Tokyo 2020 Tipped To Be The Most Expensive Summer Olympics

Organisers of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics are estimating that the event’s delay will cost US$1.9b, according to Japanese media.

Additional costs are reportedly expected to include expenses related to securing Games venues, equipment rental and storage fees, and expenditures on labour.

The Kyodo news agency said that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organising committee, the Japanese capital’s metropolitan government and state government are planning to decide in December how much of the latest financial setback each of them will take on. The trio had already discussed the additional cost of implementing measures to deal with COVID-19 at the rescheduled Games, which is now due to take place next July. The Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and the Asahi newspaper have also reported another US$960m was needed for countermeasures against COVID-19.

Japanese business paper Nikkei had previously estimated that the increased staging costs as a result of the reschedule could be as much as US$2.7b. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also said in May that it expects the postponement to cost them US$800 million.

In efforts to reduce the expenses, local organisers and the IOC reached an agreement back in September on measures to maximise cost savings and boost efficiencies in the delivery of Tokyo 2020.

The plans include reducing the number of officials attending the Games, streamlining transport services, adjusting spectator activities at competition venues, and hosting a number of pre-event meetings online.

In October, Tokyo 2020 organisers estimated they had found cost savings of about US$280m from a more simplified approach.

Even before the  impact of the global pandemic struck Tokyo 2020, spends had hit over US$15.8m  and making it the most expensive Summer Olympics in history, according to a study by the University of Oxford. Japan had forecasted a budget of US$7.3 billion in 2013, before it was updated to US$12.6 billion.

Tokyo 2020 organisers have not confirmed the costs of the one-year delay to the Games, but have issued a media statement which does not challenge any of the reports.

‘We are in the process of assessing the additional costs associated with the postponement of the Games due to COVID-19 and therefore are not able to comment on any details at this time,’ the statement read.