SportsPro Destinations Report

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THE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 SPORTSPRO DESTINATIONS 2015

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TORINO, ITALY 28—3O.11.14 HAVANA, CUBA 13—15.O3.15 SHANGHAI, CHINA 16—17.O5.15

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NEW YORK, USA 13—14.12.14 SEOUL, KOREA 28—29.O3.15 MOSCOW, RUSSIA 30—31.O5—O1.O6.15

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CONTENTS 6

Europe

8 16 20

Evian: The fifth element FIE: Grand Prix series World Expo: Show time

24 Middle East 26 32

Abu Dhabi: Unique flavour Zayed Sports City

34 Central Asia 36 40 46

Baku 2015: European gains Kazahkstan: For club and country Turkmenistan: A president’s complex

48 Asia-Pacific 50

32

54

Auckland: The show never stops Tokyo rising

62 Central & South America 64 73

Down Mexico way Thought leader: Mexico City

74 North America 76 84 89

50 Knowledge partner

San Francisco: Levi’s Stadium Atlanta: Falcon’s nesting The new builds

SportsPro Destinations: The Annual Report 2015 is a supplement to SportsPro (April 2015) SportsPro (ISSN 1756 5340) is published monthly by SportsPro Media Ltd and distributed in the USA by Mail Right Int., 1637 Stelton Road B4, Piscataway, NJ 08854. Periodicals Postage Paid at Piscataway, NJ and additional mailing offices POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SportsPro, SportsPro Media, C/o 1637 Stelton Road B4, Piscataway NJ 08854

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The Destinations Report 2015 | 3

Destinations Report 2015 Editor’s Letter

EDITORIAL David Cushnan James Emmett Eoin Connolly Michael Long Ian McPherson

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MANAGING DIRECTOR Nick Meacham COMMERCIAL Jon Abraham Bobby Hare ART DIRECTOR Daniel Harland Brown MARKETING Yéwandé Aruléba PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENCY Action Images MEDIA PARTNER Press Association

This report is published by: SportsPro Media Ltd 5 Prescot Street, London E1 8PA, UK Tel: +44 (0) 207 549 3250 Fax: +44 (0) 207 549 3255 Email: info@sportspromedia.com Web: www.sportspromedia.com

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EDITORIAL COPYRIGHT: The contents of this report, both words and statistics, are strictly copyright and the intellectual property of SportsPro Media. Copying or reproduction may only be carried out with written permission of the publishers, which will normally not be withheld on payment of a fee. Article reprints: Most articles published in SportsPro Magazine are available as reprints by prior arrangement from the publishers. Normal minimum print run for reprints is 400 copies, although larger and smaller runs are possible. Please contact us at: info@ sportspromedia.com

rofessional sport requires venues, and the rationale behind this publication, SportsPro’s third annual Destinations report, is to shine a light on the opportunities and challenges involved in bidding for or staging a major event - and to showcase some of those that have done so recently. While the overall themes of our previous editions - bidding, hosting, venues and legacy – continue to form the basis for what follows, we’ve adopted a new format for 2015. Continent-by-continent, the report hears from organisers, rights-holders and agencies. Each section is introduced with expert comment from The Sports Consultancy, providing insight on the key issues of the day, everything from changes to the Olympic Games bidding process, public funding for events and the importance of strategy.

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While Olympic matters will doubtless generate headlines in 2015, this is a year when the major regional multi-sport championships have their moment in the spotlight: Toronto is staging the PanAmerican Games, the Congolese capital Brazzaville is gearing up for the All-Africa Games and Baku is the city chosen to stage the inaugural European Games. Beyond that the sports calendar is littered with major events and expectant hosts - Mexico’s return to the Formula One calendar, the ongoing rise of Qatar and the awakening of Central Asia will continue to be important themes over the next 12 months. As ever, we hope SportsPro’s Destinations report is a valuable companion for anyone organising or hosting a major sports event - or indeed those merely thinking about doing so. David Cushnan, Editor

Destinations Report 2015 Europe

EUROPE

Europe’s next shot at hosting an Olympic Games will be in 2024 after several cities, including Oslo, withdrew bids for the 2022 winter Games

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he International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Agenda 2020 UHFRPPHQGDWLRQV FRQĂ€UPHG in December, came too late WR LPSDFW VLJQLĂ€FDQWO\ RQ WKH ELGGLQJ process for the 2022 winter Olympic Games. Those Games will not be held LQ (XURSH IROORZLQJ WKH KLJK SURĂ€OH withdrawals of Munich, St. Moritz, Stockholm, Krakow and Oslo over the past 18 months. “You have to look at the broader political context and where we are in the economic cycle has coincided with a very public airing of substantial budgets – capital, operating, infrastructure – for the winter Olympics in Sochi,â€? says The Sports Consultancy’s co-managing director Angus Buchanan, by way of explanation, referring to the US$51 billion price tag, the combined Games operating budget and wider infrastructure cost, widely attached to last year’s Sochi Games. “The IOC have said that the perception GRHVQ¡W UHĂ HFW WKH UHDOLW\ Âľ %XFKDQDQ VD\V “They need to be more proactive in terms of how they manage that message.â€? “We are now in a situation where as a result of Sochi and a result of the expenditure around the World Cup in Brazil and other mega-events, there is a great deal more public attention on the sorts of investment required to host and

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WKH UHVXOWLQJ EHQHĂ€W ² DQG D SHUFHSWLRQ at least, that the costs outweigh any IRUP RI VHQVLEOH EHQHĂ€WV IURP KRVWLQJ mega-events.â€? That is leading, The Sports &RQVXOWDQF\ VD\V WR FORVHU FRVW EHQHĂ€W analysis by event owners, particularly in Europe. “The Olympic Games is probably in a category of its own,â€? suggests Robert Datnow, The Sports Consultancy’s co-managing director, “when it comes to communicating return on investment. I think for smaller events and the single sport events, demonstrating returns on investment based on evidence and precedent is key to securing motivated hosts. This is an area that we have been pursuing for our international federation and event owner clients when we are securing venues. European economies, particularly, continue to remain under pressure to credibly demonstrate potential returns on investment from hosting to their constituents. Post Lehman 2008, the public sector is under far more scrutiny about how they spend their money – how much they spend and on what they spend it – and they need to be able to GHPRQVWUDWH MXVWLĂ€DEOH UHWXUQV The IOC’s decision to open the door to future joint city or country bids for the Olympic Games came in the wake of Uefa’s enforced but bold decision

