It's So Bad in Brazil That Olympians Will Have to Pay for Their Own AC

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) The Brazilian economic crisis has finally hit the 2016 Olympics. Following a new round of cost-cutting by the Rio 2016 organizers, athletes will be asked to pay for the air conditioning in their dorm rooms. Stadium backdrops will be stripped to their bare essentials. Fancy cars and gourmet food for VIPs are out.

"The goal here is to organize games without public funding and to organize games that make sense from an economic point of view," Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada said in an interview.

That economic focus has changed radically in the six years since Rio was awarded the Games – South America’s first. At the time, Brazil’s government pledged $700 million toward any budgetary overrun. Then the economy tanked. Unemployment has soared, and the local currency, the real, has lost one-third of its value against the dollar in the last year.

Now, with costs that ran up to 2 billion reais ($520 million) over budget and the public commitment in doubt, the organizers must stick firmly to the 7.4 billion reais they expect to earn from sponsorships, ticket sales, and a grant from the International Olympic Committee. Final decisions on what to pare back and how much should be finalized by next week, Andrada said. ............(more)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-03/no-frills-rio-olympics-to-athletes-air-conditioning-costs-extra

[951-Riverside]

1. I thought all of this was paid for by the Olympic committee, not the host country

"The goal here is to organize games without public funding and to organize games that make sense from an economic point of view," Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada said in an interview.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. Don't Think So

That's why the "Olympics In Boston" movement was quashed so quickly. Someone did an analysis of the cost to the local community vs. return and found out that with only a few exceptions (LA in 1984 was one of them, i don't remember the others) there is no payback and likely losses.

If the IOC and national OC was paying for that, the cities would be begging to get the games not begging their politicians to forget about the whole idea.

[951-Riverside]

3. Wow! Learned someone new

Thanks

[enlightenment]

5. Denver did the same thing in 1976.

60% of the voters said "no thanks".

[Ace Rothstein]

4. This is why there were only 2 bids for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Cities bleed money when hosting these events while the IOC and FIFA reap all the benefits.

[Initech]

6. Wow, the IOC has screwed the pooch here.