The SIG Column – 11 July

The UK, and London in particular, has turned opinion around in terms
of hosting major sporting events. Five years ago we were a joke but now everyone
wants a piece of the action. Drew Barrand, head of media at Sport Industry
Group, asks what prompted the change of heart…

Make no bones about it. At the turn of the century the UK was a laughing
stock when it came to hosting sports events.

In one of the most farcical bids to stage a major sporting event in history,
the botched attempt to land the 2006 football World Cup was swiftly followed by
the rather unceremonious decision to pull out of staging the World Athletics
Championships only a matter of months before the event due to the much-vaunted
Pickett’s Lock stadium not being complete.

The UK’s reputation was, it seemed, damaged beyond repair. And yet, here we
are a little over five years later and the country, and London in particular,
has the sporting world clamouring to set up camp within its borders. Tour de
France, ATP World Tour Final, NFL, NBA…you name it, we’re hosting it.

Obviously the victory in securing the London 2012 Olympics – which let’s not
forget was actually a bit of a surprise in itself to most observers – has
prompted a re-evalution of the city and the country as a host of sporting
events.

But in truth, the turnaround started much earlier with the 2002 Commonwealth
Games in Manchester.

Delivering a multi-sport Games with the level of professionalism attained was
no mean feat. But to attract an almost total buy-in from the general public to a
sports property which realistically had slipped in the national conscience to
that of an also-rank event was perhaps the more impressive achievement.

It is delivering this level of public support for a sports event that has
marked out the UK more than anything else in recent years for future hosting
honours.

The trick to this has been a mixture of the innate desire for the UK public
to watch sport of any shape, size or format and a change in the organisational
structure employed by the country’s sports bodies.

Last weekend’s hosting of the opening stages of this year’s Tour de France is
a case in point.

Having succeeded in persuading the Tour hierarchy that London would make an
exciting venue for cycling’s flagship event, Transport for London (TFL) then
issued a tender for an agency that it could work with to actually co-ordinate
and deliver the event.

This is the crucial area. Whereas in the past, UK sports bodies could have
been accused of trying to take on too much themselves without the requisite
experience or know-how, the new ethos is the recognition of the need to bring in
professional support. This ethos has worked wonders in attracting the crowds and
subsequently the exposure and status of the event.

25,000 people watched the Opening Ceremony of the Tour de France in London’s
Trafalgar Square. Approximately 4 million people attended the cycling over the
course of the weekend – the largest audience ever at an event in London.

Such numbers were a result of a co-ordinated effort from the delivery agency
– in this case Innovision – the organisers (TFL) and the sport property
concerned. Delivery of the event required over 21,000 people from all manner of
organisations and only a professional co-ordinated approach could have brought
the required results.

The 2002 Commonwealth Games started a ball rolling which has gathered steam
at a rate not even the most optimistic nationalistic sports fan could have hoped
for.

Whisper it quietly but professionalism is fast becoming the new watchword of
UK sport and, for all the media negativity currently surrounding the 2012
Olympics at present, it is worth noting that the last few years have been highly
successful for this country in terms of hosting sport.

Admittedly hosting the Olympics is on a logistical scale far bigger than
anything we’ve tried since the turn of the century but, if the organisers can
deliver to the level of recent times, we’re in for one hell of a Games.