to host its Euro 2020 tournament in 13 cities across the continent. It may herald the dawn of a new hosting model, but Datnow argues that ensuring the scale RI DQ HYHQW LV Ă€W IRU SXUSRVH IRU WKH host as well as the rights-holder remains fundamental. “If the pattern of behaviour for any event – not just the Olympic Games – is that there are fewer bidders and fewer cities capable of hosting the event at the prescribed scale, this sends out a strong message to the federations about the ability and appetite of hosts to be able to buy what is being sold. The prospect of joint city bids or joint country bids is really a symptom of that problem, it’s not a cure to the underlying fundamental problem which to my mind is the scale of events. “If you had on the one hand an HYHQW WKDW ZDV Ă€W IRU SXUSRVH WKDW was constructed through a partnership model that worked for a city and drove all of the commercial, legacy, spectator DQG VWLPXODWLRQ EHQHĂ€WV LQWR WKDW FLW\ worked better for spectators, and was more cost-effective, and on the other hand you had an option for preserving the scale of an event which could only be hosted across numerous border or cities and you compared the two models and asked which might be better and more sustainable for the future and derive more appetite and interest, I think logic favours the adaptive, evolutionary approach.â€?

WHAT TO WATCH FOR? -

The first European Games in Baku later this year

-

The impact of the IOC’s Agenda 2020 on future Olympic bids from Western Europe

-

Uefa’s pan-continental Euro 2020 – one-off or new hosting model?

MARKETS TO WATCH? Poland and the Netherlands

The Destinations Report 2015 | 7

Destinations Report 2015 Europe

THE FIFTH ELEMENT By Michael Long - originally published in the November 2014 edition of SportsPro

Heralded as one of the finest events in women’s golf, The Evian Championship made history in 2013 when it joined the elite ranks of the Majors. Franck Riboud and Jacques Bungert, the tournament’s chairman and director respectively, tell the story of a meteoric rise few sporting events will ever experience.

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olf has rarely looked kindly upon self-assured young upstarts. It is, at its core, an exclusive club; a sport where the status quo prevails, where tradition cannot be bought, and where history means everything. Yet in the northern fringes of the French Alps, on an emerald swathe of land overlooking Lake Geneva, there lies an exception to the rule. Founded in 1994 by Antoine Riboud, the founder and former president of French food giant Danone, and his son, Franck, The Evian Championship has grown in just two decades to become one of the most prestigious and best loved tournaments in women’s golf. In 2013 the event, formerly known as the Evian Masters, began life as WKH VSRUW¡V Ă€IWK 0DMRU FDSSLQJ D PHWHRULF rise the like of which few tournaments will ever experience.

“We are not surprised at how quickly the event has grown because every year we try to deliver something better than the previous year,â€? says the younger Riboud, now the chairman of both Danone, the owner of the Evian mineral water brand, and The Evian Championship. “It’s a management issue,â€? continues the Frenchman, speaking amid the hubbub of the tournament’s opening day in September. “In every management ERRN HYHU\ERG\ LV VD\LQJ ÂśGRQ¡W Ă€[ D WRR ambitious target’ – [but that is] stupid. Fix an ambitious target. Perhaps you will not reach yourself the target but you will start to build and perhaps somebody else, the next generation, will reach it.â€? Originally a stop on the Ladies European Tour (LET), Evian quickly developed a reputation as a highlight

Spectators gather at the Evian Resort Golf Club’s picturesque 18th green for The Evian Championship

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RI WKH JROĂ€QJ FDOHQGDU WKDQNV WR consistently world class presentation, hospitality and amenities, not to mention the course’s Alpine backdrop and breathtaking views of Lake Geneva. In recognition of that growing reputation, the tournament became co-sanctioned by North America’s LPGA in 2000, but the SURFHVV RI EHFRPLQJ WKH Ă€IWK 0DMRU ZDV not to be so straightforward. Though the foundations had been laid by Ty Votaw, the LPGA’s commissioner from 1999 to 2005, his successor Carolyn Bivens was less keen on the idea of elevating Evian, and it was not until the arrival of Mike Whan in late 2009 that the tournament had the top-level support necessary to realise its dream of attaining Major status. “Our life changed when Mike Whan joined the LPGA,â€? says tournament director and Riboud’s right-hand man, Jacques Bungert. “He had this vision: he was very internationally oriented; he understood that the sport and the LPGA had to think globally. So he started to build something on this and let’s be fair, the players were pushing to make Evian a jewel of their tours.â€? Players had indeed viewed Evian as an XQRIĂ€FLDO 0DMRU IRU VRPH WLPH $ UHFRUG prize purse of US$3.25 million, the largest in women’s golf alongside the US Women’s Open, almost certainly helped, with Evian’s impressive catalogue of past champions – Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer, Karrie Webb and Inbee Park among them – evidence of its established cachet. As player support for Evian’s elevated status continued to mount in the years after Whan’s arrival, so too did uncertainty over the future of the Kraft Nabisco Championship. At the time, WKH Ă€QDQFLDO FULVLV KDG FDVW GRXEWV RYHU

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Destinations Report 2015 Europe

whether the IMG-managed event, one of the four existing Majors in women’s golf held each year in California, would continue. Evian, however, had no such worries. A 99-year contract between Danone and municipal authorities – effectively a give-take arrangement between Evian the brand and Evian-Les-Bains the place – FRQWDLQV VSHFLĂ€F WHUPV ZKLFK VWDWH WKDW the company must act as an ‘animator’ for the local region. It is a unique role that has covered everything from organising Ă€UHZRUN GLVSOD\V DQG PXVLF IHVWLYDOV WR promoting the region across the globe as a tourist destination and running the annual golf tournament. Protected by such longstanding obligations, the tournament is as stable as any on the LPGA Tour. “The LPGA realised how sustainable Evian was, with strong, sustainable partners,â€? explains Bungert, “and all of a sudden they realised that it would be interesting to go a step further.â€?

