Olympic Games: Costs to Plan and Stage the Games in the United States
Released: 2001-11-29T00:00:00

Letter

Background

The Olympic Games take place every 4 years, with the Winter and Summer Games alternating on a 2-year cycle. The Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (Amateur Sports Act), 36 U.S.C.§ 220501 et seq., which was originally enacted in 1978 as the Amateur Sports Act, gives the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) exclusive jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to the participation of the United States in the Olympic Games, including the representation of the United States in such Games and the organization of the Games when held in the United States. The Amateur Sports Act was amended in 1998 to incorporate the Paralympic Games under the umbrella of USOC. Although organized separately, the 1996 Summer Olympic Games marked the first time the Paralympic Games were held in conjunction with the Olympic Games in the United States. On May 27, 1997, SLOC was awarded the rights to host the 2002 Winter Paralympic Games.

About $363 Million Spent to Plan and Stage the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid

Lake Placid, NY, a small village with a population of 3,500 at the time, served as the host city for the Winter Olympic Games in 1980. According to information compiled by a USOC official, 1,072 athletes from 37 countries participated in 38 skiing, skating, and sledding events at 6 venue locations for an audience of 517,000 people. At that time, the Paralympic Games were not held in conjunction with the Olympic Games. According to a Department of Commerce report following the Games, and as shown in figure 1, about $363 million was spent on planning and staging these Games. The Lake Placid Organizing Committee (LPOC) funded about $121 million (33 percent) of the total cost. The State of New York provided about $63 million (17 percent) for building and constructing venues, such as the alpine, cross-country, and biathlon skiing facilities in the Lake Placid area. In addition, the federal government provided about $179 million (50 percent) in funding and support. According to the Department of Commerce report, of the $179 million in federal funding and support, Congress specifically designated about $96 million for Olympic-related projects, and the remaining approximately $83 million was approved and provided through the normal funding procedures of the departments of Defense, Transportation, Commerce, Energy, the Interior, and Justice. Collectively, the departments of Commerce and the Interior provided about $102 million (57 percent) of the total federal expenditures.

As shown in figure 2, federal funding and support for the Games, or about $127 million (71 percent of the federal share), was used for venue construction (37 percent) and housing for the athletes (34 percent). Specifically, the federal government helped finance the ski jumps, speed skating oval, skating arena, winter sports arena, luge run, parking facilities, dressing rooms, and storage facilities. The federal government also provided housing and infrastructure support projects for the athletes, trainers, and coaches, such as the temporary and permanent buildings erected on a 55-acre site near Lake Placid used to house the athletes participating in the Games. These facilities were also used for security operations. The remaining direct federal funding and support were used for safety- and security–related activities, which accounted for about $23 million (13 percent); transportation projects, such as highway, airport, and railway improvements, which accounted for about $16 million (9 percent); and staging-and-operations activities during the Olympic events, which accounted for about $13 million (7 percent). Appendix II lists the specific federally sponsored Olympic-related projects and activities and the amounts of federal funding and support for each.

Excluding Additional Security Requirements Brought About by the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks, Planning and Staging Costs for the 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Are Estimated at $1.9 Billion

In February 2002, according to SLOC officials, Salt Lake City will become the largest city to host the Winter Olympic Games and will also become the host of the largest Winter Olympic Games held to date. SLOC officials expect that this city, with a population of approximately 1.5 million people, will host 3,500 Olympic athletes participating in 70 sporting events at 10 venues. Additionally, SLOC officials expect 1,100 Paralympic athletes to participate in 34 sporting events at 10 venues. As of July 31, 2001, the total direct cost for projects and activities related to planning and staging the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City is estimated at $1.9 billion.

As shown in figure 3, SLOC plans to fund about $1.3 billion (70 percent). Additionally, Utah state officials working with SLOC report that Utah state agencies and institutions are planning to provide about $150 million (8 percent) and the Salt Lake City local government is planning to provide about $75 million (4 percent) for such projects as roads and bus systems directly related to supporting the Games. Finally, of the $1.9 billion, it is estimated that the federal government will provide approximately $342 million (18 percent) of the total direct cost for planning and staging the Games.

Specifically, 18 federal agencies reported that they have provided or plan to provide an estimated $342 million in funding and support for projects and activities directly related to the planned 2002 Games. Of the $342 million in federal funding and support provided or planned for the 2002 Games, Congress had specifically designated about $208 million (61 percent) for specific Olympic-related projects and activities. About $134 million (39 percent) was approved by the agencies and provided through their normal funding procedures.

