Mega-events like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups present significant financial and management risks for the public sector. This article investigates the key determinants of revenues, costs, and profitability for these events to better understand and anticipate these challenges. Through a longitudinal analysis of 43 events held between 1964 and 2018, the study reveals a positive correlation between a host country's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and both the revenues and costs of these mega-events. While GDP is not correlated with profitability, higher levels of economic freedom are associated with greater profitability, indicating that countries with lower levels of government intervention tend to achieve better financial outcomes, regardless of their overall wealth. Stakeholders, ranging from event rights-holders and international federations to local organizers and policymakers, can benefit from these findings to make well-informed decisions in planning and executing future mega-events.
Lang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.