound. And along with that comes the awareness for sports which a country like India desperately needs. But most importantly it helps in establishing good sports infrastructure even if just to please international audience. After all the stadiums built out of compulsion will later only serve the country.
But yaa.. first watch the conduct of athens games. I reserve my skepticism for later.
umm… mayank, india has played host to the asian games before, and the only legacy it left behind was appu ghar in delhi, a couple fo stadiums and the white-green Asiad buses that ply the roads of Mahasrashtra. It did not do much to really ‘foster’ a spirit of sport in the country.
Sports will only be a popular career choice if it is remunerative, and it can only be remunerative if it is depoliticised. The Indian Olympics Association and other ‘autonomous’ sports bodies are so ridden with politicians and aspiring politicians that their true purpose ‘promotion of sports’ has been rendered a secondary place. Indian sports needs commercialisation, not big ticket international sports events to break it out of its malaise.
Big ticket events are part of bringing about commercialization.