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AP: Games turned $56 million surplus
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(Apr. 24, 2002)------The Winter Olympics turned a profit of $56 million, much of which will be used to maintain venues built for the games.
The surplus, announced Wednesday by Olympic organizers, was attributed to early budget cuts, detailed planning, good weather and revenue that exceeded the budget projections by $6 million.
After subtracting $10 million of unused federal money that will be returned to the U.S. government and $6 million for community improvements, including a planned Olympic Legacy Plaza, the Olympics will be left with a $40 million surplus.
It's still a better economic performance than the much larger 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta turned in. Those games had about $10 million left over after the bills were paid.
The 1984 Summer Games, held in Los Angeles, produced a surplus of more than $200 million.
The majority of the surplus will be added to the Utah Athletic Foundation, which oversees a legacy fund for maintenance of the Utah Olympic Park, site of bobsled, luge, skeleton and ski jumping, and the Utah Olympic Park, the long-track speedskating venue.
In addition, the International Olympic Committee is giving its portion of the surplus _ between $4 million and $5 million _ to the legacy fund, IOC president Jacques Rogge said Wednesday.
Rogge said the donation was a "gesture of gratitude to all the people of Utah, and as an encouragement to the youth of the state of Utah."
The operating budget for the Salt Lake City Winter Games was $1.3 billion.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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