[seanflyon]

> I suspect that splitting the events N ways would result in per-host costs of greater than 1/N times the single-host cost

I suspect the opposite. Many cities and nations have the infrastructure to support a 1/N sized event with little to no investment. If events are hosted by cities that already have the facilities then costs consist of things like borrowing extra buses from nearby cities and paying overtime for police which seem negligible compared to current Olympic costs.

> per-host perceived benefits of less than 1/N times the single-host benefits

This rings true for me and I would add that the total esteem of the Olympic games would diminish. I think that it would be in the interest of host nations to split up the games, but against the interest of the International Olympic Committee.