ABSTRACT
The most appropriate model to understand the financing of the Olympic Games is the franchise model. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) holds the franchise for the Olympic Games, which it then rents out to host cities. While the IOC has the monopoly power to award the Games, they need cities to host the Games. Hosting the Games in the early years was a very risky proposition. Because the early Games funding was so precarious, they often piggybacked on the then-more-popular World's Fairs. The early Games were an upstart compared to the more established World's Fairs. Up until the 1980s, the financing of the Games relied on traditional sources, including public subsidies, revenue from the sale of tickets, memorial coins and stamps, and official mascots. The 1984 Games used the stadium built for the 1932 Games, the Memorial Coliseum, and utilized existing athletic facilities from around the metro region, including Dodgers Stadium, the Rose Bowl, and the Santa Anita racetrack.
