World Cup Hosting Not Worth it for Australia

Despite the touted merits of hosting a mega-event like the World Cup, Australia doesn't stand to benefit as much as other countries might, writes Richard Tomlinson, an urban planning professor at the University of Melbourne.

A dramatic example is that the anticipated $4 billion benefit for cities in the US of hosting the 1994 World Cup were later found to have resulted in a net cost to the host cities' economies of $9.26 billion. With independent academics now accepting that no economic benefits can be expected from hosting the Olympics or a FIFA World Cup, attention has turned to what is called ''legacy planning''.

The London 2012 Olympics legacy is intended to be urban renewal. But prosaic legacies are not being marketed in Australia.

Lucky the country that loses its Cup bid
The Sydney Morning Herald
October 23, 2010