Mike Agostini, “Promoter sees profit in Games,”
The Sun-Herald, April 17, 1977, p. 93.

Olympic committee of one
The 1988 Olympic Games in Sydney are not only feasible but a profit-making venture well within the capabilities and facilities of the city.

But it would have to be organised on a full professional basis with a committee of one — one man to call the shots, to handle the ups and downs without fear and with only favour of a full dictatorship over the Mighty Dollar.

There would be few men who could take on such a mammoth task and one of them could be advertising agent-extraordinaire, John Singleton, a man whose flair — and 10 per cent cut — could create a new meaning to the staging of Olympic Games.

But would Singleton “take over” that one-man committee? For about $5 million he would be quite happy to be the Decision-maker. And here Olympian Mike Agostini extracts Singleton’s thoughts on the Sydney Games of 1988 — a project now almost forgotten because few can face up to the billions of dollars they think will be needed.

John Singleton, Rugby League’s No 1 promoter, would relish the opportunity of promoting the Olympic Games in Sydney in 11 years’ time to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the founding of NSW. The man who made his fortune from Ocker advertising on television said:

I don’t believe that the Games should be held here because it will put Sydney, and Australia, on the map and so give licence for the Government to spend hundreds or thousands of millions of dollars of the people’s money.

Sure I think it’s worthwhile and all that because it is the biggest sporting event in the world, but that’s no reason to get involved unless you can make a profit.

Singleton, founder of the Progress Party, which advocates less government involvement and more individual initiative for personal gain in almost every aspect of life, believes he could solve the problem facing Sydney, and Australia, regarding the proposed hosting of the 1988 Games in Sydney.

The original Sydney Games Committee, headed by former Lord Mayor Sir Nicholas Shehadie, recently ground to a stuttering halt all because of a lack of guarantees from either State or Federal Governments of finance and general support for the project. About a month ago the committee considered disbanding in the face of its failure to win government support.

And no wonder, with sums as high as $1,000 million being plucked from the many nebulous ideas which include such things as the building, from scratch, of a major sporting complex and housing for competitors on government-owned land at Homebush Bay.

You have to make use of existing facilities and think of the Games as a oncer as far as the competition itself, otherwise costs will get out of hand, and you’ll have another Opera House.

Update existing facilities for the Games, take them over for the period required and leave whatever benefits you add for the people who own or control such facilities afterwards.

Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to start a new development at Homebush Bay, Singleton would use the Sydney Cricket Ground, E. S. Marks Field, the Showground, the Sydney Sports Ground, North Sydney Olympic Pool and maybe even Randwick Racecourse to stage the Games.

Finance would come from television, as would the anticipated profit.

I understand that Moscow will get more than $100 million just for the television rights in 1980.

By 1988 the same rights would have to be worth about $200 million.

Give me those rights and I’ll spend $100 million updating facilities and still have another hundred million to play with.

Even if it took $50 million to run the Games, you’d still have a nice neat profit to make it all worthwhile.

For just 10 per cent of that, say $5 million, I’d be happy to handle the Games, but it would have to be a one-man show so far as the decision-making goes.

You’d have to get complete government co-operation in most areas, so that if you decide to use some public facility, you’ve got it with no hassles.

You’ll need good men to work with you under your instruction, feeding back information and carrying out projects to ensure success, but I think it would work if you got the right people.

You also need people who can think in big numbers without fear, but who also do so realistically. Big numbers are only little one with lots of noughts following them.

Kerry Packer of Consolidated Press, Gerry Harvey of Norman Ross Discounts or Peter Sheean of David’s Holdings are three people I know who could make the whole thing work. Even Paul Dainty, the showbusiness entrepreneur, could do it.

So could I and I’d love to have a go at it.

The aura of success and achievement exudes everywhere around Singleton.

He lives on the waterfront at Rose Bay, travels interstate and overseas frequently, mixes with most of the names who make news and money.

His current sporting project is with the Newtown Jets, where he updated Henson Park, at least in the members’ grandstand area, also bringing such things as fine food and drink, big bands and other showbiz pizzaz to Rugby League’s normally bland and uninspiring backdrops.

Singleton is now involved with the Australian Rugby League in promoting what could become the code’s annual equivalent of cricket’s recent Centenary Test, among other things.

He has tickets being sold in supermarkets and plans to make the Anzac weekend round into a show business spectacular, but with football the main attraction.

He is personally financing the return of some of League’s recent greats who will tour country centres, as the travelling Jets team, and play demonstration matches against local sides.

All because it’s fun and he can see a potential profit.

“I like football and love making a profit, so why not tie the two,” Singleton said.

Singleton doesn’t want to sit on the Sydney 1988 Committee.

“It’s got to be essentially a one-man show, aimed at making profits and nothing else, otherwise all you do is sit and talk,” he said.

The committee already has some people on it who can think and talk in little numbers with lots of noughts behind them. Like Mick Grace, joint managing director of Grace Bros., and Ted Harris, managing director designate of Ampol Petroleum.

The only problem is such people are there for altruistic reasons rather than for profit-making.

We have the facilities, our sporting administrators can run the Games, all we need is housing.

Perhaps the Government could give some of the land so abundantly available around Sydney to developers who are willing to provide the housing for competitors free of charge, in return for having the land later free of charge.

That way they’d also be doing it for profit, so they would do it well.

Suggestions like these would sound like more pie in the sky coming from anyone else but John Singleton. He says he’d like to look more closely at the facts and figures before getting involved, but then as a committee of one, calling all the shots, he could just make the idea of the Olympics for Sydney in 1988 work, if anyone can.

[Note to Economics.org.au readers: See also the “Olympic Games” entry in Singo’s 1977 book Rip Van Australia.]