The wider benefits of staging
events
18. Events can bring clear economic gains and the
measurement of those gains is becoming more systematic.[40]
Sport England has appointed a "specialist" to investigate
and improve the relationship between sport and economic regeneration.[41]
Several recent sporting events have been successful in generating
substantial economic benefits. For example, the 2000 London Marathon
generated over £63 million of economic activity and the 1999
Rugby World Cup generated £83 million for the economy of
Wales.[42]
However, there can be negative economic effects: Sheffield City
Council, which financed the World Student Games in 1991, has a
continuing annual debt burden of £22 million from the cost
of providing facilities for that event.[43]
19. In our previous Report we considered the economic
benefits of staging major sporting events in some detail. Drawing
to some extent on the lessons learned during our visit to Australia,
we recommended that independent assessments be made of the likely
economic impact of major sporting events and that subsequent assessment
of their actual economic impact should form part of the Sports
Councils' own systems for monitoring the effectiveness of grants.[44]
Sport England requires an assessment of the economic impact of
some, but not all, of the events that it funds.[45]
20. In 1999, we expressed concern that the tourism
potential of sport and sporting events was not being fully exploited.[46]
Since then the British Tourist Authority has published its strategy
on tourism and sport and there have been welcome signs of a growing
realisation by the Authority, the Government and sporting bodies
of the full tourism potential of sport, including major events.[47]
21. The role of sport in regeneration has become
more widely appreciated since the Barcelona Olympic Games of 1992,
an event that, as we previously noted, provides "a model
of how a sporting event can play a pivotal role in urban renewal
and regeneration".[48]
In addition to economic prosperity, sport can play a role in community
regeneration. Sport England referred to the social benefits of
investing in sport, including a reduction in juvenile crime, improved
public health and the provision of a "well-rounded education"
for children.[49]
We recognised those benefits in our previous Report, highlighting
the role of sport in complementing academic education, encouraging
social skills, improving health and combatting social exclusion.[50]
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was used as a vehicle to promote rugby-based
numeracy and literacy projects, a type of development previously
supported by us in our Report on The Future of Professional
Rugby.[51]
22. The motivation of sports governing bodies
in seeking to stage major events is primarily sporting. That is
understandable, but public investment cannot always be justified
on sporting grounds alone and must be seen in the context of the
wider benefits that events can bring. Because the Government has
ultimate responsibility for the necessary public investment, we
recommend that the Government periodically as appropriate undertake
and publish its own analysis of the financial and other benefits
of staging events, including the regenerative impact of events.
23. Events can often provide a crucial stimulus to
the development of sports facilities. That in turn can bring both
sporting benefits and wider social and economic gains. Later in
this Report we explore some of the facilities being developed
with both specific events and long-term use in mind, most notably
in Manchester and at Picketts Lock. In our previous Report, we
called for a more systematic approach to the audit of facilities
for events and national competitions.[52]
Since then, the Sports Councils have undertaken a data evaluation
exercise as a precursor to commissioning a national facilities
audit, and national facilities strategies for some sports have
been completed.[53]
In the past, there have been occasions when facility development
may have been unduly focused on the short-term needs of staging
one particular event rather than on the long-term viability and
benefit of facilities. In future, it will be essential to ensure
that strategies for bidding for and staging events and for associated
facility development are fully integrated with national facilities
strategies for particular sports and reflect the eventual outcome
of the national facilities audit, which is more than due.
Staging events: the British record
24. In May 1999, we observed that the United Kingdom
had a very impressive record in staging events in many sports
and that there was "no cause for undue pessimism about the
British record in staging international sporting events".[54]
One underlying strength of this country's sporting record is its
tradition as the home of some of the world's most recognised calendar
events, such as the All England Tennis Championships at Wimbledon,
an event that attracts nearly half a million spectators a year
and generates profits that are invested in the development and
infrastructure of the game, and the London Marathon, which has
become so popular that the organisers have had to reject more
than 50,000 applicants for the race each year.[55]
25. In addition, governing bodies and local authorities
continue to secure and to stage a range of World and European
Championships in many sports. UK Sport has been actively engaged
in bidding for, securing and staging over 35 events in more than
a dozen different sports since mid-1999.[56]
This admirable record is sometimes over-shadowed by the failure
of this country to attract certain very high profile events such
as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, but it is a myth that
this country does not act as host for major events that are sometimes
the focus of world attention. Nevertheless, there are important
lessons to be learned from past events and from failed bids, and
there remains scope for improvement in public sector support for
governing bodies and for local authorities in the bidding process
and in the staging of events.
18 HC (1998-99) 124-I, para 16. Back
19 Evidence,
p 156. Back
20 Q
473. Back
21 First
Report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, The Operation
of the National Lottery, HC (2000-01) 56-II, pp 133-134; Q
126; Team GB: The Official Olympic Report on Sydney 2000,
British Olympic Association, pp 20, 45, 48, 91. Back
22 HC
(1998-99) 124-I, para 13. Back
23 Ibid,
para 14; Evidence, p 137. Back
24 HC
(1998-99) 124-I, para 23. Back
25 Q
173. Back
26 Evidence,
p 241. Back
27 Evidence,
p 155. Back
28 Ibid. Back
29 Ibid;
QQ 340, 473. Back
30 HC
(1998-99) 124-I, para 24; Government Response to the Fourth
Report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Session 1998-99,
on Staging International Sporting Events, Cm 4575, January
2000, paras 8-11. Back
31 Q
341; Evidence, p 156. Back
32 Q
340; Evidence, p 156. Back
33 Evidence,
p 35. Back
34 Evidence,
p 22; Q 126. Back
35 A
Sporting Future for All,
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, April 2000, pp 7-13. Back
36 Ibid,
pp 40-41. Back
37 Q
182. Back
38 Q
183. Back
39 Q
472. Back
40 Evidence,
pp 156, 157, 241. Back
41 Evidence,
p 36. Back
42 Evidence,
pp 274, 249. Back
43 Evidence,
p 280. Back
44 HC
(1998-99) 124-I, para 42. Back
45 Evidence,
p 36. Back
46 HC
(1998-99) 124-I, para 41. Back
47 Evidence,
pp 198, 156, 267-270. Back
48 HC
(1998-99) 124-I, para 44. Back
49 HC
(2000-01) 56-II, p 131. Back
50 HC
(1998-99) 124-I, para 19. Back
51 Evidence,
p 35; Second Report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee,
The Future of Professional Rugby, HC (1999-2000) 99, para
29. Back
52 HC
(1998-99) 124-I, para 32. Back
53 Cm
4575, paras 14-15; Evidence, p 37. Back
54 HC
(1998-99) 124-I, paras 7-11. Back
55 Ibid,
para 8; Evidence, pp 254-255, 274; Q 472. Back
56 Evidence,
pp 155, 158-159. Back