Oh, the Games themselves were probably run at a loss, yes, that would not be a big surprise to me. I meant it more in terms of what it brings to the rest of the economy - spectators from interstate and overseas have to book rooms at hotels, eat at restaurants, do duty free shopping, etc.
Because it's run mostly from Government money, they're willing to take a bit of a loss in exchange for businesses doing more business and paying more tax.
I can only assume the Swimming Championships are expected to do fairly well for tourism as well, else I can't see why they'd be scheduled during what is usually MICF time.
Think maybe we need a topic dedicated to this rather than talking in two threads. Oops.