You have an incredible number of sponsors that are all clamoring to get into the advertising caravan. On this side of the pond, we see the race, the Credit Lyonais lion, and Mavic neutral support... And get no idea of just HOW big the circus that surrounds the race really is.

Does the organization MAKE money? Well, all the people that are supposed to be paid get paid, and pretty well, I'm sure. Does it LOSE money? No. And since there are so many repeat sponsors, I'm sure they all think it's a good deal too.

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

 Is the TDF a big money loser like the Olympics?

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Big difference between the compaing of Le Tour to the Olympics.... infrastructure... TdF doesnt have it (just roads)... and still I believe the Sydney games came off at a profit, not Athens though

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36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
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Plus, each town pays big bucks for the privilege of hosting a start or finish.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

[reply]Plus, each town pays big bucks for the privilege of hosting a start or finish.[/reply]
And the TV rights.

This race is like the SuperBowl. Does the SuperBowl make money?

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

TV Contracts too. I dont think the olympics is a money loser.

I think the Olympics are money losers for the host city most the time. Athens is a good example. I think Sydney was the exception to the rule, and made a bunch of money. But, that was also one of the BEST olympics I have seen in a long time. Never heard anything about problems with any of the venues. Most the venues were complete at least a year in advance.

There are just soooooooo many venues to build, especially for the summer olympics. But, I have heard the most expensive olympic event to build a venue for, is bobsled. Not many companies that make the stuff you need to make a bobsled run!!!

-bcreager

I read an article not long ago saying every Olympics since Los Angeles in 1984 had turned a profit. I'm not sure if the article included Athens in its writeup, especially since Athens was famously over budget and hasn't used its venues much since the games. The Olympics always has the potential to be a moneymaker for the host city though, especially if they can find some use for all the venues once the games have moved on.

Think about where the host cities get the money in order to build those venues....The Olympics was tremendous fro Athens because it gave them the oppurtunity and money to create the infrstructure that they so deperately needed. However, I believe that Athens is unique in this case. Most citiies i contention to host an Olympics will have to display their capibility to host the games to some degree without substantial improves (as were needed at Athens).

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Are you being hearing the sound of thunder?

Perhaps Athens is the exception to the rule....and the one most vividly stuck in my mind since it was the last olympics. But I do remember then the olympics were in Atlanta, they had problems selling out events, and organizers were worried about taking big loses...maybe it was just a few sports

-bcreager

I worked for the Olympics in Atlanta in the aquatic venue and we were sold out for every event, every time. However, my wife flew in for a long weekend and we got her tickets to several lesser known sports (field hockey...) for next to nothing on no notice. I got baseball finals ticket on 2 days notice.

When you consider the question "did the Olympics make money" you have to specify - do you mean: did the IOC make money, did the host committee make money, or did the host city make money? There are a lot of different stakeholders, and some make more than others. Also, there are different ways to calculate how much a city makes from the games. Is the investment in infrastructure taken into consideration?

Finally, even if on the whole a city made money from hosting the games, there are still local losses. For instance, on the last day of the games I went to Six Flags with some friends and it was vacant. The staff we talked to said that it had been empty for the entire duration of the games. My wife had the same experience: everything she did during the games that was not Olympics related (science museum, art gallery, etc) was completely empty.

-Joey
www.theraceguide.com