THE OLYMPIC INDUSTRY: MYTH AND REALITY

“The Olympic Games are the Great Circus Maximus* of planet Earth. They are now mounted every 2 years, involve roughly 10,000 athletes from over 200 nations, and, in the 1990s, the price tag per Summer Games topped $2 billion per city… The entire enterprise is swathed in tinseled layers of marketing and hype- by the International Olympic Commission (IOC), by the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), by the transnational corporations who pay tens of millions of dollars to sponsor the Games, by the TV networks that pay hundreds of millions of dollars to broadcast them, and by host cities and national governments who have invested hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars.”
(Inside the Olympic Industry, Foreword, p. ix)

“The IOC is a multinational corporation that markets sports, and the local bid committees are basically real estate operations.”
Chris Shaw, 2010 Watch

Beyond the gold, silver and bronze glitter that bedazzles us through the corporate media (the myth), there is a dark & sinister shadow comprised of greed & destruction (the reality). This shadow is cast primarily over the poor and the natural world, who suffer the most from impacts of Olympic Games.
While officials’ talk about the ideals of the ‘Olympic Spirit’, ‘Olympism’, & the ‘Olympic Movement’ (with vague references to the interrelation of sports, humanity, & universal ethics: myth), it would be more accurate to refer to it all as the Olympic Industry (reality). It can be defined as such because in spite of its ‘non-profit’ image as a champion of amateur sports, it is in fact a multi-billion dollar industry comprised of government & corporate elites working together to maximize their profits, status and power.
The Olympic Industry is today based mostly on advertising consumer products to as many as 3 billion TV viewers around the world. This has spawned a huge market for both television contracts and corporate sponsors, who pay tens of millions of dollars to associate their product/logo with the Olympic rings (one of the most recognized corporate logos in the world).
For host countries and cities, this ‘product’ also includes the site of the Olympic Games, which gain international publicity and exposure to global markets:
“The factors that motivate a corporation to link its name and product to the Games exactly parallel the expectations of a city in hosting an Olympic festival: global awareness, economic gain, citizen morale…”
(Selling the Five Rings, p. 13)

The ability of the Olympics to be such a global commodity relies on its image as a pure, clean, and even spiritual celebration of sports & culture, an image projected around the world and into the minds of billions of people through corporate media. It is this image that corporate sponsors seek to exploit, and to associate with their products.

Olympic Profits & Promoters
To better understand what the Olympic industry is, it is helpful to know who profits from them. It is a network of elite government and corporate officials, including members of the International Olympic Commission (IOC), Olympic organizing committees, construction companies, large property owners, TV corporations, and corporate sponsors.
Around this there are large markets of services & products, involving tourism, transportation, accommodations, arts & crafts, entertainment, etc. These markets include both transnational corporations as well as local business elites (such as large property owners, owners of hotels, construction companies, etc.). Within these classes are the strongest supporters of Olympic Games, based largely on economic self-interest, as well as civic or national pride. For periods in the years leading up to the Games, and during the 2-3 weeks Olympic Games occur, there is an increase in manual & service jobs associated with these industries (i.e., construction, waiters/waitresses, security, artists and singers, etc.).
Because some corporate elites, and several thousand workers, may profit as a result of the Olympics (although in hugely disproportionate ratios, and far shorter periods of time), one of the biggest Olympic myths is the “unquestioned assumption that the Games will bring economic & social benefits to those who host them” (Inside the Olympic Industry, p. ix).
This myth is promoted almost entirely through the corporate media, who create a common consensus that everyone will benefit from the Olympics, and therefore everyone supports them. Those who don’t are either ignored, marginalized as misguided misfits, or criminalized:
“[T]he main culprit in maintaining public ignorance about both Olympic corruption and the Games negative impacts are the mass media. It is impossible to escape the conclusion that the structural integration of the media into the Olympic industry has turned them into promoters—not journalists or critics—of all things Olympic… This integration resulted in systematic media censorship of opposition to the Games and of an analysis of their problems & negative consequences… This has taken place largely through the powerful act of pure omission, with a strong dose of distortion, ridicule, and minimization…”
(Inside the Olympic Industry, p. xii)

It is clear that there are powerful interests involved in promoting and organizing Olympic Games, with the ability to influence and dictate socio-economic conditions upon an entire population. These interests are those of the government & corporate elite.

* Circus Maximus: a giant coliseum in ancient Rome, also referring to the use of mass sporting festivals (i.e., gladiator fights, football games, hockey, etc.) as a means of social control.

Sources

Inside the Olympic Industry; Power, Politics and Activism, by Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, State University of New York Press, Albany NY 2000

Selling the Five Rings; the IOC and the Rise of Olympic Commercialism, by Robert K. Barney, Stephen R. Wenn, and Scott G. Martyn, University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City 2002

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