It strikes me that there are two arguments around events.
One is whether you as a country benefit, as in you get to promote a sport, get the nation exercised and maybe do well in the contest, i.e the women's rugby.
Or do you gain merely by being host, i.e the FIFA Women's World Cup we are seeing at the moment. There is no great expectation around the host's performance but you gain by having tourists, the money they spend and the pictures of your country beamed out to the world.
The trouble with the Commonwealth Games, is it isn't the World Cup or anywhere close to it.
We also know the cost to be several billion dollars, that's Alberta's figure. The figure for Victoria is shrouded in dodgy behaviour, as far as I can see. But when they pulled the pin, they claimed a figure north of $6 billion.
Now, this isn't the right time to be asking this given the economic mess we are in, but it is fair to say we don’t have the money, or anywhere close to it.
Obviously the idea is to make money. In other words you don’t actually need the money because you will profit from the event. But you have to seriously question whether that is now true, given no one seems to want to host the games.
Which brings us to the biggest red flag of all - demand.
Alberta and Victoria aren't the first instances of people not wanting to host the event. Birmingham got to be host last time because Durban pulled out.
Just how many times do people have to pull out and how many times do organisers have to scramble, before a country like ours works out the numbers don’t add up? The competition itself clearly isn't of significant enough size and importance to take the risk.
Even the Olympic Games has now reached a point where it is broadly accepted only a handful of cities around the planet have the size and facilities to sensibly host the thing without going bust.
Yet, as we sit here this morning, we are still keen for a good old exploration of possibilities for 2034. Why?
When virtually the entire Commonwealth is saying no, why are we the last one standing?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
Or do you gain merely by being host, i.e the FIFA Women's World Cup we are seeing at the moment. There is no great expectation around the host's performance but you gain by having tourists, the money they spend and the pictures of your country beamed out to the world.
The trouble with the Commonwealth Games, is it isn't the World Cup or anywhere close to it.
We also know the cost to be several billion dollars, that's Alberta's figure. The figure for Victoria is shrouded in dodgy behaviour, as far as I can see. But when they pulled the pin, they claimed a figure north of $6 billion.
Now, this isn't the right time to be asking this given the economic mess we are in, but it is fair to say we don’t have the money, or anywhere close to it.
Obviously the idea is to make money. In other words you don’t actually need the money because you will profit from the event. But you have to seriously question whether that is now true, given no one seems to want to host the games.
Which brings us to the biggest red flag of all - demand.
Alberta and Victoria aren't the first instances of people not wanting to host the event. Birmingham got to be host last time because Durban pulled out.
Just how many times do people have to pull out and how many times do organisers have to scramble, before a country like ours works out the numbers don’t add up? The competition itself clearly isn't of significant enough size and importance to take the risk.
Even the Olympic Games has now reached a point where it is broadly accepted only a handful of cities around the planet have the size and facilities to sensibly host the thing without going bust.
Yet, as we sit here this morning, we are still keen for a good old exploration of possibilities for 2034. Why?
When virtually the entire Commonwealth is saying no, why are we the last one standing?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
1 comment:
Just maybe NZ should consider taking the games from Melbourne , notwithstanding Mike Hoskings reasonable thoughts .
It is time to revert to the basics and spread the games throughout the existing NZ stadiums and facilities .
If new stadia is required then sorry that event is removed , similar the opening and closing ceremonies which are a competition and expectation of grandiose waste will be deleted .
Media coverage can be tendered without multination coverage and all nation's tenders for their requirement from the single media .
The RMA requirements are basically removed and traffic management sent packing with a thanks but NO thanks .
Housing of competitors will be provided new accomodation that will revert to student or elderly accomodation post the games and cannot be regarded as a Commonwealth games expense .
NZ could do the games and use NZ common sense to succeed on a very reasonable budget.
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