England has confirmed plans to host the first Women’s World Cup on home soil, but a men’s version or participation in the Olympics could be ruled out for another 20 years.
UK Sports events director Simon Morton admitted Britain’s “mega-event organizing pipeline is tightening” as it sets hosting targets for the next decade and beyond.
The board’s list of goals may surprise traditionalists; The World Skateboarding Championships and e-sports were identified as priorities.
The Commonwealth Games’ notable lack of upcoming ambitions casts further doubt on the future of the event, which is without a host in 2026.
Big-spending Saudi Arabia could be among the contenders for the UK-wide Women’s World Cup bid in 2031, 2035 and 2039.
‘Live sport is a fundamental part of the social fabric of this country’
Morton suggested the latest list of targets reflected the difficult economic conditions the UK has faced in recent years. “What is clear is that the UK’s pipeline of hosting mega events is tightening and our international rivals are catching up,” he told the media at the London Stadium, which hosted the Olympics 12 years ago.
“We need to respond. Live sport is a fundamental part of the social fabric of this country. And our love of live sport is second to none. No other country buys more tickets to major sporting events per capita than the UK.”
While he added that a Women’s World Cup in the UK would be “special”, head of major events Esther Britten added: “I think most people will watch the Women’s World Cup and think there’s a huge opportunity here.”
But a World Cup or the Olympics look at least 20 years away. While Morton said England had made a wise decision by shifting its priorities to Euro 2028, he said opportunities to host the Olympics were likely to only arise once every 32 years.
UK Sport said that alongside the “traditional powerhouse” events, there was “a shift in approach to exploring increasingly innovative event offerings that appeal to as wide a range of sports fans as possible”.
“This includes both existing and new event features such as the Skateboarding World Championships, the IOC’s new Olympic Qualifying Series for urban sports and the Climbing World Championships, as well as new concepts in urban sports, para multisport and e-sports,” management said. said the body.
‘There are some events that offer much better value for money than others’
Asked whether the UK’s economic outlook was a factor, Morton said: “It is a factor and that’s why I said a few minutes ago that we need to be really smart about the choices we make. When you look at some of the events on this list, the event market is still quite immature in my opinion.
“What I mean by that is that pricing doesn’t always align with impact. If you understand that, there are some activities that give you much more bang for your buck than others, and I think the economic climate really forces us to make very smart choices.”
England is preparing to host the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025 and the European Athletics Championships in 2026.
The Women’s World Cup is “the biggest global sporting event the UK has never hosted,” says UK Sport. The Men’s Rugby World Cup, Athletics World Championships, Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and Tour de France were also listed as ambitions.
“All events on the list are subject to a feasibility process, which typically assesses venue selection, winability, tendering processes, financial contributions and costs. Additionally, every event we invest in must have social impact at its core, with positive impact in areas such as mental health, wellbeing, employability skills and environmental sustainability.” It should deliver lasting change,” he told UK Sport.
FIFA will announce that the 2027 Women’s World Cup will be hosted in May. Morton said the following three tournaments will remain a target “as the political dynamics between international federations as to where these things might go is something that is out of our control.”
When asked why UK Sport was investigating various civic and e-sports events, he denied the board was encouraging young people to play computer games.
The industry, he explained, is “a pretty broad church.” “At one end of the spectrum you have pure gaming, Call of Duty, and at the other end you have virtual and simulated Olympic and Paralympic sports,” Morton said.
“If you look at the IOC Olympic eSports week in Singapore last year or the UCI’s eSports cycling championships, you see athletes performing incredible physical efforts in, for all intents and purposes, a simulated virtual experience. So that’s where we’ll start exploring, not the other way around.”
He explained that a Commonwealth Games was missing from his latest list of goals because “the challenge is… to deliver value for money”. “If you look at the events on the list we’ve shared with you and the investment being made to host the Commonwealth Games in this country, including the most recent in Birmingham, I would guess that you could probably host most of the sporting events on that list, with perhaps a few exceptions, in a single event.” “It’s the same price as hosting the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“So our challenge in thinking about these games in the future is, is it just about value for money, or is there benefit?” However, he added, “We are not saying never.”