ABSTRACT
Eight years can be an eternity in the history of the Olympics. In 1976, the Eighteenth Summer Olympics at Montreal failed to generate enough Gamesrelated income to cover the costs incurred in hosting the event, with a shortfall of some $1.2 billion. At a time of economic recession in North America the Games were seen as costly and of inconsequential benefi t to host cities. The 1976 Games themselves were affected by a sub-Saharan boycott and were still mired by the terrorist atrocity of the previous Munich Games. The future of the International Olympic Committee itself was at stake. In 1984, the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games embraced and refi ned the commercial forces surrounding the Games. Labelled at the time the ‘Burger Games’, due to the close involvement of corporate sponsors including McDonalds, the event produced an operating profi t of between $215 and $225 million (Magdalinski and Nauright, 2004), and created a tangible legacy for the Amateur Athletic Federation of Los Angeles (AAFLA). The key to this success was the minimal outlay of expenditure by using existing venues and tying sponsors into providing in-kind services as well as pure fi nance. A variant of the fi nancing model used is now current IOC practice and a viable and successful Olympic movement is the result.
