Rising income from admission fees, membership dues, and the museum's very substantial merchandising operations have helped to offset the lost governmental support, and the current, four-hundred-million-dollar fund drive has already raised more than half that amount, with a couple of years to run.
But the programme and its Twitter account, and substantial range of merchandise, are part of a wider cultural malaise in our society.
Add in sales of beer, food and merchandise, and substantial profits are at stake.
"Whilst prior to the games, major account listings for our products were strong, and consumer purchases were encouraging, the major retailers had also purchased substantial quantities of London 2012 merchandise from other licensees," he said.
In fact, songwriters' earnings are more directly tied to album sales than those of recording artists, who can potentially earn substantial sums through live concerts and merchandise sales.
Deceased artists, celebrities and rumpled physicists can generate substantial revenue for their heirs through merchandising and endorsement deals.
In 1997, having amassed substantial revenues from the film and its merchandising, the studio negotiated to extend its partnership with Disney.
The firm also has substantial interests in theme parks, toy-making and merchandise, along with sports broadcaster ESPN and TV network ABC.
Including corporate sponsorships and merchandise sales, the game generates a profit in the "substantial seven figures," John Collins, the league's chief operating officer, said last year.
