Any doubts that Hungary’s central government is serious about Budapest’s 2024 Olympic Games bid were dispelled Tuesday when a decree committed 15 billion HUF (USD $52 million) instead of the originally planned 10 billion HUF (USD $35 million) towards the city’s Olympic bid, according to daily Népszabadság.
Including contributions from corporations through opportunities made available by ministers, the total bid budget will be 19 billion HUF (USD $66 billion) that the National Development Minister Miklós Seszták will provide, 9.5 billion in each of 2016 and 2017.
Corporations sponsoring the bid will be given tax credits which will effectively reroute tax payments from the central government to fund the bid.
The funding boost brings Budapest’s budget in line with that of rival Paris and its target budget of 60 million Euros (USD $65 million).
Bid budgets in the past have varied significantly, and are often reported differently depending on in-kind contributions. Reports have revealed that Tokyo 2020 spent anywhere from $100 million to $200 million to win Japan’s bid for the Games, but in this new era of Agenda 2020 cost-cutting reforms bidding costs are expected to drop.
Budapest is considered an outsider in this closely contested race between Los Angeles, Rome and Paris. The International Olympic Committee will elect a winner in September 2017.
