Looking at the future Olympic Games from the perspective of sports commercialization

Once upon a time, the Olympic Games, regarded as a "big cake", suddenly experienced an "economic crisis". Is the Olympic Games really "economic"?

Unlimited business opportunities for the Olympic Games?

In recent years, hosting the Olympic Games has been sought after by many cities and even countries. In recent years, the host city of the Olympic Games and its host country have not only won a "good reputation" through the Olympic Games, but also often have a large economic surplus. The huge business opportunities of the Olympic Games have made many countries, cities and enterprises "drool".

1984 the los Angeles Olympic games was the first privately held Olympic games, which changed the history of long-term losses of the Olympic games. The Olympic Games originally planned to cost $500 million, and only $360 million was obtained by selling TV broadcasting rights. Since then, the practice of broadcasting sports competitions for free by radio and television stations has been broken. Ueberroth, the organizer, raised nearly $654.38 billion by issuing 25 commemorative coins and 2000 sponsorship vouchers. According to the announcement of the Organizing Committee of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in June 5438+0984+February 19, the profit of that Olympic Games was 250 million dollars.

1988 The cost of the Seoul Olympic Games was US$ 4 billion, but the organizing committee made a profit of US$ 300 million (about US$ 400 million) through corporate sponsorship and sale of TV broadcasting rights, setting a record for the government to run the Olympic Games.

1992 The total investment of the Barcelona Olympic Games is 9.6 billion US dollars, far exceeding that of the Seoul Olympic Games and even inferior to the most expensive Moscow Olympic Games in Olympic history. However, most of these funds are used for municipal construction. The Olympic Games won $625 million by selling TV broadcasting rights, $5160 thousand sponsored by entrepreneurs, tickets, commemorative coins, stocks and other income, and finally earned $5 million.

1996 Atlanta Olympic Games earned100000 USD. The commercial Olympic Games cost more than US$ 6,543.807 billion, mainly from the sales of TV broadcasting rights, sponsors' sponsorship and souvenir sales. As a result, large-scale advertisements and merchandise propaganda spread all over the competition venues, and every inch of land in downtown Atlanta was clearly priced, and trademarks such as Coca-Cola, IBM and Nike could be seen everywhere.

In 2000, the revenue of Sydney Olympic Organizing Committee reached $65.438+75.6 million, which was 80% higher than the forecast when Sydney won the right to host the Olympic Games seven years ago. Sydney Olympic Organizing Committee initially expected to get 488 million US dollars from the sale of broadcasting rights, but the actual income actually reached 798 million US dollars, exceeding the 654.38+568 million US dollars of196 Atlanta Olympic Games. In addition, the income of international sponsored projects has also increased from 90 million US dollars to 226.5438 million US dollars. At the same time, Australian sponsors have also provided $365.438+0.5 billion, $65.438+0.8 billion more than expected.

In addition to direct income, hosting the Olympic Games can also promote the development of related industries, such as communications, transportation, tourism, catering and other industries, thus generating huge indirect economic benefits:

1In September, 1984, the American Economic Research Association investigated the impact of the Los Angeles Olympic Games on the economy of Southern California, and found that the Olympic Games promoted the economy of this region as high as $3.29 billion, far exceeding 1962 Seattle World Expo and 1982 Knoxville World Expo. The two expositions each lasted for half a year, and the total economic benefits were $654.38+0 billion and $654.38+0.5 billion respectively.

When Barcelona organized the 1992 Olympic Games, it was at the time when Spain began to recover from the nationwide economic crisis in the 1980s. Organizing for the Olympic Games has obviously accelerated the economic recovery;

1996 Atlanta Olympic Games for six years (199 1 ~ 1997) brought about economic benefits of about $5 1 100 million to the United States;

According to the statistics of Australian tourism department, the number of tourists in Australia increased by 1 1% in 2000, and in September of the same year, the number of tourists in Sydney increased by 15%. Of the 65,438+065,438+000 international tourists who come specifically for the Olympic Games, 88% will become repeat visitors, and in the four years after the Olympic Games, Australia will increase by 65%. As a result of hosting the Olympic Games, Australia's export income in 200 1 year increased by 56 million dollars.

