Milano-Cortina 2026: The Business Kitchen of the Olympics, Where Stakes Outweigh Sports

February 7, 2026, Milan, Italy. When the flames of the opening ceremony soared above the legendary San Siro stadium, the Winter Olympic Games began for the world. But for the organizing committee, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and hundreds of partner companies, the main match has been underway for a long time. Its playing field is balance sheets and media ratings, and the stakes are measured in billions of dollars and reputational risks. The 2026 Games in Italy are more than just the return of winter sports to Europe. They are a stress test for the entire Olympic business model in an era of climate uncertainty, geopolitics, and media market redistribution. Let’s put aside the skis and skates and examine the financial engine behind the planet’s premier winter show.

The Italian project has been an adventure in the best sense from the start. Two points on the map, separated by 400 kilometers of mountain roads, 25 venues in four clusters—this is the most geographically dispersed project in 130 years of Olympic history. On one hand, it’s a brilliant move: to utilize the existing infrastructure of the Dolomite Alps winter resorts and the logistics hub of Milan, minimizing the notorious “white elephants.” On the other hand, it’s an incredibly complex management and financial puzzle. Its solution will shed light on the question: can the Olympics of the future be decentralized, sustainable, and still profitable?

The Budget Race with Hurdles: From $1.3 to $1.7 Billion and Beyond

The first and most painful topic is money. The original estimate for operational expenses to stage the Games themselves hovered around $1.3 billion (approx. 56 billion UAH*). Today, according to S&P Global, the figure exceeds $1.7 billion (73.3 billion UAH). A nearly one-third increase is, unfortunately, typical for megaprojects of this scale. However, S&P analysts give a surprisingly calm assessment: the overrun will not create critical stress for state budgets. Why? Because the Italian strategy was built from the outset on the principle of “legacy, not monument.”

Key financial injections are directed not at temporary pavilions, but at the long-term modernization of the country. The total volume of state infrastructure investments linked to the Games is estimated at a colossal €3.5 billion (approx. $4.19 billion or £2.7 billion / CA$5.53 billion). This money is transforming the transport arteries of Northern Italy, modernizing telecommunications, and updating sports facilities that will serve for decades. Specific projects look like the estimate of the construction of the century: €118 million ($141.3 million / £91.1 million) for the reconstruction of the legendary bobsleigh track in Cortina, which saw its best days in 1956, and about €300 million ($359.4 million / £231.9 million) for the construction of PalaItalia Santa Giulia—the only new permanent hockey arena, whose readiness for the start, however, was in question until the final days.

The Three Revenue Pillars: Tickets, Television, and Partners Under the Microscope

To justify the expenses, revenue is needed. And here, the 2026 model is a fascinating mix of tradition and experiment.

Tickets. Over a million tickets have been sold for the Olympics and subsequent Paralympics. With entry prices starting from €30 ($35.88 / £23.15), organizers are betting on accessibility, stating that more than half of the tickets cost less than €100 ($119.58 / £77.15). However, the premium segment is alive and well: the final of the men’s hockey tournament will cost the most devoted fans from €450 to €1400 ($538 – $1674 / £347 – £1080), and the closing ceremony in Verona—from €950 to €2900 ($1136 – $3468 / £733 – £2237). For youth, there is an incentive: “two for the price of one” for the cheapest seats at the opening. The Italian government expects two million foreign guests, and Visa reports that one-third of all ticket spending came from fans in the US. This global demand underscores the business opportunities around major sporting events, creating a temporary boom for hospitality and event management specialists worldwide.

Television and Digital. This is the sacred cow of Olympic finances. The American giant NBCUniversal, whose $7.5 billion (£4.84 billion) for the cycle up to 2032 is the cornerstone of the IOC budget, last year extended its contract to 2036, paying an additional $3 billion (£1.94 billion). For NBC, the Games are not only an advertising goldmine but also the main driver of subscriptions for the Peacock streaming service, which saw explosive growth during Paris 2024.

