Olympics: Not the $$$ impact of last time, still significant

By Brice Wallace 

Just like in 2002, an Olympic Winter Games in Utah in 2030 would feature gold, silver and bronze.

What might fall short is some green.

A recent report by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah shows that a 2030 Olympics and Paralympics would provide a $3.9 billion economic contribution to Utah, compared with roughly $6.5 billion for the 2002 Games.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

“When we look at the economic impact, it is less than ’02, obviously, because of the infrastructure that had to be put in last time, but it still is a significant amount of boost to our economy, at $3.9 billion overall,” Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City Committee for the Games, said during a Newsmaker Breakfast hosted by the Gardner Institute.

While Olympic venues will need some maintenance and upgrades prior to any future Games, they were built for the 2002 Games and continue to be available. That means most of the jobs related to the Games would be in operations rather than constructing sports structures. Capital investments are projected at about $25 million, a fraction of the $450 million spent for the 2002 Games.

“While that’s a negative to the economic impact side, it’s a very big boost to our bid, because the infrastructure is in place,” Bullock said.

Other projections from the Gardner study show that a 2030 Games would generate about 30,000 job-years of employment, down from 45,700 for the 2002 Games, and $1.5 billion in personal income, down from $3.2 billion.

The fiscal impacts also would extend to governments. A 2030 Games would generate $22 million in net state revenues and $42 million in net local revenues, according to the study.

Bullock pointed to the personal-income numbers and said the Games “creates the opportunity for our citizens to have employment and maybe to have a little bit of a diversion in their career, to be able to do something different, contribute to our state like we did last time. A lot of people left great jobs, but they wanted to be part of the Games, and we hired thousands and thousands of people, and we really experienced something special during that time frame.”

Bullock characterized the economic impacts as “a temporary boost” to Utah’s economy. While Utah saw a burst of activity in technology innovation following the 2002 Games, “that was coming anyway,” he said, adding that Utah also was a great recreation area at that time.

“I don’t want to overstate the impact of ’02, because there are many other impacts: People love to live in Utah, it’s a beautiful state, it’s got a beautiful economy independent of the Games from ’02. So, when we look at now 2030, we’re already on the world map. That’s not really going to change,” he said.

When compared with Utah’s permanent employment base, the long-term impact of Games-related jobs “is fairly limited,” he said. “When put in that context, it’s really this temporary boost to be able to welcome the world, do something really special for the world, but in terms of long-term economic growth, I don’t see that it’s going to have much of an impact because this really is a temporary element.”

Bullock added that any future Games would lift the state’s economy — important if the state is in the downturn of an economic cycle, as it was in the years leading up to the 2002 Games.

“Even though we are in a strong economic boom at this point in time, our economy, by nature, has cycles to it. … While everything looks great today, cycles inevitably happen, and what’s nice about the Olympic Games being brought to a community is we can count on a certain amount of boost to our economic situation.

“And who knows what will be happening in the leadup to 2030? But we’ll have this extra layer of economic activity that we’ll be able to rely on, even if there’s a downturn in the economy like we experienced in 2000. It’s something that was beneficial to us back then.”

Not only are the sports venues in place, many — including Vivint Arena, Rice-Eccles Stadium and the Olympic Village — have been expanded or renovated since 2002, as have public transit systems. “Everything is in place, but much stronger. … So, in every way, we’re stronger and we don’t have make any of those infrastructure investments,” Bullock said.

Salt Lake City is competing with Vancouver, Canada; Sapporo, Japan; and Barcelona, Spain, to land the Games. All are previous hosts, although Barcelona held a Summer Games. Bullock said Salt Lake City should know by early next year if it has advanced to a “targeted dialogue” stage, and the Games likely will be awarded in May 2023.

Should Salt Lake City not be selected for the 2030 Olympics, everything could be shifted for 2034 Games, he said. The Salt Lake City organizers have forecast “for everything we can imagine” in preparation for the 2030 games, including in budget items and in venue use contracts, Bullock said. Also, it will have insurance coverage in place to guard against Games postponement or cancellation.

Currently, the only contracts in place are with local organizations, and Bullock said that will be a point of emphasis going forward. “Obviously, we have a big bias, as we did in ’02, to utilize local businesses wherever possible,” he said. “That’s a philosophy. We love Utah, we want to use those people … That will be a fundamental fabric to our approach to the community.”

Beyond economics, the 2002 Games produced a unity “unlike ever before” as the community gathered to host the event, Bullock said. Natalie Gochnour, the Gardner Institute’s executive director, was working in the governor’s office leading up to the 2002 Games.

“I learned in 2002 that when you have something this big, when the spotlight is this bright, everything has to get better,” she said. “To me, the most important legacy of the 2002 Games is what it did for ourselves: for our confidence, for our ability to do things better in Utah.”

For 2030, the community has a vision, knows it is a winter sports capital, knows it can do things well, and can expand that into other parts of Utah. “It’s very contagious,” Gochnour said.

The Gardner Institute report is available at https://gardner.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/Oly-Bid-Analysis-May2022.pdf.{/mprestriction}