Calgary, Canada, is enjoying a larger surplus from hosting the 1988 Winter Olympics - a subject of some dispute in the past - than previously thought, a state Olympics backer says.
The Salt Lake Winter Games Organizing Committee once said the former Olympic host had a post-Olympic surplus of $84 million while Canadian officials at the same time reported only a $32 million surplus, a difference of $52 million.The discrepancy, reported in the Deseret News in January, created a minor flap in the media and prompted Olympic critics to charge the city's Olympic organizers with overzealous boosterism.
Eight months later, however, one Olympic organizer fresh from a tour of Calgary Olympic facilities says the surplus is greater than organizers previously believed.
In an audit of the 15th Winter Olympics completed in April and recently released by state Economic Analysis Director Brad Barber, a Canadian accounting firm found Calgary finished the Games with a $42.5 million surplus.
All dollar amounts from the Calgary Olympics are in Canadian dollars. At the current exchange rate of 85 U.S. cents per Canadian dollar, the surplus is about $36.125 million in U.S. dollars.
Under regulations imposed on host cities by the International Olympic Committee, surplus money must be distributed among the IOC, the U.S. Olympic Committee and various sports endowments.
No portion of the surplus is spent on Olympic operations or servicing debt created by the Olympics and none can be used to repay public money or investments in the Games.
But in addition to those funds, Calgary budgeted in advance of the Games $83.8 million (about $71.2 million in U.S. dollars) for other contributions to support sport, Barber said, quoting from the audit conducted by Coopers & Lybrand, a Calgary accounting firm.
The money did not go toward the cost of constructing facilities for the Games or operations during the Olympics and, according to Barber, can be roughly considered as surplus left over from the Games.
While the $32 million figure, now grown to $42.45, is the more widely reported surplus amount, the sum of Calgary's declared surplus and the $83.8 million in contribution to sport, for a total of $126.3 million ($107.4 million in U.S.) is a more accurate reflection of the Games' financial outcome, Barber said.
"That money is being used to support facilities and host events in the future," Barber said, "but they aren't expenses directly relating to hosting the Winter Games."
"If you really want to know how successful they were, then this ($126.3 million) statistic is really more relevant," he said.
Of the $83.8 million contribution to sport, $40 million went to the Canadian Olympic Association and Olympic Trust of Canada and $36 million went to the Calgary Olympic Development Association, the audit said.
Those trust funds support continued post-Olympic, long-term development and operation of facilities used during the 1988 Winter Olympics. "It is my understanding that no money went back to the operations of the '88 Games," Barber said.
Utahns, should they pass an Olympic referendum in November and secure the Games from the IOC when they choose a host city in 1991, should not expect a similar surplus, Barber cautioned.
"But I think that's an indication to us that it's doable," Barber said.
Canada enjoyed a $370 million contribution to their Olympics from provincial and federal governments, undoubtedly assisting them in keeping their budget in the black. Barber admits Utah couldn't expect such support.
However, $130 million of Calgary's government support went to build the Saddledome and an Alpine ski area at nearby Nakiska. Utah Jazz Owner Larry Miller and the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency are building a facility similar to the Saddledome that could by used.
Additionally, Utah doesn't need a ski area, and other facilities will be conservatively built, Barber said - eliminating the need in Utah for significant government support.
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(Additional information)
'88 Olympics ledger
(All amounts are in Canadian dollars.)
-Revenues: $555.4 million
-Expenditures (subtotal): $429.1 million
-Contributions to sport: $83.8 million
-Expenditures (total): $512.9 million
-Surplus: $42.5 million
-An Olympics organizer says sum of contributions to sport and declared surplus, a total $126.3 million, is the real indication of Calgary's financial success.