Pedley's Ponderings

It’s hard for me to think of a bigger waste of money and resources than the Olympics. Don’t get me wrong – I believe they should be held and I do enjoy the story lines, but the amount of cash pumped into getting this horse and pony show off the ground is staggering.

Let’s take a look at this year’s Games. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Tokyo Olympics are set to be the most expensive on record: “The budget is $15.4 billion, but Japanese government auditors have said total spending tops $20 billion, almost three times the original forecast of around $7.4 billion when Tokyo put together its bid for the Olympics,” WSJ reported July 23. “That puts the Games $11.04 billion over the total cost of London’s Olympics, the next most expensive ever.”

That may seem hefty, but wait, there’s more!

All of you are aware the 2020 Olympics were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The lull didn’t do anything for attendance, as Japan’s paltry vaccination rollout and spiking infection numbers have left stadiums barren of spectators by edict of public health officials. The global pandemic was beyond their control, but the people in Japan have to be feeling just peachy about the price they paid for these vacant monuments to international sport.

As per the WSJ: “The single biggest cost of the Olympics has been the construction of venues. Eight venues were built specifically for the Games at a cost of around $3 billion. That includes the 68,000-seat National Stadium, completed in 2019, and two 15,000-seat arenas for swimming and volleyball. An additional 25 venues were renovated.”

All that money for nothing. I’d like to think the scale and waste of these Olympics would prove to be a reckoning, but I know they won’t. It’s just a competition to out-stupid the previous Games every four years.

I looked back five years to a column I penned about the Rio Games titled “Olympic apathy” that ran in the Aug. 11, 2016 Sentinel-News. My view hasn’t waivered:

“Quite honestly, I could care less about scandal and controversy surrounding these Games. At least it gives us something to read about. What I don’t understand is our perpetual obsession with building hulking mega-stadiums to host these events. With existing pro stadiums and other taxpayer-funded venues scattered throughout every global metro area, I don’t see the point in building new when something else could easily fill the need for three measly weeks every four years.”

I’ll never comprehend why we burden cities with the Olympics. Heck, there’s no need to even hold every event in the same city. If you wanted to get really economic about it, certain metro areas could host specific sports throughout each Games. It wouldn’t matter for broadcasting – it’s not hard to dedicate a camera crew or two to a single city. However, none of this will never happen. Cities want the Olympics all at once, because visitor revenue is what they’re after.

The Olympics are an incredible waste of everything except the athletes’ investments into their particular sports. There is no point in building three-week shrines for billions of dollars that rarely get used after the Games close. Better options exist, and it’s time to accept an Olympics that utilize existing structures spread across the globe.

Admittedly, I still won’t watch much of the summer games regardless of how they are presented. The winter games are so much more fun to take in, and for some reason, I really care about the U.S. hockey team.

Nick Pedley is the news editor of The Hartley Sentinel–The Everly/Royal News.