For the tournament organisation, going a step further meant, to use Bungert’s word, reinventing. Before the new status could be granted, Whan wanted guarantees from Evian that every facet of the event would be up to Major standards. That meant improving facilities and accommodation for the increased ÀHOG RI SOD\HUV DFFUHGLWHG PHGLD DQG the not inconsiderable army of volunteer marshals, VIP drivers, hospitality hosts and support staff. What’s more, because two existing Majors, the US Women’s Open and the Women’s British Open, already took place in June and July, Evian would have to shift to a week in mid-September while the tournament’s name would also have to change, given Augusta’s exclusive rights to the Masters moniker among golf ’s Majors. However, it was the course that would require the greatest transformation. A major US$8 million redesign of the Evian Resort Golf Club, jointly overseen by architects Steve Smyers and

(XURSHDQ *ROI 'HVLJQ EHJDQ LQ DQG ZDV FRPSOHWHG LQ -XO\ DKHDG of the event’s Major debut. Everything about the course was upgraded, from WKH WHH ER[HV DQG IDLUZD\ FRQĂ€JXUDWLRQV to the greens and spectator areas, while lengthened holes, deeper bunkers, new water hazards and extra undulation were added to provide the kind of test EHĂ€WWLQJ RI D 0DMRU FRXUVH The announcement that Evian would EHFRPH WKH Ă€IWK 0DMRU IURP RQZDUGV Ă€QDOO\ FDPH LQ -XO\ )RU Riboud, Bungert and the rest of the organising team, the hard work had, in a OLWWOH XQGHU \HDUV SDLG RII “For us that was really an achievement,â€? smiles Riboud, “because we were negotiating, it was an up and down situation, and at the end, suddenly, you had the LPGA saying ‘we agree’ and we signed a contract. “We fought for the contract, we fought for the golf design, we fought with HYHU\WKLQJ :KHQ , DP VD\LQJ œÀJKW¡

We fought for the contract, we fought for the golf design, we fought for everything.

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Eventual 2014 champion Hyo Joo Kim strokes in a putt on the remodelled 16th green

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Is there something in the water?

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trolling about the Evian Resort Golf Club during tournament ZHHN LW LV GLIÀFXOW WR EHOLHYH The Evian Championship is younger than the majority of players playing in it. While not of the scale of its male counterparts – or indeed any of its fellow women’s equivalents – there is little to suggest that what is now continental Europe’s only golf Major has only been in existence for as OLWWOH DV \HDUV From the carefully redesigned and lovingly manicured course to hospitality boxes positioned so as to offer stunning views of the golf and lake beyond, from world class media and spectator facilities to the friendly faces that greet all who attend, organisers have left no stone unturned in ensuring the tournament lives up to its newfound Major status. Indeed, it is the attention to detail that gives Evian its unique atmosphere. Unashamedly highbrow and yet charmingly low-key, it is an appealing mix of All England Club gentility and French ÊlÊgance. Set against the emerald and aqua surrounds of the Evian Resort – bathed, as it was for this year’s event won by South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim, in glorious sunshine – its consistent deep pink and white branding proffer a clean, Wimbledon-like quality. This

LW LV Ă€UVW RI DOO EHFDXVH RI P\ SRRU (QJOLVK EXW LW LV QRW Ă€JKW EHFDXVH ZH KDWH WKH /3*$ ,W¡V Ă€JKW EHFDXVH ZH KDG to convince, we had to explain we are QRW LQ )ORULGD ZH KDYH VSHFLĂ€FLW\ DERXW the weather, the altitude, the course. We don’t want an American course here. We ZHUH HYHQ Ă€JKWLQJ RQ WKH OHYHO RI VDQG LQ the bunker. So every detail we discussed because when you have the right contract, after it is your wife.â€? “It is like a marriage,â€? concurs Bungert. “You have different populations – the media, the general public, the attendants, the guests, the players, obviously – and we want to treat them the same way, trying to get the best situation, the best structure, the best comfort for them to do their job: the players to play, the media to work, guests to enjoy themselves. We try to raise our standards on each level to

The course nestles in the foothills of the Alps

is, everywhere you look, a beautiful event, refreshingly unassuming and unmistakably feminine. “When the players come to Evian,â€? says Jacques Bungert, the tournament director, “their mindset changes, the smile on their face changes. And that’s not an exaggeration, that’s the reality of what I experience, because of the hotel, because of the atmosphere, because of the kindness of the people, and probably also because of the size, because everything is so close and convivial and warm.â€? From its popular advertising campaign featuring roller-skating babies to its current ‘Live Young’ slogan, Evian’s brand positioning is unquestionably that of light-hearted youthfulness. Evian, says Danone chairman Franck Riboud, “is the model for the mineral water brandâ€? and every piece of marketing the brand does is aimed at reinforcing that positioning. That, of course, includes make sure each population is happy. ´:H ZRUNHG RXW VRPH VSHFLĂ€F SURJUDPPHV IRU HDFK RI WKHVH VSHFLĂ€F populations, to make sure that if you are a journalist, how are you going to work, what are you going to need? What is the differentiation when you are at The Evian Championship versus the other tournaments? How can we make the difference?

Organisers Jacques Bungert and Franck Riboud

its hometown golf tournament, which is ostensibly every bit an extension of everything the brand stands for. “If you look at the advertising campaign of Evian,â€? Riboud says, “we are talking to a community and we think WKDW WKH VSRUW FRPPXQLW\ FDQ UHDOO\ Ă€W with the Evian brand because of health, because of the quality of the water. That’s the reason why we invest in and we create the event.â€? An undoubted source of pride for Riboud and Bungert is the fact that players have long responded to the way in which Evian goes about its business. As the yearly chorus of praise has shown, the general feeling among the Ă€HOG LV WKDW WKHUH LV VRPHWKLQJ VSHFLDO about the tournament, a certain je ne sais quoi that brings out the joie de vivre in those who are lucky enough to attend. “It’s not a political answer but all winners of Evian are great,â€? proclaims Bungert. “You may have some differences in character; some people are a little bit more closed. I’m talking about Inbee Park, who was closed before winning Evian then became a very radiating champion. Karrie Webb, who also won Evian, was also very cold and then just exploded. It’s very funny how (YLDQ FDQ GR WKDW LW KDV D YHU\ VSHFLĂ€F impact. It gives you vitality.â€? ´:H KDYH VSHFLĂ€F VWUHQJWKV ² WKH site, the beauty of the surroundings, the hotels, the fact that we don’t change course every edition so we can invest in the facilities – and we work that out on each axis.â€? Though committed to making the required infrastructural investments – as well as the course, two luxury hotels and an impressive golf academy within the Evian Resort were also renovated at no small cost – Riboud and Bungert were understandably keen to maintain the much-loved spirit of the event. “What was great for me – and it was very interesting for Franck as well – was to keep our culture, our identity, our uniqueness and at the same time deal with the change of size, the fact that, like a restaurant with Michelin stars, you have to change,â€? continues Bungert.

