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The 1976 Montreal Olympics Financial Debacle
Episode 29

The 1976 Montreal Olympics Financial Debacle

Brady Heywood Podcast

January 31, 202121m 34s

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Show Notes

It's 1970, and the mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, declares that the 1976 Montreal Games will be self-financing. 

In his view, these games can no more have a deficit "...than a man can have a baby". In fact, he thinks the real problem will be in determining how to spend the surplus. But over the coming years, all this optimism will evaporate, and the games will become a financial disaster. 

This project had everything: poor planning, fraudulent practice and corruption. And it shows what happens when architectural and financial free-reign combine with political ambition and immovable deadlines.


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