The "city" (government) often loses money on these events, but it is typically a huge influx of capital for businesses in the area. I found the numbers for Expo

The "city" (government) often loses money on these events, but it is typically a huge influx of capital for businesses in the area. I found the numbers for Expo '86 for example... Revenues: $491m Expenditures : $802m Deficit : $311m Economic contribution :$3,700m https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_86#Facts_and_figures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_86#Facts_and_figures