Money games: the Sydney event follows two Gay Games that were financial disasters. In a post-9/11 world, Australian organizers' is just to break even. (Gay Games VI Sydney, Australia).

Producing a financially solvent Gay Games has long proved a monumental--if not impossible--task. The 1998 games in Amsterdam was a budgetary disaster, rescued from collapse after the opening ceremonies by a $2.5 million bailout from the city council. Planners of Sydney's Gay Games VI have encountered the added obstacles of a tough global economy and a jittery travel market. Large corporate sponsorship has been light, and just before the deadline, athlete registration numbers are about 3,000 short of the projected 14,000. Still, Peter Bailey, co-chair of the Sydney Gay Games board, remains confident that this installment of the games will end in the black.

What lessons did the Sydney organizers try to learn from past games?

It's been difficult to learn from the past, because the unfortunate circumstances of Amsterdam meant that we didn't really get a lot of historical information passed across. There's quite an obligation for us this time--under our licensing agreement to the [Gay Games] Federation--to make sure that we produce a fairly quantitative report on what we did, the way we staged it, and some of the key learning so that Montreal will have a better transition plan.

In addition to up to 14,000 sports competitors, what spectator attendance do you expect for the games?

We've anticipated some 25,000 additional visitors to Sydney. These will be a combination of partners, family, and friends of participants and people who just want to be in Sydney to attend the events and join in the euphoria of Sydney and Gay Games. We have worked with the [state] agency Tourism New South Wales to calculate that some AU$100 million in additional tourist income will be generated during the games and the week leading up to and afterward.

How do you hope to produce a financially successful Gay Games, given that so many have failed in the past?

If you measure success purely on breakeven, it's going to be an outrageous success here, because that's what we're striving for. The budget is pivotal: We're putting on umbrella events that we don't have to take the [financial] risk in--extending the cultural program in particular and bringing in a conference program. We've absolutely tried to minimize the risk: We can identify how much [each] sport costs us so we know how much we've got to cover to get a reasonable sponsorship out of a corporate or community group. We've spent a lot of time understanding our costs.

You've announced that if the final registration numbers fall short of projections, tough budget cuts may go into effect. How will these cuts affect the games themselves?

We're still going to get 12,000 or 13,000 or 14,000 athletes. That's bigger than the number of athletes who came to the Sydney Olympics. [Whatever the final total] we've always said that the sports would be maintained at the level that we've always committed to. Swimming is still going to be at the Sydney Aquatic Centre, which is exactly where the 2000 Olympics were staged, and track and field is still out there as well as hockey and tennis. About 40% of the athletes will participate at Sydney Olympic Park. But there are some other less strong events in terms of registration--like net ball and some of our [soccer] events--and they're the types of budget [cutting] opportunities that we've got: to see what venues we could move those to without necessarily changing the flavor of the involvement.

The media in Australia have often focused on the lack of cash support from the government.

When this happens we endeavor to provide them with some of the details of the noncash budget-relieving assistance we get, which we're enormously appreciative of. They've provided us with our office accommodations, some 30 staff, discounts at a number of venues [including the Sydney Olympic Park], and discounts on participants' travel passes during the games.

Why do you think it's been so difficult to obtain large corporate sponsorships for the Gay Games?

I think it's a combination. It's an accident of timing, in some respects. We had September 11, and people got really nervous about traveling. A lot of it's just the Australian market; a lot of it's just the history of the Gay Games and the last two events not having broken even--sponsors are somewhat skeptical. We'll soon be making announcements about some sponsors that we've brought on [in recent weeks]. The product is now very tangible. It's only a couple of months away. The excitement's growing. The word is out there, and there's a level of confidence building.