The Destinations Report 2015 | 11

Destinations Report 2015 Europe

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How has the Welsh Government’s major events strategy evolved over the past few years? Since we launched our Major Events Strategy in 2010, we have made big strides in building Wales’ position in a fiercely competitive global market. Working closely with partners in Wales and the UK, we have built strong and effective relationships with international event owners gaining their trust and confidence in Wales’ event hosting capability.In the last 5 years, Wales has successfully hosted and delivered a Ryder Cup, an Ashes Test, 4 British Speedway Grand Prix, 11 Olympic Football matches, 3 Extreme Sailing Series acts, an ICC Champions Trophy, two ICF Canoe Slalom World Cups, a Rugby League World Cup, 4 Ironman events, the Commonwealth Mountain and Ultra Distance Championships, The Senior Open, 2 stages of the Red Bull Cliff Diving series, an IPC Athletics European Championship and 4 Tour of Britain stages. The Strategy highlights the importance of developing strong international, national and local partnerships in helping to deliver our vision that Wales is recognised as an outstanding destination for major events. The Team Wales partnership with organisations and governing bodies such as World Rugby, UEFA, European Tour, IAAF, UCI plus our local partners is further evidence that key players in world sport and events are choosing to work with Wales. The global profile that comes with staging major events will, without doubt, have long-standing and positive impacts for Wales, not just as a place to enjoy world class sports, arts and culture, but as a destination of choice for leisure and business visitors, as well as those looking to invest in Wales. These events will provide a high profile platform for raising Wales’ international profile and reputation as a global player in the major events arena. What are the key events in the 2015 calendar? Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium will host 8 matches of the Rugby World Cup 2015, to include two quarter finals. Following the successful 2009 Ashes Test, Cardiff’s SWALEC Stadium will host another Ashes Test in 2015. The UCI Velothon Wales will see the world’s best male elite road cyclists and 15,000 amateur riders make history as they roll across the start line in the heart of Cardiff and embark on a completely closed road cycling sportive that takes in some of Wales’ most breathtaking scenery. Other major events to look forward to are the World Half Marathon in March 2016 and the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18.

through job creation/support, skills development and visitor spend (from outside Wales) and raise Wales’ international profile and reputation through national (UK) and international media and broadcast coverage. All applications for funding are therefore assessed against a range of criteria, appropriate to the nature and scale of the event and linked to these key objectives. Socio-cultural and environmental impacts are also an important element of the evaluation process.

How do you ensure the right balance is struck between international, national and local events? There are four categories of events which are supported through the Welsh Government’s Major Events strategy ‘Event Wales’ • Mega Events: which have genuine global reach and are distinguished by the fact that they are normally preceded by large scale capital projects • Major events: peripatetic events defined by their scale and appeal to attract and influence large scale international audiences, extensive media coverage and to deliver economic impact and significant numbers for Wales as a host destination. • Signature events: these events also have strong international dimension but unlike major events, these are recurring and often unique to Wales. • Growth events: these are typically smaller events, often new, with a footprint and focus that is regional, local sector led and which demonstrate the ambition and potential to evolve and grow to become a major or signature event. In seeking to deliver our Government commitment, we will endeavour to strike a balance between attracting internationally owned and managed event properties and working with Wales based companies to grow existing events and/or create new events. How are you measuring the success of the events staged in Wales? The requirement to measure and report performance of events – across a range of impact areas - is a vital part of demonstrating value for money and in proving a credible return on investment. Our aim is to develop a balanced and sustainable portfolio of events which demonstrate the capacity to deliver a significant economic impact for Wales –

How do you make an event uniquely Welsh? Major international events influence the way we see Wales and the world, and how the world sees Wales. Building a positive external reputation and brand image for Wales is an important challenge recognised by the Welsh Government. Wales is world renowned for its rich and diverse cultural and musical heritage and it is important that events in Wales provide visitors with thrilling and memorable experiences, a vital ingredient in growing our tourism economy. Another key guiding principle of Event Wales is that the portfolio of supported events should create a strong sense of place which celebrates the diversity and distinctiveness of Welsh culture. An example of this would be the work undertaken with Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) 2013 to deliver a high quality tournament Opening Ceremony at the Millennium Stadium in a way that not only enhanced the occasion but highlighted to spectators and, especially, TV audiences that the ceremony was being hosted in Wales. The result was a highly successful ceremony that provided a strong “sense of place” and delivered, for RLWC, record attendance numbers for an Opening Ceremony. ‘Sense of place’ branding together with marketing activities such as Fan Zones provide an enhanced visitor and spectator experience which is an increasingly important dimension in the international events industry where ‘presentation values’ are constantly being upgraded. This applies especially to those peripatetic events that have hosting options outside of Wales and need to be attracted to and/or retained for Wales in a highly competitive commercial environment. As a complement to the more direct financial support provided by the Welsh Government to assist in the securing and staging of events, this marketing activity provides event owners and rights holders, their broadcast and sponsorship partners, participants and spectators with an enhanced proposition in Wales which adds value to their event.

Welsh Government | Eventwales@wales.gsi.gov.uk | www.visitwales.co.uk | 0300 0603300

Destinations Report 2015 Europe

Perfect timing: Rolex’s Evian connection

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olex has been involved in golf since 1967. Its expansive portfolio includes the Masters, the US Open, The Open, the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and a host of other top-level events, as well as personal agreements with several current and retired stars like Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Martin Kaymer and the ‘Big Three’ of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. In women’s golf, Rolex has forged WLHV ZLWK WKH /3*$ DOO Ă€YH 0DMRUV WKH Solheim Cup, and Annika Sorenstam, perhaps the greatest female to ever play the game, while it also holds the naming rights to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. In 2001, shortly after the tournament joined the LPGA, the brand teamed up with what was then the Evian Masters, adding a further string to its DOUHDG\ VL]HDEOH JROĂ€QJ ERZ “If you look at what Rolex does worldwide, it’s like a piece of the puzzle

“You get new people coming from all over the world because you are a Michelin-starred restaurant and it’s exactly the same for a golf tournament. We have people coming that we didn’t see before because it’s a Major. That’s always interesting for an organiser and that gave us an expectancy, a level of professionalism, a level of trying to be the best and to improve every day like you always look for when you manage a team with very ambitious goals.â€? “The real question for me,â€? adds Riboud, “is: why is it working? Because people like myself and Jacques are taking care. We never subcontract everything. We never ask a marketing agency to take care. We were involved from the beginning.â€? Commercially speaking, the tournament has taken on an entirely new complexion since joining the elite ranks. :KDW ZDV D GLVWLQFWO\ )UHQFK Ă DYRXUHG commercial portfolio in the Masters years – featuring the likes of Lacoste, Renault, Societe Generale and, of course, Evian – is now an international group thanks to the arrival of blue-chip PXOWLQDWLRQDOV IURP IXUWKHU DĂ€HOG VXFK DV Korean conglomerate Lotte, international

