Italy Secures Costly 2026 Olympic Bid
Following an official announcement in June, Northern Italy was chosen to host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, taking place in Milan and the ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo. The decision comes after limited competition among countries to host the games, often due to the budget necessary for the event.
On June 24, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted in favor of Italy 47-34 over one rival bid with Stockholm and Are, Sweden.
“[Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo] are two of the richest provinces in Europe,” Italy Undersecretary of State Giancarlo Giorgetti told NBC News. “They certainly have the capacity, they have the readiness, they have the finances in order to be able to support the event.”
Four other countries vying to host the 2026 Winter Olympics dropped out of the competition prior to the vote, prompting a discussion about the cost-benefit ratio for countries which accommodate the Olympics.
Although the IOC reported that 80 percent of Italians support hosting the Olympic games, a growing number of economists are more skeptical about the economic benefits, according to James McBridge, deputy editor of the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan think tank.
McBridge writes in his article “The Economics of Hosting the Olympic Games,” that the assumption of short and long-term benefits of hosting the Olympic Games are often overhyped, exaggerated or misleading. After the event, many hosting countries are burdened with massive debt and struggle maintaining the facilities and public services they build for the two week competition.
Italy’s initial operating budget is reported to be $1.7 billion, but as the New York Times noted, “those costs always rise, often significantly.”
Despite Italy’s mounting debt problem, Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has been very vocal about his support for the IOS’s decision, tweeting minutes after the announcement, “We are proud of this great result! Italy has won: an entire country that worked united and compact with the ambition to realize and offer the world a ‘memorable’ sports event.”
Likewise, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said the games would create “at least 20,000 new job positions, a lot of investments and 5 billion euros worth of value added to Italy.”
Hundreds of people celebrated the announcement after a televised live-stream of the ISO’s decision took place in a Milan public square, said the New York Times. Likewise in Cortina d’Ampezzo, some residents watching the broadcast sang their national anthem.
Italy has scrapped plans to host the Olympics twice before, both in 2014 and 2016. It has last had the Olympics in Turin in 2006.
–Becca Most
