Die Universität Oxford hat in einer Studie die Kosten olympischer Sommer- und Winterspiele von 1960 bis 2012 untersucht. Dabei wurde herausgefunden, dass die Erstkalkulation der Kosten von den realen Kosten um durchschnittlich 179% überschritten wurde.
Die Studie kann auf der Website der Universität oder auch bei FAIRspielen heruntergeladen werden: Olympic Proportions: Cost and Cost Overrun at the Olympics 1960-2012
Die Autoren Bent Flyvbjerg und Allison Stewart (beide University of Oxford – Said Business School) schreiben u.a.:
…We discovered that the Games stand out in two distinct ways compared to other megaprojects:
(1) The Games overrun with 100 per cent consistency. No other type of megaproject is this consistent regarding cost overrun. Other project types are typically on budget from time to time, but not the Olympics.
(2) With an average cost overrun in real terms of 179 per cent – and 324 per cent in nominal terms – overruns in the Games have historically been significantly larger than for other types of megaprojects, including infrastructure, construction, ICT, and dams. The data thus show that for a city and nation to decide to host the Olympic Games is to take on one of the most financially risky type of megaproject that exists, something that many cities and nations have learned to their peril. …