As shown in figure 4, the federal government’s involvement includes safety- and security-related activities, transportation, housing and infrastructure support, venue building and construction, and staging operations during the Games. In total, not including additional security costs that may be incurred as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal government plans to spend about $185 million on safety- and security-related activities. Such activities range from venue perimeter security projects and activities during the Games themselves to heightened security-related activities of individual agencies necessitated by the Games.

For example, the General Services Administration (GSA) plans to spend about $1.6 million to protect its facilities during the Games. These are funds that GSA would not have had to spend were it not for the Olympic Games. The next largest amount of federal funding and support is about $106 million for transportation projects. The Department of Transportation plans to spend this amount in part to provide a temporary spectator transportation system. This system will consist of Salt Lake City transit buses and drivers and borrowed transit buses and drivers from other cities across the United States, bus maintenance, construction and operation of park-and-ride lots, and loading and unloading facilities. In addition, the Department of Transportation is planning to provide an additional $25 million, of the total $27 million allocated for venue construction, to support the building and construction of access roads to certain venues for the Games. An estimated $19 million in federal funds is also being provided to support staging-and-operations activities during the Games. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing an estimated $4 million for Salt Lake City redevelopment projects and temporary housing for the athletes participating in the Games. Appendix III lists the specific federally sponsored Olympic-related projects and activities and the amounts of federal funding and support for each.

Total Direct Cost and Government Funding and Support for Planning and Staging the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, then a metropolis of more than 11 million people, hosted the 1984 Olympic Games. According to information compiled by a USOC official, about 7,078 athletes from 140 nations participated in 221 sporting events at 27 venues for an audience of an estimated 8 million visitors to the Olympic Games. At that time, the Paralympic Games were not held along with the Olympic Games. As shown in figure 5, the reported total direct cost to plan and stage the 1984 Games was approximately $707 million. Of this amount, LAOOC reported providing about $629 million (89 percent) of the total direct cost for the Games. The remaining approximately $78 million of the total direct cost for planning and staging the Games, as we reported in September 2000, was provided by the federal government through the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Justice, State, Transportation, Health and Human Services, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Information Agency.

Although data on California and Los Angeles government funding and support for the 1984 Games were not available, according to the former LAOOC Vice-President for Government Relations for the 1984 Games, state and local funding was minimal. According to this official, Los Angeles voters passed a charter amendment in November 1978 prohibiting any capital expenditure by the city on the Olympic Games that would not, by binding commitment, be reimbursed. As noted in our September 2000 report, Los Angeles city officials believed that the host cities for Olympic Games held before 1984 often overextended themselves by trying to complete state-of-the-art Olympic venues and related capital improvement projects. Such actions, in their view, pushed those host cities into debt that remained long after the Games. As a result, city officials decided that they (1) would not undertake any new construction or capital improvements specifically for the Olympic Games and (2) would encourage spectators to use the transit or bus systems in place at the time or simply to drive their cars to the events.

Figure 5 also shows that the approximately $78 million in federal funding and support represented about 11 percent of the total cost for projects and activities related to the Games. As shown in figure 6, about $74 million of the federal expenditures was used to support safety- and security-related activities for the Games. The remaining $4 million was used for staging- and-operations activities during the events. Of the $78 million total, Congress specifically designated about $76 million for mostly security- related projects and activities, and $2 million (3 percent) was approved by the federal agencies and provided through their normal funding procedures. Appendix IV lists the specific federally sponsored Olympic- related projects and activities and the amounts of federal funding and support for each.

Total Direct Cost and Government Funding and Support for Planning and Staging the1996 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Atlanta, GA

Atlanta, GA, is a large metropolitan area that had a population of more than 3.4 million in 1996 when it served as the host city for the Summer Olympic Games. According to information compiled by a USOC official, about 10,332 Olympic athletes from 197 countries participated in 271 sporting events at 29 venues, for an audience estimated at 8.3 million people. Also, 3,310 Paralympic athletes from 104 countries participated in sporting events at 16 venues. As shown in figure 7, the total direct cost for planning and staging these Games was about $2.4 billion. According to the information compiled by SLOC officials, of the $2.4 billion, the Atlanta Committee for Olympic Games (ACOG) and the Atlanta Paralympic Organizing Committee (APOC) contributed nearly $2 billion (82 percent) for the 1996 Games. ACOG- and APOC-funded projects and activities included transportation, safety and security, Paralympic operations, temporary and permanent facilities, and telecommunications. According to information from SLOC, local governments where the various venues were located during the Games contributed about $234 million (10 percent), which was used to help construct some of the facilities used to support the Games. The federal government’s share of the total cost to plan and stage the event, as we reported in our September 2000 report, was about $193 million, or 8 percent of the approximately $2.4 billion in total direct costs.