It can be said that the business opportunities of hosting the Olympic Games have penetrated into all aspects of the economic and social life of the host country, and the income of hundreds of millions of dollars has made the government and enterprises flock to it. When Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games, it really excited many domestic enterprises and planned to share a piece of the Olympic Games.

On August 4th, BOCOG signed a cooperation agreement with China International Airlines. Air China became the fifth official partner of BOCOG after China Mobile, Bank of China, China Netcom and Volkswagen.

However, for enterprises to actively sponsor the Olympic Games, people in the industry also have their own views. Chen Jian, secretary general of Beijing Olympic Economic Research Association, said in an interview with China Economic Times that sponsoring the Olympic Games is still risky for enterprises.

Chen Jian believes that both the top sponsorship plan of the International Olympic Committee and the sponsorship plan of BOCOG have relatively high thresholds. For enterprises, it is necessary to consider their own affordability and make reasonable sponsorship or investment related to the Olympic Games.

Beware of economic traps

Today, when it comes to bidding for the Olympic Games, all cities will be excited. But before the 1980s, the cities hosting the Olympic Games rarely got out of the cycle of losses. Among them, the most striking is the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, in which a huge deficit of more than 10 billion dollars appeared. /kloc-The 0/5-day Olympic Games left Montreal in debt for 20 years, which is called the "Montreal trap".

Montreal applied for the Olympic Games several times from 1940, and finally won the right to host the 2 1 Olympic Games in 1970. In order to run this Olympic Games well, the organizing committee opened the Olympic Center, built a large stadium, swimming pool, cycling field, Olympic Village and other facilities, and adopted many high-tech achievements. However, due to the economic depression and poor management in Canada, the cost of these projects has increased again and again. The original planned $2.8 billion main stadium cost $5.8 billion, and the organization cost also increased from the original planned $600 million to the actual $730 million. This caused the Montreal Olympic Games to be heavily in debt, which not only affected Canada's economic development, but also dealt a heavy blow to the Olympic movement, seriously affected the bidding activities of the 1984 Olympic Games that year, and made countries that originally planned to bid withdraw.

Chen Jian told reporters that the difference between the initial budget of the Montreal Olympic Games and the actual investment is too great-almost 10 times, which makes the host city of the Olympic Games fall into an economic trap. This also sounded the alarm for the future Olympic host city. The host city must think clearly in advance, make rational use of Olympic resources and avoid blind investment.

Chen Jian believes that the investment in this Athens Olympic Games is relatively high, and it will definitely lose money in the short term. But with the success of the Olympic Games and its economic growth, it is hard to say whether it will be a loss or a profit in the long run.

The "Montreal trap" is really talked about, but the success or failure of the Olympic Games often does not depend on its profit or loss. For the purpose of profit, excessive commercialization has also added a disgraceful stroke to the Olympic Games. 1996 The painful lesson of the Atlanta Olympic Games has brought us another extreme example.

Excessive commercialization has seriously interfered with the normal operation of this Olympic Games and distorted and alienated the Olympic purpose.

Like the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, the Atlanta Olympic Games was also held by non-governmental forces. Because of the blind pursuit of commercial interests, the Olympic Games is dubbed as "the most commercialized"; In addition, some hardware is not standard enough, and the organization work is chaotic, which makes people complain for a while.

Atlanta is the headquarters of Coca-Cola Company. During the Olympic Games, the company established a "city within a city" in the city center. Many large companies from all over the world have also set up camps in the Olympic Park and competition venues.

The city of Atlanta also sells temporary business licenses to small vendors for 300 to 20,000 dollars, making the streets and alleys full of dazzling booths and endless hawking. In addition, when broadcasting live events, major TV networks endlessly insert advertisements, making the Olympic Games an "island" in the commercial ocean.

In order to save money, the venue of the weightlifting competition was converted from an underground warehouse in a conference center, with only one bathroom for the audience to use. Between each snatch and clean and jerk, the bathroom is always crowded, and there is a long queue of 100 meters in front of the door.

