Chicago’s long-term economic benefits from hosting the 2016 Olympics are questionable based on a survey of the experiences of other host cities in recent decades, according to a new study compiled by researchers at the Egan Urban Center at DePaul University.
Olympics held at non-national capital cities – such as Montreal (1976) and Atlanta (1996) – are particularly vulnerable to saddling local taxpayers with costs of hosting the games without necessarily producing dramatic long-term gains for the cities, according to the study which included surveys of other economic analyses conducted of recent host cities.
Additionally, the study notes that past findings suggest Chicago would derive greater long-term benefit from athlete housing if it were located in the disadvantaged communities where many of the events are proposed to take place, rather than in the currently proposed Olympic Village near the lakefront.
“Hosting the Olympics is certainly a major opportunity for any city, and Chicago would represent an excellent choice,” said Larry Bennett, professor of political science and co-author of the study. “However, an examination of the experiences of the other recent hosts of the games reveals their experience runs the gamut from boon to bust. If Chicago is to truly derive long-term benefit from the games, there are a number of errors made by other host cities that we should try to avoid.”
While a figure of $5 billion in economic impact has been cited by promoters of Chicago’s Olympic bid, the study found that it is difficult for any city to quantify actual benefits. One study of the economic impact of the Sydney Olympics (2000) found that the annual economic gain to Sydney’s regional economy during the six years preceding and the six years following the Games was a very modest one-quarter of 1 percent. There are also opportunity costs for cities hosting Olympic games because they divert capital dollars that could be used for other public purposes. Additionally, the Olympics tend to repel some potential visitors and local residents who are concerned with crowds and short-term price gouging.
An examination of the four non-national capital host cities in the past 30 years showed that Sydney (2000) and Barcelona (1992) had the strongest records of sustaining the overall economic and reputational impacts generated by the Olympics. The records Los Angeles (1984) and Atlanta were more mixed.
“Cities that can use the Games to fundamentally transform their national/ international images have the most to gain from hosting the Olympics,” the study noted.
The full 29-page study, co-authored by Larry Bennett, Michael Bennett, associate professor of sociology, and research associate Stephan Alexander from the Egan Center, can be accessed at
http://newsroom.depaul.edu/PDF/BBA%20OLY%20rep4.pdf