Of the approximately $193 million provided by the federal government, $86 million (45 percent) was specifically designated by Congress for Olympic- related projects and activities and $106 million (55 percent) was approved by the agencies and provided through their normal funding procedures. Similar to previous Olympic Games, ensuring adequate safety and security was a primary concern of federal officials at the Games in Atlanta. As shown in figure 8, safety- and security-related projects related to the Games represented about $101 million (52 percent) of the federal government’s total direct cost. The federal agencies providing safety- and security- related funding and support included the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, the Interior, Justice, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs. Funding and support was also provided by the Corporation for National and Community Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Executive Board, and the Environmental Protection Agency. About $68 million (36 percent) of the $193 million in federal expenditures was used for venue construction and staging operations during the Olympic events. For example, approximately $18 million was used to construct the Whitewater Rapids Venue, and approximately $5 million was used for the pre-trial and Olympic Whitewater Rapids events operations during the Games. Transportation represented about $21 million (11 percent) of the federal funds expended on the Games, housing and infrastructure projects represented $2 million (1 percent), and venue construction represented about $36 million (19 percent).

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

We provided copies of a draft of this report to the heads of OMB, SLOC, and USOC and to former officials of LAOOC for their review and comments. Additionally, for their review and comments, we provided to each of the federal agencies listed in Appendix III copies of a draft of their reported figures regarding (1) the amount of federal funding and support and (2) the applicable projects and activities for the planned 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Games at Salt Lake City, UT. We received oral comments from agency-designated officials or audit liaisons at OMB and most of the federal agencies, and from the former LAOOC Vice-President for Government Relations. Generally these officials had no comments, or they provided technical changes—to correct the reported amounts of federal funding and support provided for the Olympic Games, or to improve clarity—which were made where appropriate.

We also received written comments from the president and chief executive officer of SLOC, which generally agreed with our report. Briefly, he stated that our report accurately reflected the growth of the Olympic and Paralympic Games during the past 20 years and pointed out that the increase in the federal government’s share of the cost occurred in traditional areas of government functions, security and transportation, while federal expenditure on nongovernment functions, such as venue construction, had significantly decreased. He also cited two significant factors, outside the scope of our work, that contributed to the growth in cost: the technological advances in measuring and in broadcasting the results of the competitions. Finally, he explained that one of his top priorities is to help reverse the trend of the Games to be “bigger and better” than those before, and that he plans to make a series of recommendations to the International Olympic Committee president on reducing the scope and controlling the growth in cost for future Olympic Games.

Unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution of it until 15 days from the date of this report. We will then send copies of this report to Senator Robert C. Byrd, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations; Ted Stevens, Ranking Minority Member, Senate Committee on Appropriations; and C. W. Bill Young, Chairman, and David R. Obey, Ranking Minority Member, of the House Committee on Appropriations. We are also sending copies to Senators Fritz Hollings, Chairman, and John McCain, Ranking Minority Member, of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; and Representatives W. J. Billy Tauzin, Chairman, and John D. Dingell, Ranking Minority Member, of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. We are also sending copies of this report to Senator Orrin Hatch and Representatives James V. Hansen, Jim Matheson, and Christopher Cannon, of Utah. Copies of this report will also be sent to the Director of OMB; the secretaries of the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, the Interior, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; and the Attorney General. We are also sending copies to the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Emergency Management Agency, General Services Administration, and Tennessee Valley Authority; and to the Postmaster General. We will also make copies available to others upon request.

Major contributors to this report included Sherrill Johnson, Michael Rives, Frederick Lyles, Melvin Horne, and Michael Yacura. If you have any questions, please contact me at (202) 512-8387 or ungarb@gao.gov.

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

As discussed in this report, the objectives of this assignment were to determine: the total direct cost of planning and staging the Winter Olympic Games held in 1980 at Lake Placid, NY; and the Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games planned for 2002 at Salt Lake City, UT; the Summer Olympic Games held in 1984 at Los Angeles, CA; and the Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games held in 1996 at Atlanta, GA; the total direct government funding and support at the local, state, and federal levels, where available, for each of these Games; how the federal funding and support were used; a complete roster of all the reported projects and activities for each of the Games; and the amount of federal funds and support specifically designated by Congress for Olympic-related purposes, and the amount of federal funding and support approved by the agencies and provided through their normal funding procedures for each of these Games.

To respond to the first objective, because there is no central source for the needed information, we obtained data on the costs incurred by the principal parties that funded and supported these events. These parties included (1) applicable Olympic Games Organizing Committees that are private organizations established by the host cities to plan and stage the Games; (2) state and local governments associated with the designated host cities for the Games; and (3) federal government agencies.

