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[GK86]

Link. Searched and didn't find a thread.

Brazil spent about $3 billion building 12 new or heavily refurbished stadiums for last year's World Cup. Officials promised these taxpayer-funded venues would continue to generate revenue for years, hosting concerts, pro soccer games, and other events.

But as Lourdes Garcia-Navarro at NPR reports, most stadiums are failing to generate much revenue at all. The most expensive one, in Brasilia, is most regularly used as a site for a municipal bus parking lot.

One big problem is that several of the stadiums — including Brasilia's 72,000-seat, $900 million venue — were built in cities where there are only minor league pro teams that don't draw large crowds. This was done so World Cup games could be spread across the entire country, instead of just the southeast, where most of the top pro teams play. It's as if we built gleaming new stadiums in Montana and Alaska for hosting a World Cup in the US.

In Brazil, this plan has left some pretty useless, expensive facilities scattered across the country, because these minor local teams don't sell enough tickets to make playing in the fancy (and expensive-to-maintain) stadiums worthwhile. The rainforest city of Manaus, for instance, is home to a $600 million stadium that was used for exactly four World Cup games. The pro team there currently plays in much smaller training centers, because it'd lose money if it tried to rent out the big stadium.

Many cities have been selling the stadiums to private companies that try to squeeze a bit of revenue out of them, but it's not easy. In Natal, the NPR story reports, a company bought the stadium, but has made little money renting it out for children's birthday parties and weddings, and the facility is now for sale once again.

What makes all this even more infuriating is that in many of these cities, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from neighborhoods that were torn down to make way for these stadiums. And even though the World Cup was partly billed as a way to upgrade Brazil's overall infrastructure, several of the big projects — such as light-rail systems in São Paulo, Cuiaba, and Fortaleza — still aren't close to being finished.

Of course, the most insane part about all this is that for Brazil, the World Cup was just a prelude to an even bigger waste of public money on sports: the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Though a stadium renovated for the World Cup will be reused for the games, the country will still spend a projected $13.2 billion on other facilities and infrastructure, a number that's likely to continue climbing as the games approach.

There are economists who study the potential economic impact of these events on the cities that host them, and their findings are unequivocal: they don't pay. As Victor Matheson, an economist at College of the Holy Cross, told my colleague Brad Plumer, "My basic takeaway for any city considering a bid for the Olympics is to run away like crazy."

 

[terrisus]

Kind of like the parking lots in New York from the new Yankee Stadium deal.

 

[Ahasverus]

Rich people destroyed lives and lied for their sole comfort? Unheard of!

 

[Jarrod38]

The Paul Brown Stadium is just one giant public bathroom.

 

[Yurikerr]

Man, the World Cup here in Brazil was one of the most outrageous events i can remember.

All this stadiums and other "infrastructure" projects simply acted as ways to corrupt politicians divert money from public funds.

And the disgust political aspect that the current government created to promote the World Cup as an event that would bring economical prosperity to the country.

 

[terribletwo]

Are they building new facilities for the Summer Games?

 

[border]

The World Cup is a huge sham for the host cities, just like the Olympics. How is this a surprise to anyone?

Local politicians get blamed, but seriously the voters would have crucified them for not trying. Nobody actually believes this bullshit about how 6 giant stadiums are going to continue to be useful forever, they just want the glory that comes from being a host city.

 

[Stitch]

In Qatar they will turn the stadiums into arenas where the slave workers have to fight each other.

 

[Big-E]

Poorly planned and only done to fulfill those contracts so the big fish got to make some big bucks. Brazil should not have had to build any stadiums but they spent billions on them.

 

[Gallbaro]

In Qatar they will turn the stadiums into arenas where the slave workers have to fight each other.

Nonsense, they will be returned to their proper use.

Spoiler

Cemeteries.

 

[Gray Matter]

In Qatar they will turn the stadiums into arenas where the slave workers have to fight each other.

Nonsense, they will be returned to their proper use.

Spoiler

Cemeteries.

I shouldn't laugh, but I did.

 

[Suikoguy]

Looks like Sydney did a good job making the most out of the facilities post Olympics. I don't know if anybody has done research into post world cup events like CBS and others have.

 

[Chris R]

Alaska is getting a stadium for our world cup? FUCK YES

 

[theusedversion]

The world should build a huge fucking sports complex (probably Switzerland) and have every Olympic and world Cup games in one location from now on. Everyone chips in and pays the cost. Then you have facilities that are in use pretty consistently. I'm sure they could be used to host plenty of other world events as well.

 

[Coriolanus]

The world should build a huge fucking sports complex (probably Switzerland) and have every Olympic and world Cup games in one location from now on. Everyone chips in and pays the cost. Then you have facilities that are in use pretty consistently. I'm sure they could be used to host plenty of other world events as well.

If memory serves, London has all the infrastructure for that already.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Imagine if all the stupid cup money had been spent on improving the lives of the people instead of growing their collective debt.

 

[Gigglepoo]

I wish this was a bigger story but it's just expected. Hosting the World Cup and the Olympics is a financial disaster for most countries. I feel bad for the citizens who had to fund this and are punished for their government's short sightedness.

 

[theusedversion]

If memory serves, London has all the infrastructure for that already.

Can't do the Winter Olympics there though. Regardless, I would be cool with it being in London every year.

 

[Blader]

And that's not even taking into account the bribes!

 

[Syntsui]

No one is surprised here, these are the famous '''white elephants''.

 

[SwiftDeath]

It really seemed like they could have used the money for better things

 

[bodyboarder]

Buses have to park somewhere.

