From Paris to Los Angeles: Cost of Hosting the Olympic Games

Every four years, the Olympic Games promise a spectacle of epic proportions, where the world's top athletes compete in a display of power and skill. But while the flames of the Olympic torch burn bright, the communities that host them experience a different type of heat. Beyond the glory and gold medals, host cities are left with debt, disruption, discrimination, and broken promises. As we cheer for record-breaking performances, the true cost endured by local citizens and overlooked neighborhoods doesn’t make it to the podium. 

 

Throughout their history, the Games have repeatedly sparked controversies involving political, social, and economic issues. The Olympics have often displaced local communities, exploited workers, and left a legacy of turmoil in the aftermath. As Paris closes the curtain on the 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles gears up for its turn in 2028, familiar questions resurface, demanding answers: Who bears the direct and the indirect costs of hosting the Games? 

 

Decline in city applications

Despite its popular aim to promote international unity, peace, and excellence in sports, the number of applications to the International Olympics Committee (IOC) has declined over the past 20 years. The 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles set an example on how to manage the city’s budget while also providing the necessary venues and accommodation for athletes. By using the already-built stadiums for their local sports teams for the events and by hosting the athletes at university dorms, the LA Olympic Games even realized a significant economic profit of 2.3 billion dollars (Levy et al., 2013). Even though this gain resulted in cities being more motivated to host the Games, this enthusiasm has decreased during the recent decades. One key factor is the IOC’s continuous expansion of the Olympic program to include new sports and events. With more competitions to accommodate, cities face mounting pressure to construct additional venues, upgrade existing facilities, and create supporting infrastructure that meets higher standards. These requirements almost always make their cost surpass their initial budget (See Table 1). 

 

Table 1: Cost overrun of winter and summer Olympic games between 1988-2024

Source: Budzier and Flyvbjerg, “The Oxford Olympics Study 2024: Are Cost and Cost Overrun at the Games Coming Down?,” SSRN.

 

Building the Olympic Village 

The Paris Olympics brought significant changes to the city, particularly in the northern suburban neighborhoods including Saint Denis, where new projects including the Olympic Village itself were built. While these projects ostensibly aim to improve the local infrastructure and support the proper functioning of the Games, they have also sparked controversies by disrupting daily lives of its inhabitants and displacing vulnerable communities. Officials claimed that, following the end of the Games, the Village that was built for the athletes would become housing for local citizens, but only a small portion will turn out to be affordable housing. This retreat from housing for the working class will permanently displace low-income residents in Seine-Saint-Denis, the poorest department in France. Displacement paves the way for affluent in-movers; accordingly, there has been an increase in demand for real estate – and hence in housing prices in this department. “It is a slightly more bourgeois population than what we are used to in Saint-Denis," said a real estate agent working for the Laforêt real estate company. In fact, gentrification was already underway in Seine-Saint-Denis as early as 2013. INSEE[1] (2024) revealed that Seine-Saint-Denis has been the locale with highest level of housing construction authorization in the Ile-de-France region with a marked escalation in property prices.

[1] Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies).

 

The eviction of migrant and homeless camps around the Seine and the interruption of “maraudes”[2], crucial outreach services that provide food and support to the homeless, have exacerbated the struggles of those already facing severe housing disadvantages. According to the report of the French newspaper Le Monde, as the Olympic flame made its way down the Canal de l’Ourcq on July 25th, a very different journey was underway just out of sight. Nearly 470 people were evacuated from the camps lining the canal’s banks, swept aside to clear the path for a fleeting moment of Olympic glory. While Paris geared up to shine on the global stage, the reality for some of its most vulnerable residents was forced displacement. This was a reminder of who gets moved out of the frame when the world is watching. Another dreadful example of this was the displacement of a Roma encampment. In Seine-Saint-Denis, 50 Roma families living in a camp on the Paralympic marathon route were under threat of imminent eviction. There were around 200 of them, most of them having left a nearby camp where living conditions were worse. Since late 2023, Parisian authorities have been systematically dismantling migrant camps, regardless of their size, without offering any rehousing alternatives. Migrants are often awakened by police and ordered to vacate. More and more, migrants resort to hiding to avoid having their tents and blankets confiscated. As Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympics, similar concerns are emerging, with fears that the city's ongoing housing and homelessness crises could be worsened by large-scale evictions, just like Paris. 

