Will The Olympics Be Worth It?

A new report out Thursday questions the amount of money the Olympics would bring to Chicago.   The 19-page report from the Michigan-based Anderson Economic Group LLC makes some surprising revelations and may even cause some Chicagoans to reconsider their support. According to the latest figures, Chicago only stands to gain a fraction of the money originally predicted if we land the games.

The Chicago 2016 committee predicted the Olympics would pump $14 billion into the city’s economy and another $7 million spent by visitors. But the Anderson report says the games would only generate about $4.4 billion. The independent consulting firm says it decided to conduct the study to provide Chicago business owners and residents with what it calls a “realistic assessment of the actual costs and benefits” of hosting the games.

Scott Watkins stresses that his report does not imply the games would be bad for Chicago. Even the smaller $4.4 billion in economic benefit is “certainly nothing to sneeze at,” he said.   “It’s still a great event for the city, and it really does validate the effort,” Watkins said. The report points out the element of risk — building a $1 billion athletes village — but says the 2016 Summer Games would still be of great economic benefit, if we get them.

Chicago 2016 stands by its original numbers. Meanwhile, Mayor Daley on Thursday blasted the new report’s conclusions.    “Not one summer Olympics over 35 years has lost any money,” Daley said Thursday. “Atlanta had made money and had an enormous impact in the revitalization of Atlanta.”

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine asked an impartial expert to weigh in on the dueling projections.

“The 2016 group is a first-rate organization,” respected University of Chicago sports economist Allen Sanderson says. But he questions the study they backed, which was prepared by two professors at Cal State Sacramento.

“Why did they go to fifth-rate guys at a fifth-rate university to get that report done?” Sanderson asked. “It just smacks of: These are the only 2 guys in the country willing to saying it’s worth $22 billion.”

Oprah Winfrey is now on board and has promised to fly to Denmark next week, using her star power to lobby for the games. She already wowed the chairwoman of the Olympic committee while they were in Chicago.

Also in on the trip is First lady Michelle Obama. The White House has said the president is still a “maybe,” depending on if he can get away from the health care debate.

But noticeably absent will be Michael Jordan.

Chicago is believed to be in a tight race against Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo. The final vote is one week from Friday.