What the Olympics Cost Their Host Cities

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Last week, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, as athletes, celebrities, and fans converged on the River Seine, it was hard to imagine not wanting the Olympic Games in your city.

But pride doesn’t pay for new stadiums, public transportation, and living quarters for athletes. In fact, hosting the Olympic Games costs cities, and their residents, a lot of money.

Big Spenders

Since at least 1960, every Olympic host city has spent more money than planned on the Games, according to the New York Times, citing a report from the University of Oxford. The last time around, Tokyo spent four times as much as expected, around $28 billion. London spent $17 billion – three times more than planned – in 2012.

Building new facilities, renovating old ones, paying for increased security, and upgrading transportation infrastructure to accommodate large crowds can get very expensive.

While the Olympic Games draw plenty of tourists and their money, taxpayers can be on the hook once the crowds leave. It took 30 years for Montreal to pay off the $1.5 billion stadium it built for the 1976 Summer Olympics.

The 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, remain the gold standard for Olympic overspending. They cost $50 billion, 400% more than the original estimate.

Are They Worth It?

So far, the Paris Games have run about 115% over budget, according to the Oxford report, a lower cost overrun than other Games thanks to a commitment to using existing buildings instead of building new stadiums and other facilities. Still, state auditors said the Summer Olympics could cost French taxpayers between 3 to 5 billion euros.

For some Parisians, and residents of Los Angeles, which will host the Summer Olympics in 2028, the benefits of hosting such a prestigious event outweigh the negatives. But it’s likely that they’ll be paying for it with their tax money for years to come. And while locals can volunteer at the Games, their work is unpaid. Buying a ticket to an event can cost a lot, with prices sometimes costing hundreds or even more than a thousand dollars.

If your city is hosting the Olympics, you might even want to get out of town. Airbnb (ABNB) said hosts in Paris stand to make an average of $2,170 renting their homes out during the Games.

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