[2] A French term referring to outreach services that provide food, medical aid and emotional support to the unhoused. 

Dire working conditions 

Just two years ago, in 2022,  the world looked on as the harsh and unjust treatment of migrant workers building Qatar’s World Cup infrastructure came to light. Exploitation, deadly heat, and grueling hours was the stark image of what these ‘global events’ demand from the least protected. Most of the migrant workers were even deprived of their end-of-service benefits (Libération, 2022). Even in cases where the workers decided to fight a legal battle and get a court ruling in their favor, companies didn’t obey the court’s decision and didn’t pay the workers what they were owed (Human Rights Watch, 2023). And, as Paris raced to prepare for the Olympics, a haunting question lingered: would this relentless drive for spectacle continue to lead to exploitation of those who built it? In the summer of 2023, we have seen a similar trend. Since the beginning of the construction and the preparation for the summer games, workers’ rights have become a current issue. In an interview with the French newspaper Libération in June 2023, undocumented workers revealed that they had been working without insurance, formal contracts, or pay slips. These accounts brought the widespread exploitation of workers into focus, revealing a disturbing pattern of neglect. 

 

The situation in California and recent events 

In a manner similar to that of their counterparts in Paris, political leaders of Los Angeles are preparing the way for intensified distress of the homeless and working poor. On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that homeless people may be prohibited from sleeping in public spaces. According to the December 2023 point-in-time count of the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC; December 2023), there are more than 180,000 homeless people in California, the largest homeless population of any state. California has been taking action on this issue. In 2018, after being elected governor of California, Gavin Newsom made homelessness one of his major priorities. He promised to solve the homelessness crisis in the state rather than manage it with temporary solutions. This promise did nothing to help the people living in the encampments. Post-pandemic, California cities have experienced more people living on the street; with the court’s ruling, the situation has become more dangerous. Following the Supreme Court’s green light to clear public spaces of the unhoused, the governor encouraged local governments to start removing homeless encampments through a sweeping order[3] that he issued in July (Hubler 2024).

Forcibly removing encampments without providing adequate housing or support services only exacerbates the homelessness crisis, pushing the most vulnerable further into the margins of society. Adding to the complexity of the socio-economic challenges in California is the growing anti-Olympics movement, which has gained significant traction in recent years. Groups like "NOlympics LA" have been vocal in their opposition to Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Olympic Games, citing concerns that the large investment for the event will prioritize infrastructure catering to tourists and temporary visitors over the needs of the local population, particularly the unhoused and low-income residents. Even in purely financial terms, the Olympics have so far proved to be a losing proposition for host cities, underscoring how its focus on spectacle often overshadows the human costs. This emphasis frequently burdens not only the working class but also strains the entire city budget, prioritizing appearance over residents' well-being. 

This focus on spectacle comes with a history of issues that go beyond financial strain, as seen in past Olympic Games marked by police brutality and suppression of dissent—events that exacerbated racial and social tensions, such as those leading to the reaction to the brutal police beating of Rodney King and the subsequent protests in Los Angeles. The Olympics, often celebrated for their grandeur, frequently leave host cities struggling with lasting economic burdens and heightened police presence in marginalized communities. Boykoff and Zirin (2024) add that due to the authorization of usage of algorithmic video surveillance, France’s political leaders turned the city into their own panopticon. This emphasis on image over well-being, combined with intensified policing and surveillance, reveals the human costs that the Olympics impose on cities and their residents. 

[3] Dissolving of homeless encampments on public property, including the people and all of their properties. 

