RE: I don’t know of any city that has come out ahead being an Olympic host city.
I found one Olympic host city that actually came out with a profit. It’s LOS ANGELES in 1984 under the management of Peter Ueberroth.
See here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ueberroth#The_1984_Olympics
Under the heading : The 1984 Olympics
“For five years Ueberroth served as the organizer of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. He was a prominent figure in the games, receiving the Olympic Order in gold at its conclusion. Due to the success of the games, he was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1984. Under Ueberroth’s leadership and management, the first privately financed Olympic Games resulted in a surplus of nearly $250 million. This was subsequently used to support youth and sports activities throughout the United States.”
Yep, Salt Lake City made 101-million. There have been a few. Barcelona and Sydney claimed to have broken even, but those were just the committeees. Overall, they cost money.