What is even more unbearable is the chaotic traffic at the conference site. Because there are too few vehicles going back and forth between the stadium and the Olympic Village, the condition of the vehicles is poor, the drivers have not been carefully trained, and the buses on many lines can't arrive on time, which directly affects the competition. Some sports teams have to rent cars out of their own pockets. The baseball game between Nicaragua and the United States was postponed for 45 minutes because of traffic problems. This is extremely rare in top-level events like the Olympic Games.

Rowers from Britain, France, Ukraine and other countries were forced to stop a bus in the Olympic Village because the bus was late and the police intervention was ignored. This car was originally prepared for hockey players. The result of "robbing Peter to pay Paul" is the disorder of the Olympic Village.

Someone hit the nail on the head at that time: "Americans are far more interested in making money than they care about the contestants."

With the intervention of the International Olympic Committee, the organizing committee of Atlanta Olympic Games urgently added $654.38+200,000 to replace worn-out vehicles, adjust drivers and add thousands of flights, which only eased the traffic chaos.

"Commercialization can and must contribute to the development of sports. When making a plan, we must not forget that sports must have their own dignity and cannot be controlled by commercial interests. " After the Atlanta Olympic Games, the words of Samaranch, then president of the International Olympic Committee, were a summary of the experience and a warning to the Olympic members and the organizers of the subsequent Olympic Games.

Wei Jizhong said that in any case, the Olympic Games is essentially a sports meeting, and its main body should be athletes, not anything else. However, in the current Olympic Games, the main body of athletes tends to be marginalized gradually, while the stakeholders are more and more like the main body.

On the one hand, the process of commercialization has promoted the Olympic Games economically, on the other hand, it has diluted the original theme of the Olympic Games. How to find a balance between sports and business and control the commercialization of the Olympic Games within a certain range is the key to the sustainable development of the Olympic Games.

Focus on long-term effects

The Olympic Games itself has a strong profitability, and TV broadcasting rights, ticket income and sponsorship fee income are the main ways for the Olympic Games to make profits.

The live TV broadcast of Olympic Games originated from 1936 1 1 Olympic Games. With the global live broadcast of 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, TV broadcasting rights have become the most important economic pillar of the Olympic Games.

1988 during the Seoul Olympic games, the TV broadcasting rights were sold for 403 million dollars; This figure doubled in Atlanta four years later, reaching $895 million; In the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the selling price of TV broadcasting rights reached a record high, amounting to $6,543.8+32 million.

Starting from 1995, in order to avoid the fluctuation of market price, the IOC changed the TV broadcasting right of a single Olympic Games into multiple "bundled" sales, and achieved more considerable economic benefits. At that time, the broadcasting rights of the three summer Olympic Games and two winter Olympic Games in the United States from 2000 to 2008 alone were sold at a high price of $3.5 billion.

The host sites of the 20 10 Winter Olympic Games and the 20 12 Summer Olympic Games have not yet been determined, but last year, the International Olympic Committee sold the TV broadcasting rights of these two Olympic Games in the United States for $2.2 billion, an increase of 32%.

Tickets are also a major economic source for the Olympic Games, and the price level depends on the affordability of the audience in the host country. Therefore, the ticket prices of recent Olympic Games have fluctuated. 1984 The average price of each ticket for the Los Angeles Olympic Games is $32, and the total revenue is $654.38+23 million, accounting for nearly 1/4 of the total revenue of the Olympic Games. 1992 The average ticket price for the Barcelona Olympic Games was reduced to $20; Atlanta 1996 rose to 40 dollars, of which the most expensive opening ceremony ticket was 600 dollars.

In the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, ticket sales reached the best level in the history of the Olympic Games, with a sales rate of 87% and a total income of 356 million US dollars. In the upcoming Athens Olympic Games, the organizing committee put forward the concept of "popularization", that is, to let more Greeks enter the Olympic Games. The average ticket price is 35 euros, which is 2/3 of the Sydney Olympic Games. It is estimated that the total ticket revenue is 65.438+0.8 billion euros, accounting for nearly 654.38+0/654.38+00 of the total ticket revenue of this Olympic Games.

1984 the successful sponsorship of the los Angeles Olympic games has strengthened the reform thinking of the IOC in selling sponsorship rights. From 65438 to 0985, the International Olympic Committee began to implement the Global Partnership Program (TOP Program).

