Tokyo Olympics organizers say will cut costs by $280M

A lantern containing the Olympic flame is seen during an event to mark one year until the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the National Stadium in Tokyo on July 23, 2020.  (Photo by Du Xiaoyi / POOL / AFP)

The cost of the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo Olympics will be slashed by $280 million, organizers said Wednesday, touting a scaled-back, less flashy Games, with cuts to everything from staffing to pyrotechnics.

But the final cost of the event — officially budgeted before the pandemic at 1.3 trillion yen ($12 billion) — remains unclear because additional expenses caused by the postponement have not yet been made public.

“Tokyo 2020 believes that this work will help to create a model for future global events including forthcoming Games amid the new normal in which we now live,” organizers said in a statement after a presentation to the International Olympic Committee Executive Board.

They said they would put out an updated budget, including additional costs linked to postponement and coronavirus counter-measures, by the end of the year.

Plans for a lower-key event were unveiled in late September, with measures including fewer free tickets, scrapping athlete welcome ceremonies, and savings on banners, mascots and pyrotechnics.

The size of behind-the-scenes delegations at the less opulent event will be reduced by 10 to 15 percent, and perks also cut back, organizers and Olympic officials have said.

The 2020 Games were postponed earlier this year as the deadly new coronavirus spread around the globe, and are now set to open on July 23, 2021.

With many countries experiencing second or even third waves of infection, there have been doubts about whether the event can be staged, but organizers and Olympic officials insist it can be done safely.

If held at all, the final shape of the Games remains unclear, with questions including whether spectators will be allowed — including foreign visitors — yet to be resolved.

Organizers have made clear that at the very least it will be a more sober event that the usually exuberant spectacle staged around the world.

“As we’re in the COVID-19 world, are we in a world where the flashy event that we used to think of as normal before is still suitable? We’ve reached a turning point in this regard,” Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said Wednesday.