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Rolex provide reliable timepieces on course

to make a beautiful picture,â€? says JeanNoel Bioul, a senior strategic advisor at Rolex. “This tournament is certainly a big piece of that image.â€? Based just across the lake in nearby Geneva, Rolex was one of the driving forces behind Evian gaining Major status. Not only did the company’s high-level connections within the JROĂ€QJ HVWDEOLVKPHQW SURYH LQYDOXDEOH but its investment in Evian, according to Bioul, put friendly pressure on the organisers to always strive for perfection. professional services giant Accenture and Vodafone. Media coverage has also surged, with the 2013 edition achieving 876 hours of television time in 167 countries and 688 million households, over half of them in Asia. “All of a sudden – and you can see it – the number of [sponsor] tents has increased and everything has increased because obviously everybody wants to be part of a Major story and a Major experience,â€? Bungert says. ´)RU XV LW KHOSV XV GHĂ€QLWHO\ WR UDLVH our standards and to really attract new companies and new partners, even worldwide. We are discussing now with some Asian companies. In fact, we are GHĂ€QLWHO\ RQ WKH PDS DQG VXVWDLQDELOLW\ LV key because people don’t ask: ‘will you be here next year?’ For sure, we’ll be there, so it’s a whole different ball game.â€? Adds Riboud: “We have Lotte now as a sponsor; they’re not really a sponsor, it’s an exchange between Lotte and the Evian brand. They distribute our water in their country; we help them on the tournament. They are going to open an Evian Spa in two or three big cities all over the world so it’s a business connection, which is an example how you

“We grew up with this tournament, we helped raise the bar for them. Franck Riboud will tell you: ‘Rolex helped us to raise the quality of the event’, because ZH SXVKHG WKHP :H FDQQRW EH DIĂ€OLDWHG with an event that is not top quality.â€? Rolex has since added the Rolex Annika Major Award to its long list of JROĂ€QJ DVVHWV (VWDEOLVKHG WKLV \HDU WKH award recognises the player who has the best Major championship record during an LPGA Tour season, with America’s Michelle Wie presented with the inaugural award on the Sunday of the 2014 Evian Championship. )RU %LRXO WKH DZDUG LV D Ă€WWLQJ ZD\ for Rolex to bring together some of its key women’s golf properties. “With this WRXUQDPHQW EHLQJ WKH Ă€IWK 0DMRU ZH IHOW that having a tribute to Annika, who was one of the best women golfers ever and D ZLQQHU RI DOO Ă€YH 0DMRUV ZKLOVW JLYLQJ the award to the best women’s golfer along the year was just fantastic,â€? he says. can leverage a golf tournament. Here, we are not looking for making margin, we are looking how to develop ladies’ golf all over the world.â€? Riboud is particularly proud of the developmental side of The Evian Championship. Having founded the event alongside his father with a vision of showcasing the then-marginalised sport of women’s golf to the world, he says developing stars of the future remains “the most important elementâ€? of the tournament, with the Haribo Kids Cup, an international competition for young golfers aged eight to 12, and The Evian Championship Juniors Cup, for under14s, both integral parts of what the event is trying to achieve. “We have this incredible tournament and the awareness of the tournament, so when you have all these kids coming from all different countries, it’s a story,â€? Riboud says. “Our job is to build stories because everybody is talking about history, St Andrews, the Masters, whatever. If we start now, within 40 years we will enter into the golf history. And you don’t enter into the golf history just with a tournament, you have to build something around it.â€?

HOSTING WINNERS Everyone’s a winner when hosting events in Denmark. Volunteers, spectators, businesses and politicians all come together to empower your world class event. Everyone plays on your team to take it to a higher level. When you place your event in Denmark, you’re bringing it to a vibrant atmosphere served by a wealth of trustworthy and experienced partners. Together we’ll make your event a winner.

Destinations Report 2015 Europe

HITTING TARGETS By David Cushnan

The FIE, world fencing’s governing body, is in the middle of its first Grand Prix series, its revamped and better packaged events concept. While the initial focus is on the broadcast product, the new format is also offering host cities on three continents the chance to make their mark.

16 | www.sportspromedia.com

I

n November 2014, the Italian city of 7XULQ KRVWHG WKH ÀUVW ),( *UDQG 3UL[ series event, part of a drive by world fencing’s governing body to revitalise, UDLVH WKH SURÀOH RI DQG EHWWHU FRPPHUFLDOLVH its key non-Olympic events. The annual FDOHQGDU QRZ FRPSULVHV QLQH *UDQG 3UL[ HYHQWV VSOLW HTXDOO\ DFURVV (XURSH WKH Americas and Asia and across the fencing’s three weapons, foil, ÊpÊe and sabre. In reducing the number of top-level events – previously there were 18 – and

investing in broadcast production to ensure a higher quality, more consistent RXWSXW WKH ),( EHOLHYHV LW KDV KLW XSRQ a format which will entice broadcasters, better engage viewers and, in the longerterm, attract sponsors. “We basically only appeared on the WHOHYLVLRQ DW WKH 2O\PSLF *DPHV DQG WKH world championship, so once a year,â€? H[SODLQV .ULV]WLiQ .XOFViU WKH IRUPHU ZRUOG FKDPSLRQ ZKR LV QRZ WKH ),(¡V VSRUWV GLUHFWRU ´:LWK WKH *UDQG 3UL[

series we are going to organise events at almost the same high level as the world championships nine times in a year. The ORFDWLRQV DUH H[WUHPHO\ JRRG ¾ The host venues for the revamped *UDQG 3UL[ VHULHV DUH LQGHHG D PL[ RI what might be described as traditional fencing markets and newer, emerging markets which potentially open up the sport to new audiences and new PRQH\ )URP 7XULQ WKH VSRUW¡V OHDGLQJ proponents made their way to Doha, the

The Destinations Report 2015 | 17

Destinations Report 2015 Europe

Rio, the Games and an outdoor future for fencing?