Just as the word TOP means "top" in English, the members of this project are all "top" in the industry. They pay the most and benefit the most, and their products with Olympic logo can be sold all over the world; Not only during the Olympic Games, but also during the four-year period.

The plan is bounded by the Olympic cycle once every four years, and the sixth cycle is from 2004 to 2008. From 1985 to 1988, the IOC has a total revenue of 95 million US dollars and 9 global sponsors. Earnings per period will almost double in the future. By the fourth phase, from 1997 to 2000, the total income was 550 million dollars; 1 1 sponsor, each price has risen to 25 million to 40 million dollars.

Not long ago, Lenovo Group joined the 6th TOP program, joining with Coca-Cola, General Electric, Kodak, McDonald's, Panasonic, Samsung and other world-renowned enterprises 10, becoming the first China enterprise in the history of the program. According to experts' estimation, the price of the sponsors of the 6th TOP program is 65 million-654.38+0 billion dollars. That is, Lenovo's sponsorship will not be less than $65 million.

However, although the Olympic Games has many profitable channels and strong profitability, many people still think that the Olympic Games should not be used to make money.

Wei Jizhong believes that the Olympic Games can be profitable, but it should never be a tool to make money. The profits of the Olympic Games should only be used for the daily expenses of the International Olympic Committee and the host city Olympic Organizing Committee, and the surplus should be used for sports itself.

In particular, Wei Jizhong pointed out that using the Olympics to make profits and using the Olympics to develop the economy are two completely different concepts. The income from selling or sponsoring tickets and TV broadcasting rights is only short-term and cannot have a long-term impact on the economy of the host city. Only by developing the Olympic market and stimulating production and demand can it have a long-term and long-term impact on the economy.

1988 Seoul Olympic Games is a comprehensive display of the country's opening-up strategy. South Korea took the Olympic Games as an opportunity to step into the ranks of newly industrialized countries.

The slogan of Seoul Olympic Games is "The world goes to Seoul, and Seoul goes to the world". When 160 sports officials and athletes from more than 60 countries gathered in South Korea, their influence far exceeded the propaganda made by South Korea itself through diplomacy and news for many years. In particular, billions of people in the world have watched the real development of South Korea through television, and the spiritual benefits gained by South Korea cannot be calculated by money and figures.

Seoul Olympic Games has become the best advertising platform for Korean enterprises. For the Seoul Olympic Games, * * * 90 enterprises sponsored business, of which 13 was a large Korean enterprise. Smart businessmen regard the Olympic Games as a once-in-a-lifetime publicity opportunity and advertise their products.

Commercial sponsorship not only raised a large sum of money for the Seoul Olympic Games, but also opened up new channels for Korean products to enter the international market. According to statistics, the Olympic Games brought nearly 7 billion dollars in production and sales to South Korea. South Korea's exports have expanded, and its bilateral and multilateral trade with other countries has also increased rapidly.

At the same time, the Seoul Olympic Games also created employment opportunities for 34,000 people, especially in manufacturing, construction and service industries.

What Beijing should learn from the Seoul Olympic Games is its achievements in urban construction: Seoul was divided into two parts by the Han River, and the development between the north and the south was extremely uneven before the Olympic Games. Put the Olympic Games on the undeveloped north bank of the Han River, and the development of the two places tends to be balanced. Before the Olympic Games, there were only two bridges on the Han River in Seoul. After the Olympic Games, more than 20 bridges span the Han River. The balance of urban structure plays an inestimable role in the subsequent economic development.

Give play to the leading role of the government

1984 Many people still remember the great success of the Los Angeles Olympic Games, which was planned and presided over by businessman Uber Ross. Therefore, some people put forward the view that the Olympic Games should be held by private forces such as individuals or enterprises.

Wei Jizhong believes that it is impossible to host the Olympic Games without relying on the government at all. For example, security issues must be done by the government.

All previous Olympic Games, except Los Angeles and Atlanta, which are relatively developed, have been led by the government. The Seoul Olympic Games was completely organized by the Korean government and achieved great success in economy and politics.

