Olympic venues in race for business

Just over six months ago, 90,000 people were cheering Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt's record-breaking 100-m dash at Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium. Now, visitors can only see two inflatable Fuwas, the mascot of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where Bolt once dashed to his record.

Major venues constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics, especially the Bird's Nest, officially known as the National Stadium, and the Water Cube, have become symbols of China's robust growth and rising confidence. However, operators are struggling to make these iconic sports venues profitable.

The Chinese government poured about $42 billion into preparing and hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, almost three times the sum spent in Athens in 2004. As the host city, Beijing built 12 new venues, renovated 11 and converted eight for temporary use.

Operating venues after the Games has never been easy for host cities. Maintenance of the venues after the 2004 Summer Olympics cost Athens almost $144 million a year, while 21 out of the 22 venues have been abandoned, the UK's Daily Mail reported.

China had its own experiences from hosting the 1990 Asian Games. The Olympic Sports Center Stadium, the main facility built for the Asian Games, has been struggling to make a profit while costing the local government millions of yuan a year in maintenance.

Yang Weiying, vice-general manager of Beijing CITIC Consortium Stadium Operation, the Bird's Nest's operator, estimated that the stadium costs at least 100 million yuan a year to maintain.

Only a tourist attraction?

However, the Bird's Nest has become nothing more than a tourist attraction since the end of the Games. Visitors pay 50 yuan to enter the stadium and browse a pricey souvenir shop.

A renovation plan for the Bird's Nest was unveiled this month. A "ring-shaped restaurant" will be added to the third floor of the stadium and a 50,000 sq m theme park will built on the northeast side of the stadium, Xinhua News Agency said, quoting an unnamed official.

The number of post-Olympic visitors has declined from a maximum of 80,000 per day when the Bird's Nest opened to the public in October 2008 to 15,000 per day, the Beijing Times reported on Dec 14, 2008. But figures from Beijing Tourism Bureau showed that during the Spring Festival holiday, the Bird's Nest and the Bird's Nestattracted 220,000 visitors and generated 3.95 million yuan in ticket sales.

But people's interest in the stadium itself will not last. "I will not come back unless an Italian football team is playing here," said a visitor from Shenyang in northeastern China.

In fact, before the renovation plan was revealed, there were rumors of several deals, including one in which the stadium would possibly become home to the city's professional football club, Beijing Guo'an. But the club reportedly backed out of the deal because its manager was worried that the Chinese football league's bad reputation could tarnish the iconic Olympic venue's image.

"The football club is struggling to fill the 20,000 seats in its current stadium, let alone the Bird's Nest's 90,000 seats. If the club wants to move to the Bird's Nest, it has to attract at least 50,000 fans per game in order to make a profit," said Zheng Xiaolong, a football reporter for the Beijing Times.

The only confirmed event this year in the Bird's Nest is Puccini's opera Turandot, directed by Zhang Yimou, who also masterminded the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Despite its early struggle to make a profit, industry analysts in China remain confident about the Olympic venue's future.

"Once it gets on the right track, the Bird's Nest will be a success. It takes at least five to eight years for a stadium of such a size to identify the best operating model," said Du Wei, vice-president of Beijing Olympics Economy Research Association.

Meanwhile, other Olympic venues in Beijing seem to be one step ahead of the Bird's Nest.

The Water Cube had a clearer future mapped out from the beginning. It is expected to become a water park with an indoor beach, slides and other recreational facilities. The park is expected to open this summer. From Sept 30, 2008, the Water Cube hosted a concert that attracted more than 100,000 visitors by Feb 9.

Beijing Wukesong Sports Center Baseball Field, a temporary venue, is going to be converted into a shopping and entertainment complex with 5,000 parking spaces, with work having already begun at the end of last year.

The field has also hosted two exhibition matches between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, attracting about 12,000 fans to each game.

Olympic venues located in universities will be turned into sports facilities for the students. Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics opened its Olympic venue as a gym, while Beijing University of Science and Technology will open its Olympic swimming facility to both its students and the public.

(China Daily 02/23/2009 page5)