The Australian federal government and the Queensland state government are set to spend approximately $4.9 billion USD on venues for the 2032 Summer Olympic Games. The venues will receive funding on a 50/50 basis between the two governments Reuters revealed late last week.
The Venue Master Plan for Brisbane 2032 identifies 37 competition venues required for hosting 28 Olympic and 22 Paralympic sports. The plan includes six new venues, eight upgraded venues and 23 existing or temporary venues.
Competition venues will be hosted in the following locations:
- Brisbane—22 venues
- Gold Coast—6 venues
- Sunshine Coast—4 venues
- Regional Queensland—3 venues (Cairns, Townsville, Toowoomba)
- Interstate—2 venues (Sydney, Melbourne)
The Brisbane Arena is among the new venues, with a temporarily-constructed pool set to host the Olympic Swimming, Olympic Water Polo finals and Paralympic Swimming events.
An estimated 15,000-seat capacity is proposed for the new venue located near the Roma Street Parklands on the western edge of the city center. The cost for this arena is set at approximately $1.7 billion USD. Construction of the Brisbane Arena is planned to begin in 2027 and is expected to finish by 2030.
As a comparison, the Tokyo Olympic Games spent approximately $7.5 billion USD, roughly half the budget, on permanent and temporary venues. The 15,000-seat Olympic Aquatics Center cost an estimated $542 million USD.
Brisbane 2032’s original Olympic hosting budget checked in at $5 billion at the time of bidding but has already risen to a reported $7 billion. (CNBC)
This follows the pattern of the most recent Summer Olympic Games which saw 2012 London’s original budget soar from $5 billion to $18 billion, 2016 Rio’s increase from $14 billion to $20 billion and Tokyo’s rise from $12 billion to $26 billion.