Wei Jizhong believes that for the Beijing Olympic Games, there are two points that must attract the attention of relevant parties:

First, the functions of the government and the organizing committee must be separated. Although BOCOG's staff is also composed of government personnel, it cannot become a government and cannot perform its functions. Investment and public construction must be decided by the government, and the organizing Committee can only ask for it; The task of the Organizing Committee is to organize and hold the Olympic Games well, and its work does not need too much government intervention. If this relationship is properly handled, many problems and contradictions in the preparation for the Olympic Games will be solved.

The budget requested by the International Olympic Committee is very clear about the relationship between the two. The IOC does not interfere with the government's investment in capital construction; The funds given by the IOC to BOCOG cannot be used for infrastructure construction, but only for conference operation.

Second, it is necessary to find out whether the Olympic Games is subordinate to the whole city planning or whether the city planning is subordinate to the Olympic Games. Obviously, the Olympic Games will not bring any benefits to the people, but only short-term profits. However, ordinary people can benefit from the development of the whole city. From this perspective, the Olympic Games must be incorporated into the development planning of the whole city. On the other hand, if urban construction obeys the Olympic Games and meets the special requirements of the Olympic Games, it will cause a lot of unnecessary waste.

Olympic financing: unavoidable financial innovation

"Protecting the Olympics with the Olympics", raising funds in a commercial way and using modern financial means are not only the commercialization spirit and financial innovation of the modern Olympics, but also the call for Beijing to establish a "green Olympics" and a "high-tech Olympics" in 2008.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games should not blindly "wait, rely on and want", rely too much on the central financial support and ignore the innovation of modern financial financing means; What's more, it should not be an "image project" of the government, nor should it be centered on state-owned enterprises and state-owned commercial banks. Instead, we should make full use of private capital and international capital to invest in the Olympics, make full use of modern financial innovation and financial products to raise Olympic funds, and reduce the financial pressure and financial risks of the government.

Call on private capital to invest in the Olympic Games

Recently, China Economic Times interviewed He Xiaofeng, head of the research group of "Beijing Olympic Games Financial Support Project" of Peking University Capital Development Research Institute and vice president of Peking University Capital Development Research Institute. He has repeatedly called on Beijing's "Olympic finance" in 2008 not to be bound by the existing system and laws, but to seize the once-in-a-century Olympic opportunity and implement financial system innovation and financial product innovation.

He Xiaofeng said that the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games is the best example. Through financing, it not only improved the financial system, but also greatly promoted urban construction, improved the ecological environment, promoted the development of transportation, tourism, real estate and other related industries, and won the title of "Best Olympic Games" through a series of commercial operations and financial innovations. The Sydney Olympic Games increased Australia's gross national product by $6.5 billion.

The Sydney Olympic Games provided a lot of experience for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, especially in the participation of private capital. The premise of letting private capital enter is to create smooth financing channels and issue operable financial products.

Does "Olympic Finance" baptize the traditional financing concept?

The projects that China Democratic Construction Capital participates in include toll roads, schools and Olympic venues. Especially the Olympic Stadium as the main venue. They are constructed, owned, operated, transferred or handed over, and the franchise right is 30 years. At first, the construction of the Olympic Stadium was initiated by two companies. The main construction unit is called stadium australia Trust (AST), which raises funds publicly, initially invested by promoters, then commercial investors, and then through IPO. But the investment of IPO is divided into several parts, not only the establishment of industrial investment trust funds, but also the investment of fund management companies, stadium clubs and clubs.

In IPO, AST issued two kinds of securities: one is the Phnom Penh portfolio, which is issued by 2000 shares of management company and 2000 units of trust certificate. Subscribers can have two priority seats and a 30-year stadium australia Club membership card. The other is Yinbian Group, which issues 65,438+0,000 shares and 65,438+0,000 unit trust certificates, enjoys guaranteed seats in any venue during the Olympic Games, and has a 30-year membership in the stadium Australian Club. The realization of Olympic financing through issuing securities and various innovative combinations will undoubtedly provide reference for the financial innovation of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

However, He Xiaofeng said that at present, there is a serious division of rights among various government departments in China. If an enterprise wants to go public for financing securitization, it must be supported by three-year profit performance and multiple levels. Coupled with the long application process, it will undoubtedly delay the opportunity. He believes that the events of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games should be treated specially and exempted to some extent. In order to achieve the purpose of securitization financing, the financial capital market should realize the innovation of systems and regulations, and should use the Olympic Games as soon as possible to break the traditional backward financing system and administrative constraints.

