(Reuters) – The 2030 Commonwealth Games were expected to be a grand celebration of the event’s centenary in Canada, the same country that hosted the first edition of the multi-sport quadrennial event a hundred years ago.
However, doubts arose about the future of the Games on Thursday when the province of Alberta withdrew its support for a bid, dealing another blow to the embattled Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).
This announcement follows the recent withdrawal of Australian state Victoria from hosting the 2026 Games due to budget overruns, and Hamilton, Ontario suspending its bid earlier this year, despite being the host of the inaugural Games in 1930.
Experts have cautioned that these withdrawals could have significant implications for the Games.
“I think it’s a devastating blow. It really raises very serious questions about the short-term and long-term sustainability of these Games,” said Australian sports historian Matthew Klugman.
Victoria withdrew due to projected cost overruns, prompting Alberta’s decision to pull out, according to Commonwealth Sport Canada.
“The strongest reason for the withdrawals is financial. The expense of hosting a Commonwealth Games in any country is significant,” said Cary Kaplan, president of Canadian marketing firm Cosmos Sports & Entertainment.
“Supporting these events regionally or nationally is harder than ever financially, which is a shame. There is less appetite among citizens for large international sporting events, and politicians are aware of that.”
With the sports calendar already packed, organizers are facing fierce competition for attention, especially with longer events that struggle to maintain an audience over several days.
“It’s clear that the Commonwealth Games has been declining in significance, particularly in the key English-speaking nations of Canada, Australia, and Great Britain,” Klugman noted.
The television rights, a primary source of income for international sports events, for the Commonwealth Games pale in comparison to the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, leading to budget deficits for national and local governments.
The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, though touted as “incredibly successful” with over 1.4 million tickets sold, still falls far behind the Paris Olympics’ expectation of close to 10 million tickets sold.
“The marketing footprint they are dealing with is a major challenge,” said Michael Payne, former International Olympic Committee marketing chief and current sports media strategist. “Unlike the Olympic Games, they don’t have many major markets that can generate broadcasting revenues like Canada, Australia, and the UK do.”
Despite the market disparity, Payne believes that the Commonwealth Games cannot be dismissed. “Birmingham ended up being very successful, so rumors of its demise are somewhat premature,” he stated.
Concerns still surround the marketing of the Games, with Canadian broadcasters and sponsors showing lukewarm interest. “The relevance of the Commonwealth is in decline, especially with the passing of Queen Elizabeth. This will erode the Games’ relevance unless marketing and branding efforts are intensified in the future,” Kaplan added.
“From a Canadian perspective, there isn’t much discussion about the importance of this event. These recent withdrawals should serve as a wake-up call,” he warned.
In recent years, the Games’ colonial origins have faced criticism, and with the passing of Queen Elizabeth, some believe the event has run its course.
However, completely discarding the Games may not be the best path forward, as it remains important for smaller nations.
“Wealthy countries that benefited from colonialism may now be bringing an end to a sporting contest that holds more significance for countries whose wealth was extracted during that era,” Klugman suggested. “(The Games) could be one of many different ways of trying to redistribute the wealth that resulted from those colonial acts.”
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann and Aadi Nair, editing by Ed Osmond)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