 

[Jintor]

I've been reading a bit and it sounds like the Olympics was a much bigger political deal during the Cold War and the like since it represented more than what it currently does. I can barely remember anything about... well, any of them, though.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

The Summer games in Boston will be the biggest joke in international athletics. The upside is we have some of the stadiums thanks to all the local colleges, the downside is the transportation infrastructure isn't even close to ready to shuttle that many people.

 

[GameGuru59]

The world should build a huge fucking sports complex (probably Switzerland) and have every Olympic and world Cup games in one location from now on. Everyone chips in and pays the cost. Then you have facilities that are in use pretty consistently. I'm sure they could be used to host plenty of other world events as well.

Most major industrialized nation's cities have that already. Pretty much any major US city/state (because Olympics usually require statewide facilities) is capable of hosting an Olympics without major modifications to infrastructure. And most any US city that hosts an NFL games should be able to host the Wold Cup (with help from D1 football colleges). Frankly, the reason the Olympics and World Cup ask for so much new shit is that they know cities and countries will become delirious when they see these organizations' money coming to them. Then cities are left holding the bag.

 

[sooperkool]

Only one Olympic on United States soil has ever lost money and that was Lake Placid in 1980 and it only had a deficit of 8.5 million. You can make money on the Olympics if you already have infrastructure.

 

[Syph Medwes]

Imagine if all the stupid cup money had been spent on improving the lives of the people instead of growing their collective debt.

Imagine if the money you spend on internet went to save one kid in Africa.

 

[apocalidiot]

Imagine if the money you spend on internet went to save one kid in Africa.

?????

 

[Opto]

?????

They're comparing paying for a necessary utility with a bunch of big expensive bowls that no one uses

 

[Fox Mulder]

We pretty much hear this after every world cup or olympics.

 

[mantidor]

Are they building new facilities for the Summer Games?

Yes but nothing as big as the cup stadiums.

 

[Rentahamster]

Imagine if all the stupid cup money had been spent on improving the lives of the people instead of growing their collective debt.

They should have their traditional contest for the patsy, err, I mean "host city" and then instead of hosting the WC or Olympics there, just host it in some decent town with the infrastructure already in place and have them give 10% of the revenue as a donation to the "host city".

Imagine if the money you spend on internet went to save one kid in Africa.

That's not an apt comparison.

 

[Bold One]

at least its being used for something

 

[TAJ]

The summer Olympics should just be in Athens permanently. It's where they belong and you could just reuse infrastructure.
I don't know what to do about the World Cup or the winter games, though.

 

[Apt101]

Man, they could have gotten a lot of those homeless children off the streets for a lot less.

 

[gotoadgo]

The summer Olympics should just be in Athens permanently. It's where they belong and you could just reuse infrastructure.
I don't know what to do about the World Cup or the winter games, though.

Your idea is to hold the Olympics in a country that's broke as shit?

 

[TAJ]

Your idea is to hold the Olympics in a country that's broke as shit?

They just hosted in 2004. And that's actually another reason to do it.

 

[TheSadRanger]

Brazil gaf didn't a lot of native Brazilian tribes (indios I think?) get screwed over by being relocated from this to? Thought I saw a report on it watching KERA a while back.

Sorry I'm not certain what the proper terminology for native indians in Brazil is :/

 

[Sequence Six]

Man, the World Cup here in Brazil was one of the most outrageous events i can remember.

All this stadiums and other "infrastructure" projects simply acted as ways to corrupt politicians divert money from public funds.

And the disgust political aspect that the current government created to promote the World Cup as an event that would bring economical prosperity to the country.

Same thing happened in South Africa in '10. Korea and Japan also have white elephants of their own.

 

[metalslimer]

The Summer games in Boston will be the biggest joke in international athletics. The upside is we have some of the stadiums thanks to all the local colleges, the downside is the transportation infrastructure isn't even close to ready to shuttle that many people.

The bid hasn't been accepted

 

[Frozenprince]

The Summer games in Boston will be the biggest joke in international athletics. The upside is we have some of the stadiums thanks to all the local colleges, the downside is the transportation infrastructure isn't even close to ready to shuttle that many people.

Our infrastructure isn't designed to even handle what the city has grown into. Let alone an additional 5+ million people flocking here for a sporting event.

The T might explode.

 

[Dobsie]

Should have looked at London 2012 as an example of how to scale back vast stadiums for smaller team use.

 

[TomShoe]

Typical FIFA corruption, nothing new.

 

[Poetic.Injustice]

Typical FIFA corruption, nothing new.

What does this have to do with fifa?

 

[Frozenprince]

What does this have to do with fifa?

A corrupt organization lined a bunch of corrupt politicians pockets to build giant, unnecessary stadiums.

 

[Kevtones]

A corrupt organization lined a bunch of corrupt politicians pockets to build giant, unnecessary stadiums.

They're one miserable pile of secrets!

 

[Laekon]

Is the linked article really just a copy of an NPR story?

 

[Glasswork]

In Qatar they will turn the stadiums into arenas where the slave workers have to fight each other.

I know you're trying to be funny, but Qatar actually has plans for many of the stadiums that will go unused after 2022

 

[nacimento]

It was obvious that would happen in those cities, would have been better to build one more in Rio and sao Paulo than in the jungle or in fucking cuiaba, whatever that is.

 

[Pikma]

I know you're trying to be funny, but Qatar actually has plans for many of the stadiums that will go unused after 2022

:lol
The graveyard point still stands, or do you really think Qataris will do all that work with their own hands?