I think in the semi-near future, probably 20 years out but maybe as soon as 10 years out, the only financially viable models will be:
- A whole country bidding for the Olympics, but with multiple cities within that country hosting different events
- Multiple countries forming a “consortium” and bidding as one unit, sharing costs between them
With the power of digital editing these days, there’s really not even a need to hold the parade of nations in one location anymore. Just have each country’s athletes stationed at separate 400 meter running tracks, have the organizers ask that country’s athletes to come out on cue when their scheduled time slot is on, and edit the footage into one large parade for global broadcast, with the grandiose stadium of choice and throngs of cheering spectators digitally superimposed in the background.
After the parade is over, put the athletes on flights to whatever cities are holding the competitions for their respective sports. Should be vastly cheaper for a bidder to only have to buy flight tickets, than for them to build out sports infrastructure which didn’t exist previously.