In China, large-scale projects have always been financed by long-term loans from state-owned commercial banks, and always rely on this single financing model, which eventually leads to a large number of non-performing assets in state-owned commercial banks and a "vicious circle" of poor financing in the financial market. Therefore, some experts suggest that in 2008, Beijing's construction funds should adopt new financing methods, and should not continue to use this traditional financing method to bear the burden of state-owned commercial banks, but should break the old financing concept and encourage financial innovation.

Relieve the financial pressure by "financing marketization"

He Xiaofeng said that after several years' research, the research group of "Financial Support Project for Beijing Olympic Games" of Peking University Capital Development Research Institute believes that Olympic financing must be market-oriented, and it cannot be directly promoted by the central government through financial resources, nor can it only rely on the "black-box operation" of some departments, which leads to the aggravation of national non-performing assets again. The adoption of market-oriented financing means will enable the Olympic fund to operate in an open and transparent environment and achieve profitability, but the premise is the securitization of Olympic real estate.

He said that through the Sydney Olympic Games, we can see some experiences. The significance of private capital participation is that these reputable domestic and foreign companies bear some risks that were originally borne by the government. Stadium australia raises funds from the capital market in the form of stocks and bonds. Private owners and operators have undertaken the task of building and operating large stadiums and Olympic infrastructure. Olympic heritage facilities to avoid heavy public burden.

Establish an Olympic industrial investment fund

At present, the Olympic Sports Industry Investment Fund is a blank in China, and the Industrial Investment Fund Law has not yet been promulgated. Experts suggest that if it is temporarily impossible to establish an Olympic industrial investment fund in China, we can seek to develop such an investment fund overseas and then invest in Olympic-related projects.

The research group of Austrian Investment Fund also put forward some new ideas: at present, the industrial investment fund in China can be realized through experiments, and it is necessary to produce a western construction investment fund to support the development and construction of the western region from the perspective of national strategy. Or carry out an investment fund experiment in the transformation of the old industrial base in Northeast China. Similarly, industrial investment funds should also be carried out in the Olympic Games. Because the huge investment of Beijing Olympic Games means huge capital demand, it is of great significance to actively use the capital market to attract as many enterprises and individuals as possible for the success of the Olympic Games, and it should be the top priority of financial support projects.

Using a variety of innovative financing forms to form a diversified pattern of investors and financing channels can solve the financing problem of the Olympic Games on the one hand. At the same time, it will be the best breakthrough for China to seek financial innovation.

The way to worry about "money" in non-commercial operation

Recently, the media reported that the upcoming Athens Olympic Games insisted on non-commercial operation. Returning to the hometown after the Olympic Games, as the hometown of the Olympic Games, the Greek government hopes to make this Olympic Games a unique and real Olympic Games, which can fully reflect the return of the Olympic spirit and resolutely oppose the commercialization of the Olympic Games.

Although the Olympic Games have three principles: non-commercialization, non-professionalism and non-politicization. However, it has always been an important problem for every Olympic organizer to open up various sources of funds by commercial means and use various financing means to finance the Olympic Games. Because the Athens Olympic Games put too much emphasis on non-commercialization, it blocked many channels for the reasonable entry of funds and directly affected the government's financial situation. The Athens Olympic Organizing Committee has been operating as an independent company since it was officially listed. Initially, the financing plan included financing from the private sector, but the plan was opposed by other political parties. Subsequently, the last socialist government of Greece decided to use the public investment budget to finance the Athens Olympic Games. This mode of operation of the Olympic economy has led to the shortage of funds for the Olympic Games, and the bidding for related projects has also been greatly delayed.

It is said that the preparation and funds for the Athens Olympic Games have increased the construction cost because the front is loose and the back is tight. After more than three years of chaotic struggle within the government and bureaucrats, the organizers of the Athens Olympic Games finally began to prepare the infrastructure of the Olympic Games in a down-to-earth and hurried manner. However, as the opening time of the Olympic Games draws near, while the builders of various projects are still stepping up to complete their projects, the contractor has increased the workload by two or three times at the last minute, which will lead to a sharp rise in construction costs.