L

ike every Olympic sports IHGHUDWLRQ WKH ),( KDV LWV H\HV trained on Rio de Janeiro, as the FLW\ EHJLQV LWV Ă€QDO SUHSDUDWLRQV EHIRUH VWDJLQJ QH[W \HDU¡V 2O\PSLF *DPHV %HIRUH WKDW 5LR LV SRLVHG WR VWDJH D *UDQG 3UL[ VHULHV HYHQW LQ 0D\ ZKLFK WKH ),( LQWHQGV WR XVH QRW RQO\ DV WKH Ă€UVW WHVW RI WKH FLW\¡V ORJLVWLFV and organisation but as a way to HQJDJH D %UD]LOLDQ SRSXODWLRQ ODUJHO\ unfamiliar with fencing. “London was a great success for fencing, we had 97 per cent spectators LQ WKH YHQXH DQG ZH NQRZ WKDW %UD]LO is not a country where fencing is YHU\ GHYHORSHG Âľ H[SODLQV )UHGHULF 3LHWUXV]ND ´VR ZH QHHG WR LQFUHDVH QRW

Qatari capital hosting the early stages RI LWV *UDQG 3UL[ DW LWV $VSLUH IDFLOLW\ EHIRUH VWDJLQJ WKH Ă€QDOV LQ D ORFDO PDOO LQ front of hundreds of curious shoppers. 1HZ <RUN ZDV WKH QH[W VWRS IROORZHG by a meeting in Havana, Cuba. Budapest, the capital of Hungary and a historic IHQFLQJ KRWVSRW ZLOO EH QH[W IROORZHG E\ HYHQWV LQ WKH 6RXWK .RUHDQ FDSLWDO 6HRXO 6KDQJKDL LQ &KLQD WKH QH[W 2O\PSLF FLW\ 5LR GH -DQHLUR DQG WKH VDEUH Ă€QDOH LQ WKH Russian capital Moscow in June. ´:H FKRVH H[LVWLQJ RUJDQLVHUV Âľ H[SODLQV )UpGpULF 3LHWUXV]ND WKH ),(¡V secretary general and the Olympic foil champion in 1980, outlining a set-up

only visibility but our popularity there. We have to work, to try. We have given D *UDQG 3UL[ WR 5LR WKLV \HDU DQG QH[W year we will organise the test events GXULQJ WKH *UDQG 3UL[ Âľ 3LHWUXV]ND UHYHDOV WKDW D SODQ IRU 5LR WR VWDJH LWV *UDQG 3UL[ VHULHV HYHQW outdoors, close to Copacabana Beach, LQ ZDV EULHĂ \ RQ WKH WDEOH EHIRUH EHLQJ UXOHG RXW IRU Ă€QDQFLDO UHDVRQV “We can think about that in the future,â€? he says. ´, WKLQN LW¡V SRVVLEOH WR Ă€QG QHZ places, maybe outdoors,â€? he adds, speaking more generally. “Maybe we can develop another type of fencing – now we are thinking about fence Ă€WQHVV ZKLFK FRXOG EH RXWGRRUV Âľ which sees national fencing federations take the bulk of responsibility for organising their own events, backed-up by the Lausanne-based world body. “We know there are strong organisers in some countries – countries like Italy, +XQJDU\ &KLQD 5XVVLD DQG .RUHD DUH historical federations. In the Americas it was a little different: we chose the US because it is a strong country in fencing, we chose Havana because of the strong history of foiling there and we chose Rio EHFDXVH WKH >2O\PSLF@ *DPHV DUH WKHUH Âľ $OWKRXJK PXFK RI WKH ),(¡V ZRUN on the broadcast product has been to standardise coverage by spending

Stirring emotions: the FIE Grand Prix series

WLPH KXPDQ DQG ÀQDQFLDO UHVRXUFHV including meeting with current and potential broadcasters of fencing to discover what might work best for them, there remains an opportunity for local organisers to stamp their mark on their own event. And although predominantly DQ LQGRRU VSRUW 3LHWUXV]ND SRLQWV RXW WKDW HDFK RI WKH ÀUVW WKUHH *UDQGV 3UL[ had a distinctive feel, which came across in the broadcast: the Turin event, for H[DPSOH WRRN SODFH LQ D PXOWL VSRUWV venue most associated with basketball; Doha’s organising team opted to take WKH ÀQDOV WR WKH PDVVHV LQ WKH PDOO DQG New York’s event began in the New

The FIE has invested heavily in broadcast production, to ensure higher quality, more consistent television coverage of Grand Prix series meetings

18 | www.sportspromedia.com

Local organisers are able to make a mark through their choice of venue: the New York Grand Prix took place in the city’s Grand Prospect Hall

York Marriott hotel at the Brooklyn %ULGJH EHIRUH WKH Ă€QDOV WRRN SODFH DW WKH KLVWRULF *UDQG 3URVSHFW +DOO ´$OO were totally different approaches, but HDFK KDG D VWURQJ LPDJH Âľ 3LHWUXV]ND says. “I think it’s not very important to have this or that – we just need to give the spectators the same thing but in different venues.â€? .XOFViU DGGV ´7KHVH FRPSHWLWLRQV can be tailor-made according to the needs of the local environment, the local organisers. All the organisers have to meet requirements, of course – very clear rules which are in our handbooks – but

besides that the local characteristic of the competition remains.â€? 7KH LQLWLDO UHVXOWV DIWHU WKUHH *UDQGV 3UL[ DUH HQFRXUDJLQJ ERWK IRU WKH ),( and for the local hosts. “So far we are all VDWLVĂ€HG Âľ .XOFViU FRQĂ€UPV ´(YHU\RQH is happy with the initial results. I can tell you that the aim in the long run is to GHĂ€QLWHO\ LQFUHDVH WKH QXPEHU RI *UDQGV 3UL[ EXW OHW XV VHH KRZ LW JRHV IRU RQH RU two seasons and then we will contemplate increasing the number of events.â€? He adds: “One of the concrete results of the modernisation is to attract new VSRQVRUV WR WKH ),( 2QFH ZH KDYH WKDW

The FIE Fencing Grand Prix Series Date

Discipline

Location

28-30/11/14

Foil

Turin, Italy

5-7/12/14

EpĂŠe

Doha, Qatar

13-14/12/14

Sabre

New York, USA

13-15/3/15

Foil

Havana, Cuba

20-22/3/15

EpĂŠe

Budapest, Hungary

28-29/3/15

Sabre

Seoul, South Korea

16-17/5/15

Foil

Shanghai, China

22-24/5/15

EpĂŠe

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

30-1/5-6/15

Sabre

Moscow, Russia

the aim is to give back the money to the organisers to enhance the level of the organisation. That means that in the PHGLXP WHUP ,¡P H[SHFWLQJ :RUOG &XS competition organisers to candidate for EHFRPLQJ D *UDQG 3UL[ KRVW ² D ELGGLQJ process. This would be a competition. At WKLV PRPHQW WKH ),( KDV WR VKRZ WKH UHVXOWV DQG WKDW EHFRPLQJ D *UDQG 3UL[ organiser is something which is worthwhile and adds value. The message from us is WKDW ZH DUH VDWLVĂ€HG ZLWK WKH UHVXOWV Âľ 3LHWUXV]ND D IHQFHU WKURXJK DQG through, is keen to make clear that the ),( LV LQ WKLV IRU WKH ORQJ KDXO ´,W¡V QRW D challenge for one year, it’s a challenge for the long-term,â€? he says. “We know that LQ RQH \HDU LW LV GLIĂ€FXOW WR LQFUHDVH WKH visibility and spectators. But we are trying to put in place a condition for the visibility RQ 79 ,W¡V YHU\ GLIĂ€FXOW EHFDXVH ZH KDYH to educate the broadcasters about fencing; a lot of people don’t know it. We want spectacular images with our sport.â€? +H FRQWLQXHV ´)RU WKH Ă€UVW WLPH ZH are marketing a product – before we just wanted to show fencing, but without objectives. Now, we have a strong objective: to show the sport differently and market it.â€?

