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guido_the_nature_guide's review
4.0
Circus Maximus is a short but sufficient analysis of the pitfalls of a city or country hosting the “mega-events” of the Olympics or World Cup. If you have ever seen photos or videos of the unused and decaying stadia of former Olympic sites, the white elephants as Zimbalist calls them, then the conclusion of the book should come as no surprise: these events are most often economic disasters. There are success stories – LA in 1984 and Barcelona in 1992 – and Zimbalist gives them their due, but also shows the uniqueness of each that is ordinarily not replicable for other sites. Make no mistake, this is an economics text, not a novel or pop star biography, and although Zimbalist intends and succeeds in addressing the book to a general audience, it retains a certain dry textbook narrative. The book has a number of relevant and helpful charts and graphs, but is not weighed down with numerical minutiae or intricate economic formulae. It can be read in a day or two and it is well worth the time.
sclundy23's review against another edition
4.0
This was an excellent and concise look at the economic effects of hosting mega sporting events, such as the olympics and world cup. The author concludes that hosting such an event is a bad investment for host cities/countries, except in a very narrow set of circumstances. Overall, I found this book to be persuasive and informative. After reading this book, I have to say I'm relieved my hometown Chicago lost out on its bid to host the 2016 olympics.
jilljaracz's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting read about the economics and current issues with hosting mega sporting events. Short read--more Olympics than FIFA--and so doesn't get too deep into all of the issues, but it's a good read for getting an overview of the situation.
mdfn's review
2.0
Well, this was my husband's pick. There were a lot more numbers than I normally like to see in my reading, but it was so interesting and mind boggling. The amount of money wasted on the Olympics and the World Cup is astronomical - billions of dollars! Imagine if all that money was funneled into education or into building infrastructure...
drifterontherun's review
4.0
Who wants to host the Olympics? If you have any brains at all, you'll certainly decline the opportunity. But it's only recently that cities have begun pulling out of the mad race to host the Olympics. This despite the fact that the Olympics almost never give a positive return on investment.
The same can be said about the World Cup, which is the more famously corrupt of the two. Perhaps this just boils down to the IOC being less blatant about taking bribes than FIFA is, but any bidding process that requires interested cities to spend tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars simply for the honor of BEING CONSIDERED, can't be considered entirely sacrosanct.
The entire process is so corrupt and the provided benefits so very few that it's a wonder FIFA and the IOC have been able to run their little scam for so long. But, as Andrew Zimbalist points out, bidding for the Olympics has long been a non-partisan issue. Politicians from both sides of the aisle - all sides with regards to our more democratic friends in Europe - have gotten their hands dirty trying to bribe, bedazzle, and seduce the IOC and FIFA voters who are, in the meantime, busy stuffing their own pockets.
The term "Circus Maximus" refers to the Ancient Roman custom of throwing huge, lavish spectacles to entertain - and in many cases, distract - the Roman populace. Think gladiator games in the Colosseum. And a Circus Maximus is exactly what the World Cup and Olympics have become - two grotesque, criminally expensive enterprises that exploit workers for pitiful wages and leave economic and environmental devastation in their wake.
Politicians in the Western World have started to wake up to this, on account that their more democratic systems allow citizens to hold them immediately accountable. This is why Oslo withdrew from the race to hold the 2022 Olympics. Hard to spend billions to host something that over half of your citizens are against and manage to later survive their fury at the ballot box. But Oslo was in fact the fourth city to withdraw, leaving twin pillars of democracy China and Kazakhstan to battle it out (spoiler: Beijing won). This seems to reflect the new reality of these spectacles, in which the games themselves merely serve as the backdrop for what is, in fact, a coming out party for the despots of the third world.
The only way for that to change and for the Olympics and World Cup to become respectable again is if their governing committees radically alter the way they currently do business.
"Circus Maximus" is a devastating critique that should finally put the myth - that hosting one of these spectacles is good for country and business - to rest.
The same can be said about the World Cup, which is the more famously corrupt of the two. Perhaps this just boils down to the IOC being less blatant about taking bribes than FIFA is, but any bidding process that requires interested cities to spend tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars simply for the honor of BEING CONSIDERED, can't be considered entirely sacrosanct.
The entire process is so corrupt and the provided benefits so very few that it's a wonder FIFA and the IOC have been able to run their little scam for so long. But, as Andrew Zimbalist points out, bidding for the Olympics has long been a non-partisan issue. Politicians from both sides of the aisle - all sides with regards to our more democratic friends in Europe - have gotten their hands dirty trying to bribe, bedazzle, and seduce the IOC and FIFA voters who are, in the meantime, busy stuffing their own pockets.
The term "Circus Maximus" refers to the Ancient Roman custom of throwing huge, lavish spectacles to entertain - and in many cases, distract - the Roman populace. Think gladiator games in the Colosseum. And a Circus Maximus is exactly what the World Cup and Olympics have become - two grotesque, criminally expensive enterprises that exploit workers for pitiful wages and leave economic and environmental devastation in their wake.
Politicians in the Western World have started to wake up to this, on account that their more democratic systems allow citizens to hold them immediately accountable. This is why Oslo withdrew from the race to hold the 2022 Olympics. Hard to spend billions to host something that over half of your citizens are against and manage to later survive their fury at the ballot box. But Oslo was in fact the fourth city to withdraw, leaving twin pillars of democracy China and Kazakhstan to battle it out (spoiler: Beijing won). This seems to reflect the new reality of these spectacles, in which the games themselves merely serve as the backdrop for what is, in fact, a coming out party for the despots of the third world.
The only way for that to change and for the Olympics and World Cup to become respectable again is if their governing committees radically alter the way they currently do business.
"Circus Maximus" is a devastating critique that should finally put the myth - that hosting one of these spectacles is good for country and business - to rest.
emmkayt's review
3.0
I thought I needed a little top-up of scepticism before the pandemic Olympics get underway in Tokyo next month. The individual stories and achievements of the athletes are captivating, but hosting either the Olympics or the World Cup is almost invariably not worth it and really problematic for host countries/cities. Zimbalist is an economist, and while somewhat dry, he is clear as he explains the short-term and legacy losses or at least lack of gains (and the difficulty of reproducing the few successes - in Barcelona and Los Angeles). If you’re a resident, a small business owner, someone who cares about public services or the environment - it sounds fair to say that if politicians start angling for your home city or country to make a bid, you should respond with a loud no. 3.5.