Study questions economic bump from Winter Games

When it comes to hosting the Winter Olympics the municipal mantra traditionally has been: If you build it, they will come, and the regional economy will benefit greatly.

But a trio of researchers who studied the 2002 Salt Lake City Games caution that potential Olympic hosts should "exercise caution before proceeding down the slippery slope of bidding for this event."

In their working paper that reviewed economic statistics for northern Utah in 2002, economists Robert A. Baade, Robert Baumann, and Victor A. Matheson determined that "despite record levels of tourism, at best there was not a statistical net increase in total taxable sales during the quarter of the 2002 Winter Olympics, and at worse, taxable sales may have fallen."

That's not to say the Games that were spread across Northern Utah venues didn't produce economic gold.

Hotels "enjoyed an estimated $51.9 million net increase, while net taxable sales for eating and drinking establishments increased by an estimated $18.7 million," according to the study.

But "the fact remains that, outside of hotels and restaurants, the economy of Utah does not seem to have prospered as a result of the Games," the study suggests. "The substitution and crowding out effects can explain these otherwise counterintuitive results, which come as no surprise to those who have examined the economic impact of mega-events in the past."

Or, as noted sports economist Yogi Berra put it, "nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."

-- Greg Johnson

Photo: An athlete is shown training for the women's skeleton event at the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Credit: Jurgen Schwarz / Reuters