Only a game?

Vast sporting events always present a complex risk profile with many stakeholders as well as the general public feeling exposed to risks of one kind or another. As such it also creates a lot of opportunity for the risk profession in more ways than may at first appear.

It goes without saying that the biggest risk is of the games being cancelled or disrupted. The IOC is reported to have secured £62M in anti-terror cover for London 2012, although that would be less than one fifth of the likely loss were the games to be cancelled.

Less obvious are all the other exposures, including corporate hospitality packages and the logistics of getting spectators from West to East London. It can be better to see an international event like the Olympics as a complex series of smaller events each with a familiar array of associated risks.