In Europe, we are witnessing a quiet revolution. According to media reports, the media rights for the cycle up to 2032 have been shared between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). This is a paradigm shift: previously, WBD bought all the rights and resold them to national broadcasters itself. Now the EBU, an association of public broadcasters, has gained direct access, guaranteeing widespread free-to-air coverage in key markets. WBD will broadcast everything on Eurosport, Discovery+, and HBO Max. A hybrid model with local partners will be used in Germany, Scandinavia, and Hungary. Italian Rai also secured parallel streaming rights—a unique one-off deal. This is a maneuver by the IOC, seeking to strengthen its presence on traditional TV in the era of total streaming.

Sponsorship: Global Decline and Local Growth. The top tier—The Olympic Partners (TOP) program—is undergoing a painful rotation. After the Paris Games, Intel, Atos, Bridgestone, Panasonic, and Toyota left the program. The departure of several Japanese brands against the backdrop of a series of Asian Olympics is logical. The new recruit is the Chinese tech giant TCL, for which Milano-Cortina will be the first of four Olympics in partnership. The brewing giant AB InBev, encouraged by its success in Paris, extended its contract early.

However, the total revenue of the TOP program, according to Sports Business Journal, fell to $560 million (£361 million)—the lowest figure since 2020. This decline is offset by aggressive development of local sponsorship. The organizing committee set an ambitious target of €550 million ($657.5 million / £424 million) from domestic partners. Eight Italian titans, including energy giant Enel, oil company Eni, financial institution Intesa Sanpaolo, and automaker Stellantis, make up the premium league. About 40 deals have been signed in total. The case of Uber is interesting: its technology will be directly integrated into the Games’ transport logistics to optimize spectator flows. This is a trend: sponsors are increasingly becoming not just payers, but providers of key solutions.

The Great Challenges: The Shadow of Politics and the Fundamental Threat of Climate

No Olympic business plan is protected from the realities of the world. The anticipated presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents has already sparked a wave of protests in Italy. These Games will likely be the last with an active ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes. IOC President Kirsty Coventry, avoiding direct comment, expressed hope that the Games will remain a space free from politics. But her quiet “it’s sad” in response to such talk shows the complexity of the balancing act.

A much more fundamental risk is climate. A World Economic Forum study paints an apocalyptic picture: by 2040, only ten countries in the world will have guaranteed snow cover for hosting the Winter Games. This is a ticking time bomb under all winter sports. By choosing proven locations in the French Alps and Lake Placid for 2030 and 2034, the IOC de facto recognizes the shrinking geography. Moreover, there is active discussion within the IOC about revising the program—more than 450 summer and winter disciplines are being studied. Speculation about including “snowless” sports like cyclocross or cross-country running in the winter program is met with fierce resistance from winter sports federations, which see it as a threat to their identity.

The Games as a Mirror of Global Business

Thus, the Olympics in Milan and Cortina is much more than a sports competition. It is a living laboratory for megaproject management, a stress test for the media industry, a testing ground for new sponsorship models, and a barometer of geopolitical pressure. Its success will be measured not only by the number of gold medals for Team Italy but also by whether it proves the viability of a decentralized, sustainable model under conditions where the very physical existence of the Winter Games is in question.

If the organizers manage the logistical colossus, if spectators in the stadiums and in front of screens create the right atmosphere and television ratings, and if infrastructure investments yield a long-term economic effect for the region—then the model will have a chance for the future. However, if the Games drown in transport chaos, lukewarm TV ratings, and endless talk about costs, the pressure on the Olympic movement will become critical. Tomorrow, the Olympic flame will be lit. But whether the financial and reputational risks will die down after the Games is a big question, the answer to which we will only get in a few years.

* Exchange Rate Note: Conversion is based on rates as of 07.02.2026: 1 USD ≈ 43.14 UAH, 1 EUR ≈ 1.196 USD, 1 GBP ≈ 1.55 USD, 1 CAD ≈ 1.32 USD. Calculations in UAH are approximate and for illustrative purposes only. This information is not financial advice. Current rates can be checked using the currency converter.