- guardian.co.uk, Sunday December 8 2002 00.51 GMT
- The Observer, Sunday December 8 2002
Arup calculated that the Games would bring in around £1.3bn in direct revenue, including about £864m from ticket sales and a contribution from the International Olympic Committee towards running costs.
The other £430m would come from the resale, after 2012, of surplus land used for the Games but no longer needed and commercial development in the area. Arup says it would cost £779m to put the event on; £403m to build the new facilities such as an 80,000-seat Olympic stadium; £325m to buy the land in east London where the main stadium would be built; £167m to improve the British team's chances of winning medals in 2012; and £109m in 'risk' money to cover any potential temporary shortfall between spending and income.
The bid itself, if the Government backs it, will cost about £13m, of which £7m will come from private sponsors and £6m from the Government.
Taking those sums into account, Arup believes that the maximum amount the Government may have to invest in direct funding is £494m in 'risk' funding to bridge any gap between cost and income.
Arup says that additional tourism income of up to £610m generated by Olympic visitors, and the tax yield from the 9,000 jobs created, could see the Games actually making a profit of £82m. Sydney made a profit of £3.3bn when it held the Games in 2000.
In addition, the European Union may provide up to £1bn of regeneration money for employment and other projects in rundown east London, as they are doing for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
