It's been almost a year since the 2006 Gay Games took place in the beautiful city of Chicago. Following the trend that had been set by the previous three events, it looked as though all the efforts and hours of man power to pull off the large scale gay and lesbian sporting festival were for not, and again the Games were going to end with a huge deficit. But after selling videos, and several post games fundraisers, Chicago Games Inc. who sponsored the event, announced this week that the event was in fact a success.
Since its inception in 1982, the Gay Games have been the bright shining star for the gay sports community, and the quadrennial event has grown in size and scale attracting more athletes and spectators along the way. Unfortunately the past 4 events have finished in the red, and critics have said that the size may be the problem.
Gay Games VII had an even bigger problem when they faced the challenge of competing with another large scale event, the Montreal Outgames, which was being held only weeks later. The committee, however, was determined to succeed and created a business model which increased corporate partnerships, and volunteer participation to help offset costs.
Although not technically a financial success, the organization did release details this week to the Windy City Times that the event had broke even, which was a huge improvement over previous competitions. This news will hopefully help the 2010 event, which will take place in Cologne, Germany, to stay on the right track.
