Top 100 momentsNo. 65
Los Angeles turns a profit
Peter Ueberroth’s LA Games use existing venues and corporate sponsors. The Olympics, nearly broke, learn they can be a business.
Montreal 1976 left a debt. Moscow 1980 was boycotted. Cities were not lining up. Los Angeles 1984, under Peter Ueberroth, uses stadiums already built, sells sponsorships in a new way, and finishes in the black. Carl Lewis wins four. Mary Lou Retton smiles on wheaties boxes. The Soviets stay home.
The IOC notices the money. Later bids become auctions. The torch relay becomes a tour. The amateur fig leaf, already torn, is thrown out.
Love or hate the commercial Games — the Super Bowl-ization of the Olympics — the template is LA 1984. Sport’s biggest circus learns it can pay for itself, then charge for the next one.