Menu
Olympics

U.K. Government Watchdog Group Hails London Games As Good Value For Money

The U.K. government's spending watchdog has “hailed” the $14.5B of public money spent on the London Games “as good value, but said strong leadership is needed if promised legacy benefits are to be realized,” according to Owen Gibson of the London GUARDIAN. The National Audit Office said, "By any reasonable measure the Games were a success, and the big picture is that they have delivered value for money." The NAO report hailed Olympic Creative Dir Danny Boyle's Opening Ceremony “as a great success.” The report said that the “final bill for the ceremonies, including money allocated to the separate unit formed to cover transport, catering and logistics,” was $177M. It found that the final investment in the Games involved around $1.6B of operational costs, encompassing $827M “for venue security, that were not included" in the original '07 $15B public sector spending package. The NAO highlighted the “lack of planning on venue security … as the only example of poor forward planning” (GUARDIAN, 12/5). REUTERS' Keith Weir reported "the NAO found fault with an initial underestimate of how much public money was needed, and the failure of private contractor G4S to supply enough security guards, which meant British troops had to be drafted in just before the Olympics." However, its report was "generally positive." The NAO said, "Crucially, the Games passed off without major transport disruption or security incident. The scale of the construction program and the fact that it was completed on time and within budget is impressive" (REUTERS, 12/5).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2012/12/06/Olympics/UK-watchdog.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2012/12/06/Olympics/UK-watchdog.aspx

CLOSE