News
2006-10-14
Gay Games tries
to make up for shortfall
The Gay Games has
been plagued by financial shortfalls following several
previous events, and this year was no exception. But
organ
The Gay Games has
been plagued by financial shortfalls following several
previous events, and this year was no exception. But
organizers of this year's Games in Chicago say they
have a plan to fill the gap.
With a $200,000
budget shortfall on an event that was predicted to at
least break even, organizers are selling off all of their
assets to make up the difference, the Chicago
Tribune reports. The massive signs from opening
and closing ceremonies and the very desks where
workers plotted the event that brought a world of gay
and lesbian athletes to Chicago this summer can be anyone's
for the right price, they say.
By shedding these
assets and soliciting donations, organizers who ran the
Games on a $10 million cash budget say they will get back to
zero or maybe even generate a slight surplus by the
spring. Either way, Gay Games leaders say they have
proved the event doesn't need to be a notorious
money-loser.
Kevin Boyer, a
spokesman for Chicago Games Inc., the local nonprofit that
staged the event, told the Tribune there is
little chance the Chicago Games won't at least break even.
He acknowledged that some bills have been paid a bit
slowly but insisted there will be no financial losers
when the final tally is done. "The question was
always, Would we be able to break even without asking for a
little money from the community?" he said. "Of course we
would prefer if we didn't have to raise additional
money, but we're pleased it's modest."
Boyer told the
Tribune the Chicago Games had been on
track to break even but were set back by a heat wave early
in the Games. Last-minute spending on water, ice,
drivers, and trucks resulted in additional costs,
he said. "These events have some wild cards in them
all along," Boyer said. "You get a massive heat wave
and ensure the health of the athletes, then let the dust
settle."
The Chicago Games
assets will be sold at warehouse sales at two Brown
Elephant stores, resale shops that benefit Chicago's Howard
Brown Health Center. Available items will include
country and state banners used at opening and closing
ceremonies, T-shirts, posters, pins, music CDs, and
furniture. "We plan to have a lot of fun with that," Boyer
said. "And it will lower the bills." (The
Advocate)
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