Benefiting the host city with improved infrastructure, increased employment, and good public image, the Olympics have had, statistically, a positive economic effect on host cities from 1972 to 2000 (Preuß 5). In 1984, Los Angeles declared an economic surplus as a result of hosting the Olympic Games. The number of cities vying for ensuing bids has increased since 1984. Vancouver, considering these benefits, is actively pursuing the 2010 Winter Games Bid. Supported by Ottawa, the British Columbia provincial government, and the cities of Vancouver and Whistler, the Vancouver bid committee is spending thirty million dollars to finance the bid. The City of Vancouver, if awarded the bid, anticipates spending between two and six billion dollars in infrastructure improvement and revitalization costs (Menzies 16). New York City, competing with Moscow and Rome for the 2012 Olympic Games, may spend almost three billion dollars on facilities, housing, and other developments in an attempt to secure the bid (Bennett...