Our primary sources of information included: Salt Lake City Organizing Committee (SLOC) officials, who are currently responsible for planning and staging the Games planned for 2002 at Salt Lake City, and Olympic organizing committee reports following the 1984 Olympics and the1996 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, which provided financial statements showing the total amount of the private- sector costs for each of the Games; Utah and California state and local government officials cognizant of their respective state and local governments’ funding and support for the Games held in Salt Lake City and in Los Angeles; and Department of Commerce report published in 1982 after the 1980 Winter Olympic Games; our previously published report regarding federal funding and support for the 1984 Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games; and OMB and 22 federal organizations, including the U.S. Postal Service, for the planned 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games at Salt Lake City.

The federal agencies included the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of State, Department of Transportation, Department of the Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Executive Board, General Services Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Social Security Administration, and U.S. Postal Service.

To respond to the second objective, we also contacted state and local government officials associated with the designated host city for the Games, and we made inquiries of the 22 federal organizations listed above. The effort to identify federal funding and support was aided considerably by OMB’s implementation of our past recommendation to require a consolidated reporting of federal agency funding and support for the Olympic Games. Specifically, the President’s 2002 Budget listed for the first time all federal Olympic spending in one table, which identified the federal agencies and the amounts spent or planned to be spent for the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. We began with these listed agencies and obtained the necessary supporting information to verify or update their reported figures. We relied upon the agency officials’ reports of (1) funding and support, and (2) projects and activities directly related to planning and staging the Olympic Games or Paralympic Games.

To respond to the third objective, we relied upon information we and other agencies previously reported pertaining to the amount of congressionally designated and agency-approved federal funding and support for the Games held in 1980 at Lake Placid, NY; in 1984 at Los Angeles, CA; and in 1996 at Atlanta, GA. We depended upon the agencies to update the amount of congressionally designated and agency-approved federal funding and support, and to report this information to us for the planned 2002 Games at Salt Lake City, UT.

At each agency we obtained, to the extent possible, supporting information for (1) the agency’s reported federal funding and support, and (2) the agency’s identification and description of its Olympic-related projects and activities. The figures reported by the agencies for the planned 2002 Games at Salt Lake City, UT, included all funding and support as of July 31, 2001. We did not independently verify the data but relied upon each agency to make its own determination as to (1) the funding and support, and (2) the project or activity’s direct relationship to planning and staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We conducted our review from August 2001 to October 2001, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Direct Federal Funding and Support for Planning and Staging the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, NY

Totals may not add due to rounding.

Direct Federal Funding and Support for the Planned 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games at Salt Lake City, UT

Description of project or activity Training exercises, travel, vehicle lease, utilities, etc.

Assist with implementing a master safety plan Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys Salary and other costs for staff Grant to UCAN to upgrade security and communication Diplomatic security: Department of State will assist in providing protective security details to foreign dignitaries below the Head of State level, as well as establishing a diplomatic security presence in Salt Lake City.

Description of project or activity Olympic Transportation Planning ($1.4 million of these funds were used for two temporary park-and-ride lots)

Temporary RTRs: communications facilities in venue areas east of mountains Aviation Security Operations Center - (joint operations with UOPSC, Customs, USSS)

Provo ASR - temporary radar Automation upgrades at Salt Lake TRACON Telecommunications support additional circuits required Temporary air traffic control towers at outlying airports Physical security upgrades to FAA facilities ALSF 2 - Salt Lake Int'l Airport approach lighting system Olympic Aviation System Plan; grant to Wasatch Front Regional Council for development of Olympic Planning Study (airports)

Description of project or activity Aviation systems and standards (flight procedures)

Establish Olympic Transportation Working Group (OTWG) and complete several Venue Transportation Integration Plans (VTRIPS)

Construct additional storage tracks at Light Rail Vehicle Storage Facility and purchase/install automatic electric switch on the North/South LRT Line at 100 S. Main Street.

Construct Silver Creek Jct. park-and- ride; purchase venue load and unload equipment; and construct Silver Creek Jct. bus garage (supplemented by UT-0-0039)

Description of project or activity Construct busway at Snowbasin, bus garage at Silver Creek Jct., and Olympic Park park-and-ride lot (supplemental to UT-03-0040)

Personnel costs are generally not included in these amounts.

Totals may not add due to rounding.

Direct Federal Funding and Support for Planning and Staging the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, CA

Congress appropriated $76,170,000, and DOD spent $48,750.000. The unused funding authority was returned to the U.S. Treasury.

Direct Federal Funding and Support for Planning and Staging the 1996 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games

Description of project or activity Donated excess supplies for Paralympics Safety-and security-related services for Paralymic events Olympic venue bike path construction Paralympics: loan of EPA employees Salary for safety- and security- related services (federal employees)

Comments From the Salt Lake Organizing Committee

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