Hosting the Olympic Games

by John Rennie Short

Hosting the Olympic Games reveals the true costs involved for the cities that hold these large-scale sporting events. It uncovers the financing of the Games, reviewing existing studies to evaluate the costs and benefits, and draws on case study experiences of the Summer and Winter Games from the past forty years to assess the short- and long-term urban legacies for host cities. Written in an easily accessible style and format, it provides an in-depth critical analysis into the franchise model of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and offers an alternative vision for future Games. This book is an important contribution to understanding the consequences for the host cities of Olympic Games.

122 pages, Hardcover

Published April 27, 2018

About the author

Prof. John Rennie Short is the Professor of Public Policy in the Department of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), USA.

He received an MA in Geography from the University of Aberdeen in 1973 and a PhD in 1977 from the University of Bristol.

He has been the Professor of Public Policy at UMBC since 2005, having previously held positions at the University of Bristol, the University of Reading and Syracuse University.

He currently writes for a number of audiences, including The Conversation.

Reviews

[Gabe Eggers]

In this monograph, John Rennie Short traces a brief history of the Olympics before focusing on the economic costs of hosting (and even just bidding for) the games. He presents a fairly detailed accounting, giving the difficult nature of this task, focusing not only on the direct costs (administrative, building venues, etc.) but also the indirect (city infrastructure, lingering security state, displaced peoples, etc.) while also giving a fair shake to the potential upsides (urban development, legacy, etc.). Attention is also given to the role the IOC plays in defraying (or not) these municipal costs. While Short has a definite opinion about whether these costs are worthwhile, he remains even-handed and frank in his discussion and concludes by discussing several alternatives to the current franchise model of the Olympic games that would lessen the burden on individual cities.

This book is a short read (~100pp) and worth it if the subject interests you. My only complaint is that it could have used another revision or editorial pass. I noticed quite a few (grammatical) errors while reading, and there was a lot of immediate repetition where the language could have been tightened and more direct.