Organized once every four years, the Olympic Games are like a mega festival for athletes across different sporting divisions. However, contrary to this, a new opinion has now come to the fore. Joe Rogan, the host of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast, has recently claimed that the Olympics are a scam.

As per a post added by the official X handle of the Enhanced Games, Joe Rogan was seen speaking to Dr. Aron D’Souza and Christian Angermayer, co-founders of the Enhanced Games. In the 38-second video added to the post, Joe Rogan is seen stating that the “Olympics is kind of a scam.” He adds that it generates billions of dollars in revenue, but the people who are there to perform make almost none of that.

Agreeing to the point that Joe Rogan just pointed out, Angermayer remarked, “That’s correct.” However, Dr. D’Souza pitched in with a detailed explanation. “Actually the International Olympic Committee doesn’t pay any of the athletes,” he mentioned. So then what is the source of income that athletes rely on? Well, D’Souza clarifies that too. He says some athletes may incidentally get money in the form of sponsorships or from their National Olympic Committee.

Shedding light on what appears a dark reality, Dr. D’Souza then cites, “But ultimately, billions of dollars in revenue come into the Olympics and none of that goes to the athletes.” Pinpointing the detours that the Olympics money apparently makes, he explains, “It gets wasted building stadiums. It gets wasted paying officials.” Towards the end, he chimes in with how such gaps inspired them to build a ‘better, more honest model that inspires us to believe in the future of science and technology in the 21 century.’ 

But this isn’t the first time the Enhanced Games have called out the Olympics. Let’s look at yet another incident of the same vein.

Much before Joe Rogan’s claim, Enhanced Games had questioned the IOC

Back in 2015, the automobile giant Toyota had decided to invest in the Olympic Games. The deal signed between IOC and its news partner was estimated at a weighty $835,000,000. They had mentioned that Toyota T&T Limited will help the Olympic Committee to prepare for the Tokyo Games. However, recently Toyota called a halt to this partnership. Seizing in the opportunity provided by this split, Enhanced Games pointed a finger at the IOC.

Posting a tweet from their X account, Enhanced Games launched a question at them publically, “Where are the $835,000,000 @Olympics?” Drawing in their inference from what transpired, they further claimed, “Toyota unhappy the way sponsorship money was used by the IOC… the money was not used effectively to support athletes and promote sports.” They further tossed in a reassurance, “At the @enhanced_games, athletes will be fairly paid.”

Time and again this question has popped to the forefront. And now Joe Rogan has lent his voice to the claim regarding athlete’s not getting money during the Olympics. Who do you think is posing a valid point here? Let us know in the comments.