Photo courtesy of James Mitchell

To host the Olympic Games is an honor for any lucky city that is chosen to do so. So far, London has done a wonderful job in the capacity of host city. However, hosting the games comes at a great cost.

The general consensus for the predicted cost of this year’s summer games is £9 billion, or just over $14 million. Since Great Britain accepted the bid in 2005, British media have been expressing concerns about the country’s ability to pay up. According to one British news source, The Guardian, there was talk of drastically cutting down on the extravagance that comes along with the games and focusing on the necessities. Parliament has obviously decided to go the way of decadence and show.

There might be a silver and very valuable lining to this economic burden. According to reports written by Lloyds Bank and the UK department for Trade and Industry, all of the UK stands to make £13 billion. British prime minister, David Cameron, says that most of this gain will come from the selling of construction jobs to British contractors and money spent by workers. If Cameron is right, hosting the Olympics could be the best decision London has made in the past 50 years.

Facts and Figures (from London Out London):

• Londoners will contribute £625 million to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• The 1984 Olympic Games in LA were the first to be profitable ($225 million).
• This will be the third Olympiad London has hosted (1908, 1948).
• The 80,000-seat Olympic stadium cost £496 million to build
• List of events and ticket prices