TOKYO, Dec. 22 (BNA) – Four and a half months after the Games, the cost of the Tokyo Olympics is less than expected by about $1.8 billion, local organizers said on Wednesday.
Organizers said the official costs were estimated at $13.6 billion. Officials said part of the reduction is due to a lack of fans – forced by the pandemic – and thus significantly lower labor costs. They also said other expenses were lower than expected.
Official estimates over the past year have put the costs at $15.4 billion.. However, government reviews over several years have indicated that the real costs are much higher—perhaps double the official estimate.
Organizers have indicated that final expense figures will not be available until after the spring of 2022 with venues still being reclaimed and contracts still subject to review.
The biggest blow to the budget was the loss of $800 million in ticket sales, a shortfall that Japanese government agencies must make up for.
The privately funded portion of the budget — more than $3 billion coming from sponsors, the International Olympic Committee and other sources — was $5.9 billion, officials said.
The rest of the funds were provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Government of Japan. This amounts to about 60% of the total funding if the current estimate is trustworthy.
The IOC contributed about $1.5 billion to the total cost of running the Games. However, its payoff comes in billions of dollars in income from the sale to broadcast and sponsorship rights.
Despite the reported savings, the estimated costs are about twice what organizers said they would have been when the International Olympic Committee awarded Tokyo the Games in 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Some of the higher costs are due to a year-long delay due to the pandemic.
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