Due to non-commercial operation, the government lacks sufficient Olympic publicity. By the beginning of June, only one third of the Olympic tickets had been sold. In the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, two months before the opening of the competition, the organizers of the Sydney Olympic Games had sold more than half of the tickets.

At present, the society dominated by market economy and commercialization refuses commercialization, restricts capital participation, and is promoted by government administration, which either leads to shortage or corruption and waste, resulting in a large number of non-performing assets and tofu dregs projects. Therefore, this non-commercial, non-market transparent management of the "money" approach is really worrying.

It is reported that the difference between the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the Athens Olympic Games is that more than 80% of the required operating funds will be obtained through the market development of the Olympic Games, and the funds will be raised through the all-round development of the capital market and the innovation of the financial market.

At present, most domestic funds, trusts and stock listing financing have a heavy "circle money" component, so will Olympic finance and Olympic financial management be like this?

In He Xiaofeng's eyes, using financial instruments to finance the Olympic Games is not "circling money", but a long-term investment, which mainly depends on whether comprehensive demonstration and market-oriented operation are carried out, rather than blindly using the original legal yardstick to measure the future. We should look at it with innovative eyes. Why the original and present financial system will have a strange circle of "money circle" is mainly caused by man-made black-box operation and the backwardness of the financial system. We must strictly manage Olympic financing and implement financial innovation.

We can imagine that if we can raise development funds for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games through modern financial derivatives and various operations of the capital market, it will better reflect the innovative Olympic spirit. Therefore, we also firmly believe that the dream of "green Olympics", "high-tech Olympics" and "Olympic finance" will be realized in the future 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Olympic insurance: making money is better than making money?

Because of the confidentiality agreement, insurance brokers, experts and officials who bid for the insurance procurement plan for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were very confidential when interviewed by China Economic Times.

Enter the stage of subcontracting and price finding.

At present, it is in the price search stage, and the scheme has not yet been determined, which is highly confidential. As an expert who has participated in related work, Professor Hao, head of the Insurance Department of the Central University of Finance and Economics, is cautious.

The Finance Department and Risk Management Department of the Olympic Organizing Committee are specifically responsible for the related work of Olympic insurance. According to international practice, the planning and specific operation of Olympic insurance need to be represented by insurance brokerage companies. According to informed sources, not long ago, the Olympic Organizing Committee held a public tender for the top ten companies in the insurance brokerage industry, and the insurance brokerage companies organized experts to conduct risk assessment for the Olympic Games. Because BOCOG requested confidentiality when sending the notice and signed the confidentiality clause, neither relevant experts nor experts can disclose the relevant contents, especially to the media. It is said that the main reason for the Olympic Organizing Committee to do this is that insurance brokerage companies are not allowed to take the opportunity to promote themselves.

According to Hao, the insurance work of the Beijing Olympic Games is not limited to the preliminary investigation, but has entered the practical operation stage. At present, the procurement of Beijing Olympic insurance is under way. In this regard, the Olympic Organizing Committee has a package plan, and a lot of practical and concrete work is being carried out in an orderly manner.

American Hengkang Life Insurance Company is one of the top partners of the International Olympic Committee, and its Olympic plan has been extended to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Because of the top plan, Hengkang Life Insurance will enjoy global Olympic marketing rights, exclusive rights of products (services) and other rights packages. According to the reporter's understanding, there were also domestic life insurance giants who intended to replace Hengkang as the top partner of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and made a series of attempts and efforts, including contact with the top management of the International Olympic Committee, but ultimately failed.

Hengkang Tianan Life Insurance Co., Ltd. is a joint venture company of American Hengkang in Shanghai. On the company's website, the reporter saw Hengkang's company logo with the Olympic rings and the words "global Olympic sponsor". "Attending the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games" even became the treatment given by the company when recruiting personnel.

"Hengkang Company is the only Olympic sponsor of life insurance in the world ..." Hao thinks that the introduction of the above company profile is inaccurate. Because, whether it is the previous Olympic Games or this Athens Olympic Games, the insurance of the Olympic Games is made up of many.