‘Why Democracies Don’t Want the Olympics Anymore’

College of the Holy Cross economics professor Victor Matheson recently published an editorial in The Washington Post regarding the increasing cost of the Olympic Games. Matheson’s editorial came right after Boston withdrew its bid for 2024 Olympics, with taxpayers citing rising costs as the largest concern. An expert in sports economics, Matheson discussed the possibility that democratic countries are becoming less keen to host the Olympics because taxpayers are able to vote against hosting this expensive event.

Matheson cited previous bids by American cities, like Chicago in 2016, that failed when citizens realized their tax money would foot the bill should the cost rise higher than expected. Taxpayer’s fear is frequently becoming reality as the cost of hosting major sporting events, like the Olympic Games, increases. As Matheson points out, “Hosting costs routinely topped $5 billion or $10 billion after the turn of the century. Beijing broke all the records with over $40 billion in expenditures in 2008, only to be topped by Sochi’s $51 billion six years later.”

Although the popularity of the games remains strong worldwide, Matheson acknowledges that host citizens are frequently less enthusiastic. He writes that, “All over the world, the public — when given the opportunity to voice an opinion — has become increasingly disenchanted with hosting the Olympics.” Therefore, Matheson reasons that many citizens of a democratic country will vote against hosting the Olympics. As a result, the Olympics are more likely to be held by more “autocratic governments.”

Matheson backs up his point when the bids for the 2022 winter games dropped from seven cities to two, “Not coincidentally, all five of the cities that decided not to bid were in western democracies with a thriving free press and vocal populaces.” Even as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), calls for cutting the cost of the games, Matheson argues that they will still see less western democracies hosting the Olympic Games.

Read Matheson’s full editorial on the Washington Post’s website here.

This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Sarah Barrett ’18.