By David Dodson

Not unlike Billy Payne's dream of bringing the Olympics to Atlanta, Jeff Humphreys's first study of the Games' economic impact was an act of faith.

When Humphreys completed the first draft of the impact study in 1990, Juan Antonio Samaranch had yet to announce that "the city of . . . Atlanta" would be host for the 1996 Olympics.

"If Atlanta hadn't won the bid, nobody would have cared what the results were," Humphreys says of the first special project he took after joining the university's economic forecasting center.

But within moments after Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, made the memorable announcement in Tokyo, scores of media and business people began calling Humphreys. What they wanted to know was: "Exactly how big is the Olympics?" And they haven't stopped calling.

Humphreys and economic consultant Michael Plummer have collaborated on two updates to the original study. In the most recent update, which was released this past July, the authors estimated the Centennial Olympic Games will have an economic impact of $5.1İbillion on Georgia's economy. 5,100,000,000 dollars. With so many zeroes, Humphreys says, it's hard to comprehend, but he offers another way to look at it: the Olympics' impact is the equivalent of the impact of 31 Super Bowls.

Spending by the Olympic organizers will generate $2.6 billion, and another $2.5 billion will come from out-of-state visitors before and during the Games. In Athens alone, spectators will spend $51İmillion coming to the university¼s venues. Statewide, more than 77,000 full- and part-time jobs are being created, producing nearly $2 billion in added earnings. And hosting the Olympics will boost state tax revenues by $176 million.

Using the impact study
But who really concerns themselves with the economic numbers produced by the Centennial Games? Aside from the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, which commissioned the impact study, a lot of professionals tapping into the big event--such as real estate firms, industrial developers and market consultants--have used it.

Even a lesson plan published by the National Council on Economic Education and used by many of the nation's high school economics teachers adapted the study to teach students why a city like Atlanta would want to spend money to host the Olympic Games. And in the past year, the study has been added to the Selig Center's web site (http://www.selig.uga.edu), expanding access to a global audience.

Beyond measurable dollars

"The Olympics will showcase the state," he says. "During the Games, Georgia will be the stage upon which many of the world's leaders and decision makers will walk.

"The opportunity to foster long-term business relationships will be enormous. The long-term beneficial effects on decisions concerning investments, trade, corporate relocations, government spending, convention sites, the location of major sporting events and vacation plans will likely be among the most enduring, yet statistically untraceable, legacies of the Games."