Tokyo 2020 Budget Still Shrinking

(ATR) Tokyo 2020 organizers cut another $300 million from the Olympic and Paralympic budget with version two of its expected expenditures.

The new budget was released on Dec. 22 with organizers hailing "a significant reduction in costs". The budget was cut from the $12.9 billion figure detailed in May 2017 to $12.6 billion.

"These savings reflect sustained efforts by all key delivery partners to avoid recourse to public funds," Tokyo 2020 said in a statement. "Going forward, Tokyo 2020 will continue to seek further cost reductions, particularly in the areas of event operations, transport, accommodation, and security."

Also included in the updated budget is the expectation for the OCOG’s revenues and expenditures to zero out, with each totaling $5.6 billion. Tokyo 2020 points to a "record new sponsorship revenue" of $2.9 billion as the impetus for the projection.

"Costs in the OCOG budget are expected to be covered without recourse to public funding as a result of contributions from the IOC, corporate sponsorship, ticket sales, licensing revenues and others," Tokyo 2020 said. "Tokyo 2020 will continue to look at ways of securing the additional $0.2 billion in revenue required to achieve budget balance."

The remaining $7 billion of the budget would be provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as well other levels of the government of Japan. Previously, Tokyo 2020 had capped the budget at $18.1 billion.

Last year, reports commissioned by the TMG showed that hosting the 2020 Games could cost as much as $20 billion. TMG Governor Yuriko Koike immediately expressed concerns over rising costs, pledging to come up with solutions to reduce expenditures.

The IOC then pushed for the creation of a four party working group between the IOC, Tokyo 2020, Koike, and the national government to address the rising costs. For more than a year, Tokyo 2020 has been under pressure by the IOC Coordination Commission chair John Coates to state its costs more clearly.

The TMG also expects the value brought to Japan from hosting the Games to far exceed the $12.6 billion budget, assigning a $300 billion value to hosting the Olympics and Paralympics.

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Written by Kevin Nutley

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