The real price of gold

By Megan Bradshaw on February 26, 2018

On Sunday, Feb. 25 the 2018 Winter Olympics officially closed. But the arguments about the worth of hosting an Olympiad will continue.

The grumblings return every two years — staggering cost overruns, sometimes dangerous working conditions and political corruption are just a few of the perennial negative themes.

Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute (RESI) concurs, calling the Games “a tough sell” economically. RESI’s Ellen Bast notes in her blog post the PyeongChang Games cost approximately $12.9 billion with an additional $1.2 million just in cybersecurity costs.

She also notes the average cost for an athlete to participate is $40,000. But she does concede the value of “spillover effects,” namely the pride athletes feel in competing for their country, making it worth it for them.

College of Health Professions professor Keunsu Han examines the spillover effects of hosting an Olympic Games as part of his research focus. 

In a recent article, he highlights the argument made that the United Kingdom enjoyed a generally positive image during the 2012 Games, with London being projected as a business-friendly place. He also states that China came out of the 2008 Olympics a winner, seeming to overcome pre-Games negativity centering on human rights violations and exorbitant spending on temporary construction.

During the PyeongChang Olympics, Han keenly watched the soft power interplay between North and South Korea and the United States. Soft power, or the art of using non-political events as avenues for diplomacy, is a major spillover effect that can have long-lasting effects on nation’s relationships. 

Related: Reading between the fireworks

He also believes, with Asian nations hosting Olympic Games in 2018, 2020 (Japan) and 2022 (China), another effect will be the opening of pan-Asian cultures to the rest of the world. South Korea, Japan and China will take the opportunities offered by the Olympics’ international platform to showcase their accomplishments and try to cement their place in the international community.

For the countries who continue to bid for a costly megaproject like the Olympic Games, the spillover effects are what make it priceless.