The Destinations Report 2015 | 19

Destinations Report 2015 Europe

IT’S SHOW TIME By David Cushnan - originally published in the December/January edition of SportsPro

Dmitri Kerkentzes, chief of staff of the Bureau International des Expositions, draws some conclusions for sport from the business behind the World Expo, which is heading to Milan later this year and then on to Dubai in 2020.

T

he concept of a World Expo, or World’s Fair, grew out of The Great Exhibition, held in London’s Hyde Park at the behest of Prince Albert in 1851, but it was not until 1928 that there was any formal, international framework governing Expo organisation. The result of the 1928 Convention of Paris treaty was the formation of Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which has supervised the selection and staging of Expos ever since. In 1928, there were only around 30 member states. In 2014, the BIE’s membership numbers 168. “It’s no longer a developed, rich boys’ club,â€? says Dimitri Kerkentzes, the BIE’s chief of staff and, for 11 years, one of the most senior RIĂ€FLDOV LQ WKH VWURQJ 3DULV VHFUHWDULDW “It grew very slowly because at the time Expos were very much centred in Europe – it was the industrial revolution, it was industry moving forward, so Europe and

the US were the centre. It has changed now and emerging countries, developing countries have a big say in what’s going to happen.� Although there are certain stipulations, like membership of the United Nations (UN) or organisations like the International Atomic Energy Agency, joining the BIE is straightforward for a nation. “If you’re a head of state,� Kerkentzes explains, “you send a letter to the ministry of foreign affairs in France, where our convention is seated, saying you want to join and you’re a member. You can leave just as easily.� An annual fee is required, but Kerkentzes adds quickly that this only runs into the thousands rather than the millions required by organisations like the UN. As they have evolved, Expos have grown and developed into hubs for trade, industry and technology, cultural showcases, science laboratories, environmental forums, demonstrations

A ďŹ reworks display marks the opening ceremony of the World Expo in Shanghai on 30th April 2010

20 | www.sportspromedia.com

of political muscle and prosperity, and national and city brand-building and tourism platforms. Where once there was something of a scattergun approach to hosting and staging, more recently a proper, easier to follow structure has been put in place and enshrined in an amended treaty. “In the 80s there was a proliferation of Expos, every 18 months, and it was impossible to keep up,â€? Kerkentzes says. “Countries had had enough but the problem was that to change an international treaty or convention is very complicated. It UHTXLUHV WKH UDWLĂ€FDWLRQ RI DQ\ FKDQJH IRU IRXU Ă€IWKV RI WKH PHPEHU VWDWHV ,W took ten years but they managed to do it – much like the Olympic Games, we needed to regulate the frequency.â€? Expos were previously categorised as either Universal or Sepcialised, which has since been changed to Recognised and Registered. Put simply, there are now World Expos, which are based around a universal theme, and International Expos, where the RYHUDUFKLQJ WRSLF LV PRUH VSHFLĂ€F World Expos, which last for six PRQWKV DUH VWDJHG HYHU\ Ă€YH \HDUV Shanghai, with its theme of urban sustainability, hosted the last one in 2010. 0LODQ LV LQ WKH Ă€QDO VWDJHV RI SUHSDUDWLRQ for the 2015 edition. In November 2013, Dubai was selected as the host of Expo 2020. Two International Expos have been staged since the treaty amendment, in the Spanish city of Zaragoza in 2008 and the Korean city of Yeosu four years later. One International Expo is scheduled between each World Expo, with the next one, centred on future energy, set for Astana, Kazakhstan in 2017. International Expos can run for a maximum of three months and the site is restricted to a maximum of 25 hectares, but there are other differences, too.

Rather than attending as guests of the host city, as at the Olympic Games, countries are invited to pay for exhibition pavilions at Expo events

“Why one is sometimes considered more beautiful than the other,” notes Kerkentzes, “is that in a World Expo many countries come and build their own pavilions – in Shanghai 6,000m2 pavilions. At an International Expo, the organiser builds everything and you come and rent a space, a maximum of 1,000 square metres.” While Kerkentzes reports that the two International Expos to date have been “successful in their own right”, some member states have questioned the value of participating. “The truth is, no, no member state is obliged to take part in every single Expo,” Kerkentzes explains. “What we’ve discovered, and we’ll see this in 2017, these smaller Expos are an opportunity for developing countries to hold such an event. At a World Expo, you’re talking about a minimum of 20 million visitors – not every country can pull that off; with that size of site, they don’t have the infrastructure or capacity. A smaller Expo is much more doable. 7KH À UVW WZR ZHUH GRQH E\ GHYHORSHG countries, Spain and Korea, and I think that may have been what lacked. I think

we need this type of small Expos to go to developing countries which are emerging now. Kazakhstan is very oil-rich but it is a developing country, it still has a lot of developing to do. I think they are using it cleverly: this is Kazakhstan, it’s an opening, a welcome, to the world.” At the World Expo level, bids to host the event are far more overtly political than for any sporting event. Bids must be

Dmitri Kerkentzes is the chief of staff at the BIE

submitted nine years in advance of the opening date – the 2025 contenders will begin to declare in early 2016 – and the À UVW RIÀ FLDO ELG PDUNV WKH RSHQLQJ RI D six-month window for others. Following that period, bid dossiers are prepared and submitted in a three-month period, followed by what are known as technical enquiry missions to each venue. “We assess the quality and feasibility of the Expo,” says Kerkentzes. “It looks at the political support and if we go to France we’re not just going to talk to the party in power, we need the opposition because it’s nine years. It does happen – it happened in France in 2004 when there was a change of government and they cancelled an Expo in Saint-Denis – so we need cross-party support. You’ve also got to check the citizens of the country are supportive and check the infrastructure ² \RX KDYH WR À QG D ELJ SORW RI ODQG that you can basically raze to build up an Expo, and that’s not that easy in developed cities like Paris and London.” As the International Olympic Committee (IOC) prepares to enter into increased dialogue with potential Olympic

The Destinations Report 2015 | 21

Destinations Report 2015 Europe

host cities, a move which may see the organisation have to accept a greater degree of risk by losing some control over what has been a tightly regimented process, the bidding process for Expos is unashamedly and openly political. “They are sovereign governments [who vote],” says Kerkentzes. “They have a set of rules they have to follow and we do our best that they follow them – if a country does something against the rules, this could have an impact on political or economic relations, so it goes much wider. “What governments do in lobbying each other and the agreements they make – the idea that an Expo is just an event narrows it down a bit too much. This is about creating economic ties. You have big countries that are bidding who go to smaller countries and say ‘support us and we will do some foreign direct investment, we will work on these contracts together’. That’s not buying someone off, it’s cooperation, it’s how the world works anyway. It’s governments making agreements together. It becomes a very political thing.”

