if it is handled properly it is an investment. im not disagreeing with you per se because i think you are kinda right about greece and brazil but think about it this way. salt lake city can use it as a marketing event. they already have infrastructure so the initial investment would be lower but the return (marketing) would be higher. salt lake is a beautiful place to live and people need to know that. same with reno and denver but those cities couldnt handle the infrastructure affordably and so the giant mess the games would cause would [prevent them from ever achieving their marketing goals. plus denver doesnt need to be marketed, it is already a runaway train.