That hosting an Asian Games is a bad bargain is an acknowledged fact. But why are there still so many countries flocking to host the games? And exactly how much does it cost to host an event like this?

The Asian Games is a loss-leader event

Losing money has seemed to be a sure thing since the very beginning of the Asian Games. However, even there is a strong probability of losing money, there are always enthusiastic bidders for the Games. For them it is absolutely worthwhile even they end up out of pocket.

The 1990 Asian Games were seized upon as a golden opportunity to display China to the world. This was the first major sports event to be hosted by China since Reform and Opening-up. Starting in 1986, Beijing spent almost 2 billion yuan to build Asian Games facilities in four years.

China dominated the medals tally in the 1990 games, and this served to renew China's image around the world. As a result, China immediately started to bid for the Olympic Games, and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games astonished the world once again.

Another country that has also benefited from hosting major sports events is South Korea. The 1986 Seoul Asian Games and 1988 Seoul Olympic Games greatly enhanced South Korea's global image. In order to win the tender for these two major sports events, South Korea spent over 3 billion dollars in building stadiums - a record in the history of stadium construction for sports events. But thanks to these two big events, South Korea created the conditions to become a developed country, and became an international political power that cannot be ignored.

Chipping in to host the Asian Games

An alternative to spending public money is to have other countries "chip in" for the cost of hosting the games. The 6th and 8th Bangkok Asian Games were examples of this type.

Bangkok took over as host of the 6th Asian Games when South Korea's Seoul abandoned its hosting right. To help Bangkok, the Asian Games Committee decided to invite other countries to share the cost of the event.

In order to raise funds, a set of commemorative stamps was put on sale by the Committee. These were also the first Asian Games in history to sell broadcasting rights for the opening ceremony and closing ceremony to television stations for 2,000 dollars each . Bangkok did the same thing for the 8th Asian Games after Pakistan quit its right to host.

The only Asian Games to make a profit — the "Thailand Phenomenon"

The only host country in in the history of the Asian Games to actually make a profit was Thailand. The 13th Bangkok Asian Games in 1998 not only won a lot praise from all around the world, they also made about 5.6 million dollars of profit.

It was the during a global economic recession that Thailand hosted the 13th Asian Games. The result, however, exceeded all expectations. In addition to contributions from loyal sponsors, and a considerable return from broadcasting rights, frugality also played an important role in the final success of these games.

The hosting of the Asian Games also helped Thailand to emerge from the economic slump. Some experts name these Asian Games the "Thailand Phenomenon".

The Inchon Asian Games are also trying to present a high quality and cost-effective event, and hoping to be a model to follow for the next countries that will host the Asian Games.