 

Aftermath of the games 

The Paris 2024 Olympics have left behind a complex legacy of distorted infrastructural development, social upheaval, displacement of low-income residents, lack of affordable housing, and other unresolved human rights concerns that tarnish the spirit of global sporting events and underscores the urgent need for systemic reforms to protect the rights and dignity of all workers. The impact on local communities highlights the often-unseen costs of hosting such a global event, including displacement, evictions, and the dismantling of support systems for the homeless and migrant populations. Looking ahead to Los Angeles in 2028, similar challenges are evident, given the city’s already strained housing market and rising homelessness crisis. As these issues intensify, the Olympics reveal a troubling paradox: while ostensibly a symbol of global unity, they increasingly serve as a flashy divisive distraction—a showy spectacle that enriches corporations and developers while leaving behind struggling communities. Under the guise of international harmony, the Games mask deeper inequalities, diverting attention from the real struggles people face. Rather than nurturing inclusivity or community well-being, they often lead to gentrification, dislocation, and environmental strain on host cities. We need to speak openly and honestly about mega sporting events, recognize their limitations, and express meaningful opposition, no matter which nation hosts them. True progress demands we look beyond this capitalist way of hosting. Future hosts must reject the impulse for superficial glory and instead commit to deep, enduring investments in sustainable urban growth and equitable local development, ensuring that the Olympic legacy builds communities up rather than pushing them aside.

 

References

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Ané, C. (2024, July 19). JO 2024 : les sans-abri moins visibles dans Paris, après des évacuations de campements. Le Monde.fr. https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2024/07/19/jo-2024-les-sans-abri-moins-visibles-dans-paris-apres-des-evacuations-de-campements_6252413_3224.html

Bell, C. & Gilbert, K. L. (2024, August 29). Olympic transformation of metropolitan cities—for better or for worse. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/olympic-transformation-of-metropolitan-cities-for-better-or-for-worse/?utm_campaign=Brookings%20Brief&utm_medium=email&utm_content=322372113&utm_source=hs_email

Budzier, A. & Flyvbjerg, B. (2024). The Oxford Olympics Study 2024: Are cost and cost overrun at the Games coming down? SSRN Electronic Journal. 

Chartrain, O. (2024, July 22). Paris 2024 : pourquoi 50 familles roms sont menacées d’expulsion avant le paramarathon ? L’Humanité. https://www.humanite.fr/societe/camps-de-roms/paris-2024-pourquoi-50-familles-roms-sont-menacees-dexpulsion-avant-le-paramarathon

Da Costa-Borgnon, I. (2024, September 11). Paris 2024 : les habitants s’inquiètent du risque de gentrification de Saint-Denis. Le Monde.fr. https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2024/06/20/paris-2024-les-habitants-s-inquietent-du-risque-de-gentrification-de-saint-denis_6241805_3242.html

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Hubler, Shawn. (2024, August 8) ‘Newsom Clears Homeless Camps in L.A. County, Where He Wants More “Urgency”’. The New York Times. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/us/newsom-homeless-los-angeles.html.

Le Deley, Jade, Nicolas Garriga & ABC News. (2024, April 23). Police clear out migrant camp in Paris. Activists say it’s a pre-Olympics sweep. ABC News. https://web.archive.org/web/20240423155348/https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/police-clear-migrant-camp-central-paris-activists-pre-109525155

Levy, B., Berger, P. D., & Centre for Promoting Ideas. (2013). On the Financial Advantage of Hosting the Olympics. In International Journal of Humanities and Social Science (Vol. 3, Issue 1). 

Liberation. (2023, June 20). Des ouvriers sans-papiers des JO 2024 assignent des géants du BTP : «La France n’est pas mieux que le Qatar». Libération. https://www.liberation.fr/economie/social/des-ouvriers-sans-papiers-des-jo-2024-assignent-des-geants-du-btp-la-france-nest-pas-mieux-que-le-qatar-20230620_KONENRUNENESHAVA7K6WTLKX6M/

McBride, J. (2024, July 21). The economics of hosting the Olympic Games. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-games

Public Policy Institute of California  (2024, May 1). An update on homelessness in California. https://www.ppic.org/blog/an-update-on-homelessness-in-california/#:~:text=The%202023%20PIT%20count%20released,6%25%20from%20the%20previous%20count.

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