How much does the Winter Olympics cost?

The financial framework for this year's Winter Games in Milano Cortina 2026 shows an effort to avoid scenarios that have led to explosive growth in spending in the past. From the outset, the organizers based the project on maximizing the use of existing facilities in Lombardy, Veneto, and Alpine resorts, with new construction being the exception rather than the rule. Nevertheless, the final price tag is in the billions of euros.

The organizing committee's operating budget alone is around two billion euros. It includes competition management, security, athlete transportation, media services, and the opening and closing ceremonies.

As is customary with the Olympics, there is a second, much larger chapter: public investment in infrastructure. The modernization of railways, roads, station renovations, and the expansion of accommodation capacities bring the total bill to approximately €6 billion.

In international comparison, this is not a small amount, but it is not extreme either. The 2014 Games in Sochi cost over fifty billion dollars and became a symbol of megalomania. Beijing 2022 also benefited from the massive role of the state and very costly logistical and security measures. In contrast, the Italian model appears significantly more moderate.

On the other hand, if we look at older European Games, such as Turin 2006, the difference is not so dramatic. Real adjusted costs are higher today, due in part to stricter security standards, more expensive technologies, and greater demands from broadcasters and partners.

Italy thus represents a compromise: an Olympics that strives to appear modest, but at the same time confirms that it is practically impossible to organize a global mega-event without significant public funding.

The key question, therefore, will not be how much the games cost in 2026, but whether the investment will succeed in transforming into growth in tourism, employment, and regional value in the long term after the sporting event has ended.