Why no one wants to host the Olympics

and should there be a permanent host?

The Olympics are in a crisis – no one wants to host the Games anymore. After decades of fierce competitions, only 2 cities ended up in contention for the 2024 Games; Paris and LA. Worried that no one would bid for 2028, the Olympics gave them both a Games. This video will use economic data, archive, and expert analysis to explain how the most prestigious sporting event in the world got too far over its skis and how it plans to get cities interested in hosting again.

Special thanks to Andrew Zimbalist.

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Search Party is a new, independent, video news show that combines experienced journalism and visual design to decode the most complex stories in international sports and geopolitics.

About:
Search Party is led and produced by Sam Ellis, a journalist, director, editor, and animator based in New York City. For more than 6 years, Ellis produced the hugely popular video series, Vox Atlas, for which he earned an Emmy nomination. He specializes in breaking down the most complex new stories and presenting them with a refreshing, accessible, and engaging visual style.

He’s produced explainers on some of the world’s thorniest geopolitical stories; from corruption scandals in Latin America, conflict in the Middle East, and the rise of China, to the world of sports; the Monaco Grand Prix, the FIFA corruption scandal, and the 100-foot waves of Nazaré, Portugal. Ellis has also directed multiple episodes of TV; notably on Netflix’s ‘Explained’ and HBO Sport’s ‘Level Playing Field’.

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[Owlrider]

To sum it up, the host cities take all the risk, the IOC takes all the rewards.

[averytucker]

Imagine being in a country where everyone wanted the main city to spend $5 billion on better housing, but the city said no.
Yet when the Olympics was said to be held in that country. The City agreed to spend $52.6 Billion on a stadium, high speed rail system, and 30 luxury hotels for the athletes.

I'm not surprised people protest against these games. Infact, I'm surprised more people don't protest against these games.

[Azamat]

Why olympics are hosted by only 1 city instead of whole country ? Hosting it as a country might solve some issues like infrastructure and environment.

[kevindavies]

It’s really sad to see the state of many of these facilities.

Here in Sydney, Olympic Park is still immaculate and frequently put to good use. It’s an area to be proud of.

[savannahm.laurentian]

They used to utilize mostly existing facilities. Now they build dorms & venues. It's insanely wasteful.

[harpgrewal]

They are a huge scam which leaves the host in debt for decades.

[mikatu]

We keep avoiding the main problem. The main way cities lose money with the Games is because the IOC takes a lot of money and they spend zero! They should pay the cities to host, not charge them for the Games.
In fact, the way the cities won the bids in the past was by bribing the IOC officials. When your process includes bribing something is not right.

[Zezetheb]

Kind of surprised Salt Lake City wasn’t brought up as an example of how to do them well. All venues that were used in the 2002 Olympics are still being used today, and are planning to be used again in the 2034 Olympics. Also, I think it’s one of the few cities that did actually benefit from that “legacy” idea. The games absolutely put Salt lake on the map, and it has since become even more of a pro sports training / competing / recreational destination.

[FrancisSiuChock]

Isn't it time for the corrupt IOC to start paying cities to host game?

[thomascho]

There isn't a strong demand to host because while the IOC stands to make billions from broadcasting right and advertising, the cities that host them are usually left in debt.

[smurfcatcher]

Love the explination that the host city is able to show itself off to the world. Yes, because nobody has ever heard of Paris France or Los Angeles California.

[mogerus]

Holding the Olympics in a permanent place is a practical and cost-effective idea; and holding it in Greece would be symbolic. Sports, no matter where it's held, is still a crowd drawer. Like the Superbowl and the World Cup, they can still earn revenue as long as they allow sponsors.

[faerydae]

In Brazil it was a disasters. Thousands were forced out of their homes in the poor areas so it could get torn down to build Olympic Venues. Now the venues sit empty. It’s extremely expensive, wasteful, and it hurts the locals!
I agree with having multiple nearby countries hosting the event to be able to use exiting Venues, or just have a permanent location in Greece. Times have changed, we can all travel now.

[kirbyrules]

I live "in" LA. the 1984 olympics were so sucessful that they made a fund for under privileged kids to give them really cheap tennis lessons. I used to teach those. The charge was 10 dollars for 4 1-hour lessons for 6 weeks, so 24 total lessons, group style. Now-a-days group lessons are 30 a piece or more and more than 100 an hour for a private lessons so you can understand how cheap 10 dollars is for 24 lessons. The LA 84 olympics' fund paid for the rest. This fund STILL EXISTS in 2024 and kids still get to benefit from it across LA, meaning hundreds of lessons each week.

[NostalgiCrazy]

At this point, the most practical thing is to reuse all existing venues. It's cost effective and there are plenty of cities to rotate every 2-4 years. Some comments have mentioned just having 1 or 2 permanent locations, but the people that have spent so much money, time, and labor to build all those venues deserve to see their work at future Olympics again.

[ogog]

Almost 50 years later, Montreal is still paying for the Olympic stadium 😵‍💫

[patrickorourke]

I researched LA84 extensively for a project in my CA Culture class in college. It was a wild success thanks to everyone from top to bottom, especially Peter Ueberroth. There was also a MASSIVE volunteer force that helped run the games.

Los Angeles refused to take a single tax dollar and funded the whole games through corporate sponsorship. The only real money spent came out of the initial fund started by Ueberroth. LA only had to build two new venues and modify a few existing ones. At the end of the games they netted over $200M in profit, and that led to the creation of the LA84 Foundation, which went on to create a ton of youth sports programs in Sourhern CA. That’s what you call a legacy👏👏👏👏

[AntonioCDias-bhns]

I am brasilian and it really hurts that my country spent so many with olympiads and soccer word cup while we have so many people in poverty without education or health care adequate.

[roygoodhand]

You forgot something: Denver 1976...

In a statewide referendum on 7 November 1972, Colorado voters rejected funding for the games, and for the first (and only) time a city awarded the Winter Games rejected them.

[rodyk]

As a Brazilian and resident of Rio, I can confirm that our Olympic legacy is bullshit. Even Maracanã stadium which was shown in this video with horrible pitch took a few years after the game to finally be stabilized. I went to the games and found it awesome but the lasting effects were and are complete crap