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Up To Date

2021 Tokyo Olympics Takes Financial Toll On Host City

By Steve Kraske,
Trevor Grandin
Published July 19, 2021 at 2:22 PM CDT
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The blue, yellow, black, green, and red Olympic rings sit suspended in the air against a blue sky.
Kyle Dias
/
Unsplash
The 2021 Tokyo Olympics start on July 23, but a mixture of pandemic struggles and extreme spending have made it one of the most expensive in history.

Few Olympic host cities have come out the other side of the Games and made a profit. Why do so many communities keep volunteering when so many have lost money?

With an original bid budget of $7.5 billion that was soon raised to $15.4 billion, experts say that the final bill for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics could reach as high as $26 billion.

The 2021 Olympics, which have been fraught with issues since their unveiling, are slated to be the most expensive Summer Games ever. With this in mind, could Kansas City ever host an Olympics?

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Up To Date PodcastOlympicseconomymoneyinfrastructure
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Steve Kraske
When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
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Trevor Grandin
Trevor Grandin is a contributing producer for KCUR Studios.
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