Poor Olympic Attendence

[timbaly]

I've noticed that the attendence in Athens for these games are horrendous. Most events aren't even half way filled with spectators. It seems as if the Greek Government and it's Olympic Planners didn't expect it to be so difficult to sell tickets. This could greatly effect the Greek economy since the facilities made for the games look as if they won't pay for themselves due to bad attendence. The negative publicity from the media probably hurt the games too. In many instances I heard the games being portrayed as an ill planned event. Plus there is always that terrorism threat. It's also been reported that some tickets will be given away for free, which might still generate money if people buy food or olympic memorabilia once inside the free venue. If the olympic comitee does give away tickets for free, why would anyone actually pay for tickets? So if they do go along with their free tickets idea it might ruin games in future cities where fans might not even buy tickets and wait for them to be given away by the Olympic Comitee. if they give in now in Athens they could jeopardize the future of the games in other places. It seems that by picking Greece a country with a small population was a bad idea, people from other countries are less likely to drive into Greece due to the language barrier, where as when the games were in Japan and the US, places with big populations people from other areas of those countries traveled to see the games in Nagano, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. Australia also has a small population but sports is very much into their culture. I assume that they expected Greece's games to be popular because it's the return of the games to their ancestoral home, but it seems as if they thought wrong. How bad do you think this will effect the Greek economy and the future of the Olympics?

[Kez]

i dont think it will effect the olympics one jot

[Red Bolshevik]

I don’t think this will have ‘major implications’ on the Greek economy, but it appears the Greek Government will indeed loose money on the Olympics. It certainly doesn’t have an impact on the athletes themselves, but it is reasonable to say that the energy level generated by cheering fans may be nearly non-existent.

[Kez]

A) olympic tourists will spend loads
b) the building programs will have put people into work and off benefits, therefore using multiplier effect they will have more money (increasing aggregate demand) and therefore the economy will have been boosted.

[Red Bolshevik]

But the affects of ‘A)’ would be much greater if there were actually more Olympic tourists to actually spend money. I will not dispute B as I agree with that and admittedly forgot to look at it from that perspective but I still view the anemic attendance as a let down for the Greece government.

[antieverything]

I seem to notice this coming up every Olympics. It doesn't seem that attendance ever picks up until track and field begins.

[timbaly]

It is true that the building programs help the economy but after the olympics I assume that many of these facilities will remain unused. They will deteriorate, especially the softball and baseball stadiums. The greek softball and baseball teams are comprised almost exclusively of Americans of greek ancestory. These places whether they end up becoming eyesores or if they're maintained despite not being used, they will end up being a waste in the long run.

[Postteen]

You have no idea how much money greek people are gonna pay to the government.And yes,I mean taxes!I personally didn't go to any of the games because really,I don't care about the Olympics at all and because I was against the Olympics taking place in greece.(the reasons are obvious I guess)

[Ian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 19 2004, 05:13 AM
I seem to notice this coming up every Olympics. It doesn't seem that attendance ever picks up until track and field begins.
Didn't happen in Sydney.

[Se7en]

The professor of my Marx & Marxism class shared this with us tuesday night:

"i boycott the olympics as a bourgeois distraction."

i thought it was funny...then i thought maybe it was true (the distraction).

[fuerzasocialista]

the attendance was quite disappointing and the Greek government is going to have to pay off the costs for another 20 years I read somewhere.

[Hot-1]

The greek government spend $800 million on security alone.

[1949]

I was against the Olympics taking place in greece.(the reasons are obvious I guess)
No, they're not.

The professor of my Marx & Marxism class shared this with us tuesday night:

"i boycott the olympics as a bourgeois distraction."

i thought it was funny...then i thought maybe it was true (the distraction).
It is true, but the exact same thing is true of music, video/computer games, Seinfeld, and other such good shit.

I thoroughly (sp?) enjoyed the Olympics.

[h&s]

I think this is extremely sad for the Greek people. The workes building these stadia were treated terribly and payed shit. The Sydney Olympics only just broke even, so this one definitly made a loss, which means that the people of Greece will end up paying for everything, and this will lead to their other public services falling into disrepair.

[Arrvande]

Does anyone know the number of athletes accused of a doping offence

[Postteen]

Originally posted by [email protected] 4 2004, 04:42 AM
No, they're not.


For you.

The thread is called "Poor Olympic Attendance",so this is one of the reasons.Greek people are boredf.2.Greece is a small country and the population is about 11 millions.3.The greek economy is miserable.3.people are generally poor and have no money to pay for such a big event!4.Gianna Agalopoulos Daskalaki is a travesti.5.She's rich.6.She's gonna make a fortune out of the Olympics.7.I hate her.8.I hate greek government.9.I dislike the Olympics.10.Think alone and let me go to the toilet!!@#$%^&*!~?!

[timbaly]

It seems to me that the attendence picked up in team games after the peliminary rounds were complete and the venues in the second week seemed to have better attendenc than those in the first. However that's not a fact, it just seemed that way to me.

[Palmares]

I don't think the Greek government made nearly as much money as they thought they would. They made some great sporting facilities, but at what cost, and what use will they be in the long run? Many will invariably become redundant.

I've seen some interviews with Greek people outside of Athens and they are worried about the situation, as many Greeks are in such a poor (as in economic) situation. It is really only Athens that has reaped any rewards (or pseudo-rewards), for now.