Paris Olympics 2024: Check out colossal budget; prospects for India's bid

Paris Olympics: According to the information available on the official website of Paris Olympics, 96 per cent of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games comes from the private sector

The Paris 2024 Olympics have entered their fourth day, with Japan leading the medal tally with a total of 12 medals, including six golds. France and China are next in the list with 16 and 12 medals, respectively.

The sporting extravaganza has fans glued to their screens as they watch their favourite sportspersons create history at the games. Amid the excitement, there is also curiosity about the extensive preparations for the games and the substantial budget involved in its funding.

 

How much is the Paris Olympics 2024 budget?

The Paris Olympics cost at least $8.87 billion, a result of the cost-cutting reforms introduced by the IOC in 2019.

According to the information available on the official website of Paris Olympics, 96 per cent of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games comes from the private sector, namely “the IOC, partner companies, the Games ticket office, and licensing.”

The website says that the Paris 2024 Organising Committee had a total budget of €4.38 billion ($4.66 billion). The IOC allocated €1.2 billion ($1.29 billion), including €750 million ($816 million) from TV rights and €470 million ($508 million) from TOP partnerships. Additionally, revenue from ticketing, hospitality, and licensing amounted to €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion). The ticket sales contributed €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion), hospitality €170 million ($184 million), and licensing €127 million ($137 million).

The website said that the partnerships generated €1.226 billion ($1.31 billion), while other revenue sources added €193 million ($209 million). It added that 4 per cent of public funding is dedicated to financing the organisation of the Paralympic Games.

When will India host the Olympics?

This discussion is also buzzing in India as people wonder about the possibility of the country hosting the Olympics in the future. India's representative to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Nita Ambani, had recently remarked at the Paris games that “the day is not far when India will host the Olympic Games.”

On this, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram replied that hosting the Olympics would be a “colossal disaster for us as a country” and rather recommended that the focus should be on supporting the sportspersons and giving them the right resources.

How is Olympics Games bidding done for becoming host nations?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced last year that India plans to bid to host the 2036 Olympics. The bidding process for the Games involves private discussions with the IOC before a recommendation is made to the IOC session, where the final decision is voted on. Typically, the IOC awards the Summer Olympics at least seven years in advance.

Most expensive Summer Olympics Games in history

According to a report by the New York Times, this cost nearly doubles to around €8.8 billion after factoring in costs such as infrastructure spending and modification.

This amount still does not make the Paris Olympics the costliest Summer games. In fact, the 2012 London Games had spent around $17 billion, Tokyo spent around $28 billion and Rio de Janeiro spent $24 billion in 2016 - the three most expensive Summer Games in history.