Indian bid for hosting Olympics 2024

[vsudhu]

Will we see an Olympics in India before 2050 ?

[greyfri]

Speaking of the Commonwealth games in India (circa 2010) -- I was in Delhi at that time, and I do agree that in general the games went off better than expected (logistically).

However, there was a great deal of corruption and wasteful spending even by the standards of sports extravaganzas. 2 acquaintances of mine who run businesses supplying various building materials were both rubbing their hands in glee at the high prices they were able to charge before the games. Hosting the Olympics would lead to a similar waste of money. And realistically speaking, couldn't we provide a fillip to local sportsmen/women with far less money deployed more efficiently ?

if India does bid -- certainly Delhi will be the city proposed as the host (I am not saying I agree with that, I'm saying that's just the way it is). The reasons advanced would be : good airport connections, hotels, international standard sports facilities (some) left over from Asiad and Commonwealth games. All these are somewhat valid, but the reason would be that the nexus of politicians (Ministry of Sport especially), government officials, builders is very strong in Delhi, and these folks would love the power, prestige and money (both legal and under the table) from such an event to flow to Delhi.

[ILuvHyd]

Speaking of the Commonwealth games in India (circa 2010) -- I was in Delhi at that time, and I do agree that in general the games went off better than expected (logistically).

However, there was a great deal of corruption and wasteful spending even by the standards of sports extravaganzas.

I remember lot of corruption, delays/tension until last minute and wastage. Not sure if it helped with any of those tangible benefits later.

Benefits of hosting a big sporting event are up for debate. It may not work financially. I would rather spend some of the money to uplift the sporting environment in the country and get some medals first.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/magazine/does-hosting-the-olympics-actually-pay-off.html
[QUOTE]
Philip Porter, an economist at the University of South Florida who has studied the impact of sporting events, told me that the evidence was unequivocal. “The bottom line is, every time we’ve looked — dozens of scholars, dozens of times — we find no real change in economic activity,” he said. Still, even for established cities like Boston or San Francisco, there is one clear reason to chase the Olympics or the World Cup: People like hosting major sporting events. Economists tend to pay more attention to money than to happiness, because money is easier to count. But it’s no small matter that surveys routinely find high levels of public support in the host nation before, during and after the Olympics and the World Cup. “It’s like a wedding,” Matheson told me. “It won’t make you rich, but it may make you happy.” The trick is deciding how much that’s worth.

[ILuvHyd]

Also we don't like end dates and deadlines. We usually get it done when done. See the current spate of Brazil's problems with hosting Olympics. Last minute heroics might ensue and save the big event but I would opt for a better planning and clean execution.
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