After enough pleading and promises to make a desperate boyfriend seem hard to get, the International Olympic Committee thought it had the final list of candidates that would compete to host the 2024 Summer Olympics: Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Budapest, and—a last-minute substitute for Boston—Los Angeles. But then, late last year, Hamburg said no thanks, leaving four organizing committees in four cities who say they really, really want the Games. So now we wait. And wait.

In the meantime, there will be two years of politicking, schmoozing, and wining and dining. (The IOC promises there won’t be any outright bribery this time, unlike with past Olympic beauty contests like Salt Lake City.) Then, two years from now, in September of 2017, IOC pooh-bahs will meet in Lima, Peru, and, to great fanfare, announce the lucky winner. There will be scenes of jubilation among the assembled campaign workers from the city that prevails.

The heartache of remorse will take a while to settle in.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti is absolutely sure there will be no heartache if L.A. ends up winning. He says he’s thrilled about the idea of subbing for Boston, whose citizens wisely balked at the enormous financial uncertainty of hosting. In what must be some sort of record for speedy government action, a motion was introduced before the L.A. city council to authorize Garcetti and council president Herb Wesson to signed a $7.7 billion deal for U.S. rights through 2032.

Olympic “partners” like Coke, Dow, GE, and McDonald’s pay about $200 million each for “exclusive global marketing rights and opportunities within a designated product or service category,” according to the IOC. They also get the full courtship experience from the host committee, including increasingly elaborate “marketing partner hospitality centers,” VIP retreats where companies and their executives can entertain guests and reward clients.

IOC chief Thomas Bach has issued what he calls Agenda 2020, promising reforms, transparency, sustainability, and financial help for hosting cities. But the IOC has been reforming itself for decades, notably after the Salt Lake City bribery scandal. And awarding the Winter Games to Beijing is hardly sustainable. The fact remains that cities willing to promise the moon to the IOC will continue to win hosting rights.

Cities prepared to do that are increasingly cities located in countries wishing to show off, while residents have little chance to object.

This, then, could be the future of the Olympics: insane locations where governments are happy to risk a sizable chunk of city and national treasure to host what amounts to a prepackaged reality show for TV. Don’t be surprised to see a Winter Games in a Middle Eastern sheikdom. Qatar has shown that it’s willing to work migrant labor to death FIFA’s World Cup, and Dubai has constructed ski slopes.

You might object by arguing that if countries like the U.S., Norway, Canada, Australia, and other democracies don’t offer to host, then we’ve left the IOC no choice but to accept offers from places like China.

Let them have it. Let them build white-elephant stadiums and Potemkin villages. We’ve got schools and bridges to raise, teachers to pay, parks to create and maintain. The United States doesn’t need the Olympics.

Brian Alexander (@brianralexander) is a frequent contributor to Outside.