The Business of The Commonwealth Games

With 72 different nations and territories set to compete for glory this time around, the 2022 games are set to be the biggest ever with 280 different events across 20 sports scheduled to take place over a two-week period.

So What Does It Cost To Host The Games

In what would have been the first time the games were hosted in Africa, Durban initially secured the right to host the games, as they were the sole bidder for the event. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) spent between R98 and R120-million to bid for the games

The host city of Durban then failed to make the first installment of R24-million (£1.5-million) for hosting the event and it then emerged that KwaZulu-Natal would not be able to pay the R500-odd-million it initially promised for the Games.

This led to an announcement on 13 March 2017 when the CGF officially stripped Durban of their rights to host the Games.

Birmingham To the Rescue

In June 2019, the British Government announced that the event will cost £778 million. The British Government will cover the 75% (£594 million) and Birmingham City Council will cover the rest 25% (£184 million). The budget is lower than the £967 million spent on the Gold Coast 2018, but higher than the £543 million spent on the Glasgow 2014.

Birmingham 2022 set to be the most expensive sporting event in the UK since the 2012 Summer Olympics in London which cost £8.8 billion.

Will Birmingham Benefit Economically

Birmingham is estimated to undergo a £1.2 billion economic uplift as a result of hosting the Games, as well as an additional £500 million in a one-off construction benefit. The current Gross Value added (GVA) in the West Midlands is approximately £126 billion and this means that the region will experience a 1.6% increase to the GVA from hosting the Commonwealth Games.

GVA is a productivity metric that measures the contribution of a corporate subsidiary, company, or municipality to an economy. With a £778 million investment to stage the Games, the event is hoped to be a catalyst for economic transformation across the West Midlands. An additional £46 million has been spent on tourism and infrastructure development throughout Birmingham in preparation.

A 2018 report by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) evaluating the benefits and costs of hosting the Commonwealth Games, has revealed that staging the competition has consistently provided an economic boost of over £1 billion for previous host cities.

Additionally the report found that hosting the Games boosts local, regional and national GDP as well as led to increases in tourism of up to 25% in the three years after hosting. Gold Coast 2018 has demonstrated the biggest uplift of £1.2 billion, followed by Manchester 2002 (£1.1 billion), Melbourne 2006 (£1 billion) and Glasgow 2014 (£0.8 billion)

Broadscasters And Sponsors

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) signed up to be the Domestic Broadcast Rights Holder and will broadcast Birmingham 2022 events on television and radio and provide online coverage for the home nations. SuperSport has picked up rights to broadcast the games in South Africa while Kenyan state broadcaster KBC will be the exclusive free-to-air broadcaster in that country.

From a sponsorship point of view, four new sponsors were announced in June as Lucozade were named the Official Sports Drink, Brentwood the Official Commercial Property Development Provider and Airbnb as the Official Hosting Provider.

The SASCOC Budget And Bonuses

In terms of the SASCOC budget, the estimated expenditure is set to be R14 298 500 with a travel grant of R524.95 per person.; the total required amount will be R10 770 534 and the estimated income is R3 527 966.  The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) has allocated R12 009 000 to SASCOC for the 2022/2023 calendar period.

Costs for competition and non-competition wear will be fully covered by Mr Price. While it is unknown what the cost will be this year, the company provided R678 026,88 for the attire at the Tokyo Olympics where the total SASCOC budget was R15.4 million.

South African medallists and their coaches at Birmingham 2022 are set to receive financial rewards from the country’s Government depending on their level of success.

Gold medallists will be given R60,000 while their coaches will receive R10,000. Silver medallists and their coaches will take home R35,000 and R7,500 respectively while bronze medallists are set to receive R20,000 with their coaches offered R5,000.

South Africa is the most successful African country in the top ten nations in the history of the Commonwealth Games with 389 medals followed by Kenya with 237 and Nigeria with 236 medals.

The country has averaged roughly 33 medals per Games since Kuala Lumpur in 1998 with the 45 medals attained in Manchester in 2002 being the highest medal tally. This years gold, silver and bronze medals all feature a design that symbolises the road and canal network in the West Midlands. They have been designed by three students from Birmingham School of Jewellery and made by a firm based in the city’s Jewellery Quarter. The medals also incorporate textured elements to make them more accessible for athletes with a visual impairment.

South Africa will also send teams in men’s and women’s hockey, netball, sevens rugby (men and women), as well as participants in the athletics events and swimming, among other disciplines. In 2018 Team South Africa won 37 medals — 18 gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze. They will be intent on improving that in Birmingham.