Financial cost of the Beijing Olympics
It is difficult to know the exact cost of hosting the Olympic games. Official reports say the budget for the Beijing Olympics is $2.4 billion. While other reports suggest the figure to be around $40 billion. The Bird’s Nest Stadium alone cost $423 million. While it will be a great reminder for Beijingers of the Olympic Games, it might not get so much use after the Olympics. Any money it makes from hosting sporting events and concerts will probably barely cover the maintenance costs.
Some of the spending of course is on transport infrastructure such as the new subway lines, which would have probably been built even if China didn’t get the Olympics. The new subway lines will do something to lessen Beijing’s pollution problems and provide some convenience to local residents.
For hotels and tourist related industries, the Olympics hasn’t been great. Overseas tourist numbers are actually down from previous years. Some restaurants and bars have had to close their doors for not having the right licences. Factories around Beijing have had to close down or move to help reduce pollution.
For China however, hosting the Olympics is more than just money. It is China’s big chance to show to world what their government and people are capable of.
Update: The opening ceremony is said to have cost $300 million
It is hard to see that the Olympic venues will be anything other than white elephants after the Olympics. I don’t think Beijing really has much of a need for a 90,000-seat stadium, especially since they have a soccer stadium in Fengtai for Beijing Guo’an. And how many top-flight swimming competitions will be be held at the Water Cube every year?
A agree with you. Chinese aren’t avid live sport watchers like the U.S. and Australia. At least they have some plans to put some shops into the water cube cube and scale it back. Unfortunately, they can’t do much with the Birds Nest. Placing the other stadiums in universities was a good move, which organizers should be given credit for.
While we confidently guess that if you build it, they won’t always come, one also needs to take a broader view: Imagine trying to model an NPV for Tower Bridge, Eifel Tower, Sydney Opera House or lady Liberty at the time of building them! Granted bird’s nest is possibly not “different” enough, but that is something that history judges over time. The fact that there is even a plan to repurpose part of the Water Cube afterwards is commendable. And while there may be a fiasco or two, this needs to be seen in the context of the mega-projects that the Olympics entail. I say well done. Let’s enjoy the experience for what it represents, knowing that to hurl criticism is too easy, unless we can table better alternatives….
Ironically, the global slowdown will hit China hard too, adding fuel to the critics’ commentary, thought that would have happened anyway, Olympics or not. Just like Sydney has it’s airport line and Athens has its entire metro system thanks to the Olympics, let’s keep in mind that infrastructure projects outlive the business cycle and often need an “excuse”.
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