One of the IOC’s main sponsors said that Russia’s record $51B spending on the Sochi Olympics and the expenses needed to bid for the games "is scaring away potential hosts," according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. George Hamilton, outgoing VP of Olympic operations at Dow Chemical Co., one of the IOC’s 10 biggest partners, said that the price of the Sochi games "has deterred cities even though much of the money went toward projects not directly linked to the event." Hamilton: "There’s the perception that it’s a big number and so the voting public tends not to want to support that. For the future of the brand of the Olympics I think it’s important that we really do some work on the entire economic model." Hamilton said that just bidding for the games costs “several million dollars” and means that "several potential hosts won’t even enter the competition." Hamilton said that "the sum needed to deliver the Olympics such as building the athletes’ village and sporting facilities" does not vary much from games to games. Hamilton: “But when you get that number reported with the kind of investment that was made in total in Russia the perception becomes: that’s what it takes" (BLOOMBERG, 10/30).
