2012 Summer Olympics will feature the longest Olympics sponsor: the American fast food restaurant McDonalds. It will be the main sponsor of the event and has already opened several new restaurants for the event, including the record-breaking 1500-seated restaurant in the east of London, in Stanford. McDonalds will have four big restaurants and only two for public use: the rest will go to the Athletes Village and Media Centre. It just shows how much the American giant has invested in this year’s Olympics. What also may worry the hosts and the guests, is that McDonald’s sponsorship deal features a highly unusual request and something most of the hosts won’t agree. McDonalds has purchased exclusive rights to sell fries during the Olympics, popularly known as chips. But the British can relax, because their favorite food fish and chips are not bannedm. However, they can only be bought in a combo. If you only want chips, you have to go to the nearest McDonald’s. Funny what money can do, right?
Many are already predicting a financial catastrophe by the hosts, but there have been several optimistic predictions as well. More than £800 million were invested for the infrastructure, including the building of the new Olympic stadium in London. Research has shown, that the most expensive games so far were in Barcelona 1992 and the country ended the games in a large debt. The situation is a bit tricky, but the concerns for the London 2012 are not that big. When London first bided for the hosts, their budget was £5 billion but since 2005 it has risen to £9 billion. Nevertheless, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron assures that UK will gain more than £16.5 billion and the London 2012 will boost UK’s economy in the next four years. Unfortunately, there will be no lasting benefit for the economy and the UK will eventually return to the recession. There have been many controversies, because it is expected that only the city of London will benefit from the games while the rest of the UK will “chip in” with the investment.
Most of the income from the Olympics will also come from the tickets, as tourists are expected to arrive from all over the world. There are predictions that only 83% of the 9 million released tickets will be sold, boosting the income for the Olympics for £400 million.
There is no doubt that the 2012 Olympics will be remembered by sporting activities and some new heroes and records. But the Olympics will end, and whether Britain will get their expected profit, is still a question to be seen.
Daniel Simkin
