A Golden Decade

from Australasian Leisure Management Issue 150 2022

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Credit: FIBA

Karen Sweaney explains how Australia has just entered what will be an unprecedented decade of major sporting events

While two years of the Coronavirus pandemic saw elite and community sporting events delayed, rescheduled and, at worst, cancelled around the world, Australian sport has shown its resilience.

Showing its adaptability, from playing behind closed-doors, moving grand finals to new locations and staging competitions in hubs, the capability of Australia’s sporting events sector to host big-ticket showpieces events is now set to deliver an unparalleled decade of major sporting events.

Australia will over the next decade host a bumper schedule of major international sporting events as part of a long-term plan set out in Sport 2030, the Federal Government roadmap established in 2018 that recognises the broader economic and social implications of sport. However, Victoria’s 2026 Commonwealth Games hosting was more a product of the Commonwealth Games Association not having a bidder for the event.

Nonetheless, the result sees what Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Chief Executive Kieren Perkins advised as “an unparalleled era in Australian sport with close to 30 major events already confirmed over the next decade including the 2026 Commonwealth Games and the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Australia’s acknowledgement across the world for its welcoming climate, sports-loving population, stable political environment and quality infrastructure makes it an attractive destination.

This is in contrast with China, which, having successfully bid to host numerous sporting events has postponed and even walked away from hosting major international tournaments.

While it did proceed with hosting this year’s Winter Olympics earlier this year, China’s self-imposed isolation from international sport has seen the Asian Games in September and the World University Games in May, postponed until 2023, while the Asian Youth Games, set for a December date and 2023’s AFC Asian Cup, postponed outright.

By comparison, in what Australian Olympic Committee Chief Executive, Matt Carroll calls a “green and gold runway” culminating in the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, Carroll highlights “more than 30 major global sporting events are coming to Australia across the next 10 years.”

In addition to the annual Australian Open tennis and Formula One (for which Melbourne recently retained the hosting rights until 2035), the country will host cricket’s men’s Twenty20 World Cup, Women’s Basketball World Cup and the UCI road cycling world championships this year.

It will then jointly hold FIFA’s Women’s World Cup (with New Zealand) in 2023, a British and Irish Lions rugby tour in 2025, Commonwealth Games in

World Athletics Cross Country Championships are to be held in Bathurst in 2023

Victoria in 2026, Netball World Cup in 2027 and Presidents Cup golf a year later before the Olympics and Paralympics in Brisbane in 2032.

Carroll notes “sport brings health, educational and wellbeing benefits to the community and can play a pivotal role in getting Australians active, reducing obesity and other health-related problems including mental illness.”

In addition, Australia is hosting legs and stages in multiple international events in competitions including the World Surf League, Ironman Triathlon and Triathlon World Series and SailGP.

Added to this, the new Crankworx Cairns event (reviewed on page 56 of this issue), will, according to Queensland Assistant Tourism Minister Michael Healy mark “the start of a golden decade of opportunity ahead of Queensland’s 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games (with) events like Crankworx Cairns (to) demonstrate our region’s ability to host world-class events and remind international audiences of our stunning visitor attractions and experiences.”

However, hosting global competition such as the Olympics comes with a financial price tag.

As Popi Sotiriadou, Associate Professor of Sport Management at Queensland’s Griffith University, told AFP “the return on investment is a complex issue.

“There are things that we can’t measure - you can’t put a money value on national pride. There are so many of what we call ‘public goods’ that do not necessarily translate to dollars.

“There are legacies in terms of feel-good factors, people feel that connectedness with each other.

“And with any big sporting events we have that trickle-down effect, that inspirational effect of elite athletes’ success, the promotion of community, the boost to tourism, we have trade benefits, employment benefits, infrastructure benefits, better public facilities.”

Offsetting this is the potential for sporting events to create tens of thousands of jobs, with, just considering the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games alone, the Queensland Government anticipating the creation of over 130,000 direct jobs.

However, a recently released national survey by Deakin University revealed that while 97% of the population believe that Australia is a sporting nation, there is still low awareness of the projected industry growth and career potential in sport.

Director of Deakin Sport, Professor David Shilbury, says the survey findings speak to long-held biases about studying and pursuing sport-related careers in Australia.

Professor Shilbury advised “the Australian sport industry is one of the most diverse and celebrated in the world. However, it’s unsurprising to hear its size and expected growth is being underestimated.

“Although Australia produces some of the world’s more respected sport administrators, managers and scientists, it is typically the success of our athletes that steals the limelight, not so much the work that is achieved beyond the field of play.

“The next generation of sport professionals will be exposed to an exceptional number of opportunities, more so than any other generation. Those interested in sport or a sport-related field would be wise to begin developing their skills now, helping them to take full advantage of the rich career pathways that lie ahead.”

In addition, the ASC has advised that Australian sport will have to grow its pool of volunteers by 130,000 in the coming years to make the exciting decade of major events leading into Brisbane 2032 a success.

At the close of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, then-International Olympic Committee President, Juan Antonio Samaranch famously declared them “the best ever”.

Two decades on, Australia’s appreciation of the value of hosting events sees it uniquely placed not only from an operations perspective but also in areas from venue design and construction to management and marketing.

Rugby Australia Chief Executive Andy Marinos, involved in the Rugby World Cup bid, said it made a big difference having strong government and public support.

Earlier this year, Marinos told SportsPro magazine that the nation has “such familiarity with having to host and engage on major events.

“The states and certainly the Federal Government are quite well versed in it so they understand that once you put a very compelling economic impact assessment in front of them, the decision-making process is relatively straightforward.” Karen Sweaney is Editor of Australasian Leisure Management.

ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships are to be held in Penrith in 2025. Credit: Team Australia Sprint/Slalom via auspaddleteam facebook

Stand alone international events to be hosted by Australia in the next decade

2022 UCI Road World Championships Dates: 18th to 25th September 2022 Location: Wollongong, NSW 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Dates: 22nd September to 1st October 2022 Location: Sydney 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Dates: 16th October to 13th November 2022 Location: Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney 2022 International Bowling Federation (IBF) World Cup Dates: 3rd to 16th November 2022 (IBF World Cup), 16th to 23rd November 2022 (IBF Para World Cup) Location: Queensland 2022 Virtus Oceania Asia Games Dates: 5th to 12th November 2022 Location: Brisbane 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Dates: 13th to 18th December Location: Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre 2023 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships Date: 18th February 2023 Location: Bathurst, NSW 2023 World Transplant Games Dates: 15th April to 21st April 2023 Location: Perth 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (co-hosted with New Zealand) Dates: 20th July to 20th August 2023 Australian host cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide New Zealand host cities: Auckland, Dunedin, Hamilton and Wellington 2025 2025 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships Dates: 1st to 6th October 2025 Location: Penrith, NSW 2026 2026 BMX World Championships Location: Brisbane 2026 Commonwealth Games Location: Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland, Victoria 2027 2027 Rugby World Cup 2027 Netball World Cup Location: Sydney 2028 2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2029 2029 Rugby World Cup 2032 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Location: Brisbane, Queensland