Businesses and athletes counting on the 2016 Rio Paralympics are breathing a sigh of relief that the Games will go on despite deep budget cuts, but some worry a diminished event could undermine the disability-sports movement’s momentum.
On Friday, Brazilian authorities announced $73.8M in new private and state funding for the Paralympics, staunching worries that the September contests’ very existence were in jeopardy due to poor ticket and sponsorship sales. The new money will allow travel grants to 165 participating countries to proceed. Ten countries may still have trouble funding the trip, said Int'l Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven, but most should make it.
Rio 2016 will still make deep cuts to the work force, venue services and transportation. The Deodoro sporting complex will close altogether, and its sports will shift to other locations. But the solution has kept the worst from happening, according to several companies and Paralympic athlete reps.
“Our program for the Paralympics has not changed,” said George Bauernfeind, head of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic programs for BP, a worldwide Paralympic sponsor, on Friday. “Accommodation and tickets are confirmed and our transportation plans will soon be finalized by the organizing committee.”
The budget cuts that have been identified so far likely will complicate the fan experience but don’t appear to damage competitive integrity, said Scott Kirkpatrick, a partner at Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners, an agency that reps several Paralympians with sponsorship deals, including archer Matt Stutzman and triathlete Melissa Stockwell.
Craven did not identify the 10 countries that may still not have sufficient funds to travel. About 4,000 athletes are expected. “As long as the competition’s going off, that’s the important thing,” Kirkpatrick said. He added it’s important that medals are won against a truly worldwide field that includes the best athletes with disabilities.
“I haven’t heard about anybody who’s not going,” Kirkpatrick said. “Certainly our athletes want to compete amongst the best, and want a full field, and want all their competitors that have earned a spot to participate.”
The Factory Agency’s Jeremy Snyder, who represents Paralympic swimmers Mallory Weggemann and Brad Snyder, said their preparations have been unaffected and their sponsors have invested heavily in promoting them.
The Paralympics movement has been riding a wave of new enthusiasm and prominence since London packed stadiums with 2.5 million tickets being sold for the 2012 Games, and the 2014 Sochi Winter Games featured a thrilling U.S.-Russia sled hockey Gold-Medal final. Rio expects just a fraction of those fans.
“London 2012 proudly showed the world what was possible, and we want Rio to be the next stage of that positive journey,” the British Paralympic Association said in a statement. “The IPC’s announcement makes clear that there is major risk to that.”
The U.S. Olympic Committee did not reply to several requests for comment.
This year, Olympic sponsors put Paralympians into newfound positions of prominence in their campaigns, with BP sponsoring a majority-Paralympic team of athletes for the first time. NBC promised to greatly expand its coverage with 70 hours across its platforms.
“The overall concern is that anything that’s not building on that momentum will be too bad,” Kirkpatrick said. “It would be sad. Any time you have a sport expanding and going in one direction, you want to keep the momentum going.”
But, he predicted, Rio troubles would be an outlier, caused by unique circumstances in Brazil, and the momentum will quickly return to the movement.
