Olympics Loser Boston Wins Big Economically

Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimbalist talks about why the Olympics is almost always a big financial hardship for the host city, a subject he treats at length in his book . Recorded at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse in New York City. By | |

For the last couple of years, some interested parties in Boston have been trying to get their city to host the 2024 . Mayor Marty Walsh was among them. But on July 27^th, the mayor suddenly reversed course. He refused to sign an agreement committing the city to basically cover any funding for that did not come through from other sources. His action basically ends the Boston bid.

Andrew Zimbalist is an economist at Smith College in Massachusetts, specializing in sports. On February 5^th, 's Steve Mirsky went to the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse on East 11^th Street here in New York City to hear Zimbalist talk with Clubhouse proprietor Jay Goldberg about why it’s almost always a financial hardship for a city to host the games.

That subject is treated at length in Zimbalist's latest book So as you listen, keep in mind that the Boston bid was still in play when this audio was recorded.

Transcript of the rest of the episode to come.