I think we should use the Olympics as a honey pot for politicians who care more about their own egos than their constituencies. Anyone who applies for it faces life in prison because it will just cost their city huge amounts of money and ruin most people's everyday lives.
We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
21–30 of 127 posts
Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
#22In Athens?
Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
#23Or alternatively, why must the Olympics be held in one place at all? The infrastructural burdens of large events are massive. The World Cup distributes this burden throughout cities and even regions.
The World Cup requires a country to have 10-14 stadiums when only 2-4 games are played a day. There's no reason for more than 4 stadiums.
For most European countries this is not a problem. Each club which plays in its countries top division already has a big enough dedicated football stadium.
It becomes a problem when you let FIFA bribe BRIC or even third world country politicians (or vice versa). Then you get stadiums located in deserts or rainforests without a club nearby that is even remotely capable of filling it on a weekly basis.
I like what the UEFA (Europe's FIFA) is doing here: Bigger countries get to host the European Championship on their own, smaller countries share it, lately Poland + Ukraine and Switzerland + Austria. From 2020 on the Cup will not take place in a single country anymore, instead cities will apply on their own, which is of course impractical for the World Cup or even continental cups on bigger continents.
Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
#24In Athens?
that might help fix their economic problems...
Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
#25I think this is a piece of learned trolling, satire designed to provoke us into thinking hard about what the IOC really is. The IOC profits from the selection process as much as it does from the games. The bribes, the payments, everything involved in this horrible “competition” fills their coffers with money. If the games were held in the same place every year, there would be no bribes to rig bids. There would be no…
The local politicians in my city that lured the IOC here through bribes were all later parachuted into lucrative foreign service diplomatic posts and various IOC connected director positions after. That's the true legacy of the games, the politicians raise their profile, network with the world's elite and move into international politics while the rest of us pay for their promotions. Having the winter olympics in Swi…
What is your city / country?
Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
#26Barcelona '92 was handled pretty well. The facilities are still used, the built housing was sold after the games, and tourism augmented significantly. It could be the exception to the rule.
This article is about the costs involved. How do you mean 'handled pretty well' ?! I think you have no idea what you are talking about and did not bother to spend a few seconds to look for facts ? 'The cost of the Barcelona Summer Olympics was USD11.4 billion (in 2009 dollars). The cost overrun was 417 percent in real terms. This compares with an average cost of USD5.7 billion (in 2009 dollars) for other summer Olymp…
The Olympics are more than the direct cost of infrastructure or tickets sold.
Barcelona was hugely changed by the 1992 Games and was transformed into one of the richest cities in Europe and one of the most visited spots on Earth. It's significance, quality of life and wealth grew because of the event.
That's the point of most Olympic events, as former London mayor Ken Livingstone said it: It's not about three weeks of sports, it's about getting funds to rebuild your city. A lot of them don't pull it off, but Barcelona for one did it fine.
Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's hard to imagine that prime real estate like that would be "uninhabited".
'Greece has an extremely large number of islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227.' Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Greece And it would not even have to be uninhabited I guess. Greece is very poor and really needs any investments it can get…
Most of the uninhabited ones do not have a Wikipedia page, and many of those that have a page have little content. Often, the page doesn't even mention the size of the islands.
I do expect, however, that most of the uninhabitated Greek islands are too small to be useful for this. You would need 10-20 different stadiums, 2 km straight water to hold rowing events, and wouldn't want to have marathon runners, competitors in the 50 km walk, or those taking part in the cycling road race to do 1 km rounds. Let's say 100 square kilometers to host all the courses (except for sailing; there's plenty of sea for that), bare minimum.
Also, it would be a challenge to feed the competitors and the spectators on an island that size. Greece isn't known for its green islands, and looking at that list, I notice that, for example, Tinos and Paros, at around 200 square kilometers, have a population of less than 10,000.
I would think you would need something like Kos to host the Olympics, and even that would be an enormous challenge. The 'normal' population of around 33,000 would increase by 20,000+ competitors, officials and a zillion journalists, and you likely would have to ferry or fly in half a million spectators every day, and all of them would need food and drink, and working 3G.
Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
#28Or alternatively, why must the Olympics be held in one place at all? The infrastructural burdens of large events are massive. The World Cup distributes this burden throughout cities and even regions.
The WC is a waste as well. It's even more egregious actually, because there are more than enough existing stadiums to play the world's most popular sport. Yet FIFA still insists on new stadiums being built for just a few matches.
If you want to siphon cash, you must be near a flow.
Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
#29I think this is a piece of learned trolling, satire designed to provoke us into thinking hard about what the IOC really is. The IOC profits from the selection process as much as it does from the games. The bribes, the payments, everything involved in this horrible “competition” fills their coffers with money. If the games were held in the same place every year, there would be no bribes to rig bids. There would be no…
I agree with everything you wrote, except for the first 10 words. This isn't a trollish idea. It's a practical solution that solves a real problem. Any time in conversation this topic comes up, I make the same argument that it doesn't make financial sense to move from city to city like a plague.
Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
The World Cup requires a country to have 10-14 stadiums when only 2-4 games are played a day. There's no reason for more than 4 stadiums.
For most European countries this is not a problem. Each club which plays in its countries top division already has a big enough dedicated football stadium. It becomes a problem when you let FIFA bribe BRIC or even third world country politicians (or vice versa). Then you get stadiums located in deserts or rainforests without a club nearby that is even remotely capable of filling it on a weekly basis. I like what the…
> For most European countries this is not a problem. Each club which plays in its countries top division already has a big enough dedicated football stadium.
Most in this case is maybe 5-6. Even in rich football countries like Germany, not every 1st tier club has a 40k+ stadium.