Sunday, July 22, 2012

Dollars & Sense - London 2012 Olympics



The time has finally come. 

It is the week of the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games.  This week we set aside the 8 years of politics that it took to not only secure the Games but to make it all happen.  This week we set aside the controversy and bad blood that we saw with Saudi Arabia contemplating banning their women from the Games (they ultimately decided to allow women to participate).   Finally, it is time for the glory of athletics in its finest and most prideful form. 
 

London 2012 By the Numbers
$15,000,000,000 is the estimated cost of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
$2,500,000,000 was the first proposed cost of the London 2012 Olympic bid.
Hundreds of millions of people will watch from their home countries.
8,800,000 tickets were to be sold for the Games.
700,000 (up to) volunteers (Game-Makers) will be needed to put on the Games.
10,000 (over) athletes to compete for the gold.
995 euros was the starting price for tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies which is equivalent to a little over $1200. 
302 events to medal in.
269 female athletes will compete for the United States.
261 male athletes will compete for the United States.
205 countries will compete for gold.
110 medals is the number of total medals the United States won in Beijing in 2008.
38 different venues will be used for Olympic competition.
36 of those 2008 US medals were gold.
17 days of competition.
11 official sponsors of the Olympic Games.
2 is the place that the United States finished in Beijing in 2008.
1 is what the United States Olympic team will strive for in London 2012.
 
Olympic Sponsors By the Numbers (via The Guardian)

Company            Type      Value, $m, total known deal       £m         
Coca Cola             Worldwide          100         64           1
Acer                       Worldwide          100         64           2
Atos                       Worldwide          100         64           3
GE                          Worldwide          100         64           4
Dow                       Worldwide          100         64           5
McDonald's        Worldwide          100         64           6
Omega                 Worldwide          100         64           7
Panasonic            Worldwide          100         64           8
P&G                       Worldwide          100         64           9
Samsung              Worldwide          100         64           10
Visa                        Worldwide          100         64           11
Adidas                  London 2012 Olympic Partners   63           40           1
BMW                     London 2012 Olympic Partners   63           40           2
BP                           London 2012 Olympic Partners   63           40           3
British Airways  London 2012 Olympic Partners   63           40           4
BT                           London 2012 Olympic Partners   63           40           5
EDF                        London 2012 Olympic Partners   63           40           6
Lloyds TSB           London 2012 Olympic Partners   63           40           7
Adecco                 London 2012 Olympic Supporters             31           20           1
ArcelorMittal     London 2012 Olympic Supporters             31           20           2
Cadbury               London 2012 Olympic Supporters             31           20           3
Cisco                      London 2012 Olympic Supporters             31           20           4
Deloitte                  London 2012 Olympic Supporters             31           20           5
Thomas Cook     London 2012 Olympic Supporters             31           20           6
UPS                        London 2012 Olympic Supporters             31           20           7
Aggreko               London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           1
Airwave               London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           2
Atkins                   London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           3
Boston Cons.     London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           4
CBS Outdoor      London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           5
Crystal CG           London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           6
Eurostar               London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           7
Freshfields BD   London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers   15           10           8
G4S                        London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           9
GSK                        London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           10
Gymnova            London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           11
Heathrow Air.    London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           12
Heineken UK     London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           13
Holiday Inn         London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           14
John Lewis          London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           15
McCann World  London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           16
Mondo                 London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           17
Nature Valley    London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           18
Next                      London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           19
Nielsen                 London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           20
Populous             London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           21
Rapiscan Sys.     London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           22
Rio Tinto              London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           23
Technogym        London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           24
Thames Water  London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           25
Ticketmaster      London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           26
Trebor                  London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           27
Westfield            London 2012 Olympic Providers and Suppliers    15           10           28

What does is all mean?
The Olympic Games are truly a mega event in every sense of the phrase.  No other event in the world brings countries together in the way that the Olympics do, not even the World Cup.  The Olympics are huge on every single level; the pinnacle of athletic competition and certainly the pinnacle of sports business dollars.  However, as Biggie Smalls said so eloquently, “Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems”.  There is a great deal of controversy that comes with the Games.  Terrorist threats, country-wide debt, frivolous government spending, countries making political statements, boycotts, athletes changing countries, athletes doping, spectator safety and security, transportation, lodging, venue construction, ambush marketing, the list goes on and on almost endlessly.  Yet in spite of it all, there is something perceived to be so graceful and so pure.  The Olympic Games are a grand spectacle and marathon event that the entire world will tune in to see.  London 2012 Summer Olympic Games will begin this Thursday July 27 with the Opening Ceremony.  Enjoy, World.

Click here for a link to the full London 2012 schedule (day by day).

2 comments:

  1. Nice article. Enjoyed your stats. I never realized the cost of the games. That is truly unbeleivable! I would like to see the back end numbers to see how far or close they came to cost.

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  2. Great article Kev. Never realized how much $$ was involved with the Olympics. Quite interesting.

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