China spends billions on Olympics with longer-term goal

By GRAHAM DUNBAR
AP Sports Writer

GENEVA (AP) — The finance model for the Winter Olympics calls for the host country to spend several billion dollars, the IOC to earn a couple billion, and sports bodies to share around hundreds of millions. But turning a profit from the 2022 Beijing Games was never China’s priority even before the coronavirus pandemic cut out ticket sales and international visitors. Chinese President Xi Jinping set a goal in 2015 to create a new tourism industry in the country to “inspire over 300 million Chinese to participate in winter sports.” The big-ticket item is high speed rail lines from Beijing to newly built ski resorts. The IOC earns more than $2 billion from broadcasters and sponsors.