Britain targets 'greatest decade' of 100 sporting events to stave off Super League threats
British sport is aiming to spearhead the national Covid-recovery by hosting almost 100 different major sporting events over the next decade, including the 2030 World Cup, at a potential £7 billion boost to the economy.
The figures, revealed by UK Sport, are part of a wider strategy to keep Team GB in the top five of the medals table at the Olympics and Paralympics but also preserve the preeminence of traditional international sport in the face of ‘Super League’ proposals in football and golf.
Simon Morton, the chief operating officer at UK Sport, has been working with sports bodies and the UK government on a target list of events that could be staged in Britain. He said that there was a firm belief that “huge shared moments have a role to play in our Covid recovery” both economically and socially. Following recent moves in both football and golf to challenge existing sports structures with new privately funded ventures, he also stressed the importance of safeguarding traditional sport between nations.
“The wider issues for us in the Super League are really more about the bigger macro threat there is to international sport we've seen over the last few years – the rise of private money and private equity quite aggressively challenging some of the established sporting properties and actually threatening, I guess, sport between nations, and the preeminence of sport between nations,” said Morton.
“That's of real interest to us and it's one of the reasons why our organisation is investing into international sport and is investing into the sort of list of events we've shared. We believe they have real value.”
Of the 97 targeted events, 22 have already been secured, including European Championships in football for men and women over the next 14 months, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, this year’s rugby league World Cup, the combined World Cycling Championships in 2023 and the Champions League final of 2024.
The targets cover 44 sports and 46 world championships, with an estimated reach of 13 million spectators at an economic benefit to the country of £7 billion.
Morton said that the UK had a ratio of around 80 per cent in successfully bidding for international sporting events and UK Sport hailed what can become "the greatest decade of extraordinary sporting moments".
Referencing a “significantly more transparent bid process” for Fifa’s 2030 World Cup, Morton said that there was confidence “things have the potential to be different this time” amid an ongoing feasibility study.
With talk already over a potential bid to again host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2036 or 2040, Morton also confirmed that “the return of the Games is in our long-term thinking” but stressed that there had been no talks with Government on the idea.
In a continuation of the ‘medals and more’ mantra that has coincided with a series of athlete welfare scandals, UK Sport’s new strategic plan also highlights the message to “win well with integrity and inclusivity”.
Chief executive Sally Munday said there was no trade-off between the highest standards of athlete welfare and sporting success. There was, however, a tacit acknowledgement that Team GB is now brushing against the ceiling of its realistic medal potential. A continuous progression from 15 medals and 36th in the summer Olympics medal table at Atlanta to 67 medals and second at Rio de Janeiro four years ago is the backdrop for a target of remaining in the top five medal winners over the next decade.
Dame Katherine Grainger, the chair of UK Sport, said that sport had a “unique responsibility” and stressed that individual sports could lose funding if there was a reluctance to implement safeguards over athlete welfare.
Nigel Huddleston, the sports minister, said that sport was “pivotal” to the pandemic recovery and that the UK could become the “destination of choice for the world's greatest sporting events”.
