Hamburg has voted against bidding for the Olympics 2024 at a referendum held over the past weekend. One of the reasons Hamburg’s City Hall pushed the bid was the further development of the Northern German city. They probably had in mind how much Munich has profited from the Olympics held in 1972. Here is how and why Munich keeps the memory of the Olympics alive, and how the city still profits from the Games.
For over four decades (since the Olympics 1972), the Olympic park has been a platform for a wide spectrum of event and leisure facilities. The Olympiapark Olympic area is located in the north of the capital of the Free State of Bavaria and is managed by a company owned to 100% by the City of Munich, the Olympiapark München GmbH. The company takes care of the maintenance of the venues facilities, buildings and outside areas of the park and also runs the park and various venues within it. Its responsibilities also include the preservation of the unique architecture such as the Olympic tent roof as a hallmark of the city and at the same time gear the venues facilities towards the future. The Olympiapark München GmbH employs some 120 people.
The company’s motto is: Think and act in a creative, innovative, economic as well as customer- and future- oriented way. Its main tasks consist of acquiring and/or generating new events, keeping leisure facilities up-to-date and ensuring that the venues are in state-of-the-art condition. Its main task is to incorporate Munich's Olympic legacy into daily life.
The Olympiapark München GmbH organises events, takes care of PR and media relations, incentives, catering services, ticket sale and marketing with partners like Arena One GmbH or München Ticket GmbH (also owned by the City of Munich).
To secure and further extend the extraordinary diversity of leisure facilities and the economic existence of the Olympic park in the future, the company cooperates with the a pool of sponsors (currently Adidas, HypoVereinsbank, BMW, Coca-Cola, Langnese, Münchner Brauereien, Leonardo Hotels and Stadtwerke Muenchen) which benefit from the fascination and the high experience value of the Olympic park. At the same time, the financial means obtained by the partnerships are used for acquiring new, attracting top events and for improving the park’s infrastructure. The Olympic park area is now an integral part of the city's sporting, cultural, natural and entertainment life.
You can find additional Olympiapark info here.