World Expos Also known as Universal Expos, or Recognised Expos Frequency:

Every five years

Duration:

Six months

2010

Host:

Shanghai, China

Theme:

Better City – Better Life

Other bidders:

Yeosu, South Korea; Moscow, Russia; Queretaro, Mexico; Wroclaw, Poland

Host:

Milan, Italy

Theme:

Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life

Other bidders:

Izmir, Turkey

Host:

Dubai, UAE

Theme:

Connecting Minds, Creating the Future

Other bidders:

Izmir, Turkey; Yekaterinburg, Russia; São Paulo, Brazil

2015

2020

International Expos Also known as Specialised Expos, or Registered Expos Frequency:

One staged in between each World Expo

Duration:

Maximum three months

Site:

Maximum 25 hectares

2008

Host:

Zaragoza, Spain

Theme:

Water and Sustainable Development

Other bidders:

Thessaloniki, Greece; Trieste, Italy

Host:

Yeosu, South Korea

Theme:

The Living Ocean and Coast

Other bidders:

Tangier, Morocco; Wroclaw, Poland

Host:

Astana, Kazakhstan

Theme:

Future Energy

Other bidders:

Liege, Belgium

2012

Smaller events used as a true testing ground

Picture by: Remy de la Mauviniere/AP/Press Association Images

2017

Lessons for sport

Dubai presents its successful bid for the 2020 World Expo at a meeting in Paris in November 2013

22 | www.sportspromedia.com

International Expos, one of which is held in the space between every two World Expos, are markedly smaller affairs. Ground space is limited; exhibitors get a fraction of the room they would at a World Expo. Costs are substantially lower. They are, as Kerkentzes says, “much more doable,” especially for developing nations with growing but limited budgets and event-organising expertise. 7KRXJK WKH ÀUVW WZR ,QWHUQDWLRQDO Expos went to developed nations in Spain and South Korea, the third, in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2017, could well start a trend. The notion of developing nations ‘warming up’ to major event organisation through hosting smaller, more manageable ancillary events of major event institutions could well chime with the IOC, which is looking to remodel the template for its Youth Olympic Games after successfully run, but confusingly positioned events in Singapore, Austria, and China. Perhaps the best legacy is no legacy at all

In 2005, the Japanese prefecture of Aichi staged the World Expo and

Picture by: Eugene Hoshiko/AP/Press Association Images

The 2010 World Expo brought tens of millions of visitors to Shanghai and saw the signing of the Shanghai Declaration on urban sustainable development

offered an unusual and possibly even unique solution to the question of OHJDF\ ´7KHLU Ă€UVW SURMHFW ZDV WR decimate part of a forest and the citizens and environmentalists went crazy,â€? remembers Kerkentzes. “Our secretary general went to see the government and said, ‘You can’t do an Expo without citizen support, it’s not possible.’â€? Rather than switching locations, organisers in Aichi decided to build pavilions using recycled materials, with the whole Expo site placed on raised pillars. “Everything disappeared after the Expo,â€? Kerkentzes recalls. Aichi may have been a one-off but, like the Olympics, crafting a genuine legacy plan has become a fundamental element of any Expo bid. Whereas an Olympic Games leaves a similar set of venues and legacy challenges wherever they are hosted, Expos aren’t bound by the same strict content regulations, a situation which could lead to more diverse legacies in host cities. Aside from the physical legacy, Shanghai’s 2010 Expo, to cite one example, resulted in the Shanghai Declaration, an agreement amongst participating countries on the future of urban sustainable development and, eventually, the annual World Cities Day. Olympic bidders have it easy – win it and they will come

Unlike the Olympic Games, where every sport and nation comes to compete, Expo organisers win the right to host and then must convince every member nation – those that voted for them and

those that didn’t – of the merits of participating. Building a pavilion, in the case of World Expo, or even renting one for an International Expo does not come cheap, and they also have to be staffed and run for up to six months. “Even if I convince the UK to vote for me and they do, I now have to go and convince the UK to come and spend UKÂŁ10 million, UKÂŁ15 million or even UKÂŁ20 million to come and be present,â€? Kerkentzes explains. “That’s not always an easy sell and especially not in the current economic climate.â€? Olympic host cities, by comparison, have it much more straightforward: when a city wins the Games it knows how many athletes – currently 10,500 for summer Games and nearly 3,000 for the winter – which sports and, barring major crises, that the entire world will turn up in their city seven years later. An Olympic bid from Rome would present a bureaucratic headache

Rome, which pulled out of the race for the 2020 summer Olympics after Italy’s government failed to provide the Ă€QDQFLDO JXDUDQWHHV UHTXLUHG E\ WKH ,2& is mulling over returning to the bidding arena for 2024. As he discusses the lack of Expo legacy in the Spanish city of Seville after it played host in 1992 – “The after-use was horrendous,â€? he says, candidly – Kerkentzes is reminded of the bureaucracy he is currently facing as he oversees Milan’s preparations for World Expo 2015. “You enter into the problem of city, region and national government, which

is very prominent in Italy as well,â€? he suggests. “You don’t always agree on what’s going to be done.â€? Kerkentzes has also encountered strict DQWL PDĂ€D UHJXODWLRQV LQ ,WDO\ ZKLFK can complicate the organisation of major events. “They have to go through procedures,â€? he adds, “to make sure none of the companies they [Expo organisers] use are linked to any organised crime syndicates.â€? The IOC should relax – you only need two to make a race

The mild sense of panic which appears to have engulfed the Olympic movement since the contenders for the 2022 winter Games dropped to two contrasts sharply with Kerkentzes’ account of the BIE’s reaction to only having two bidders for some of its most prized events in recent years. Most recently, only two cities, Liege and Astana, submitted bids for the 2017 International Expo. “Nobody found it odd or disappointing,â€? Kerkentzes says. “If you only have two, better that it’s two that are serious and know how to do an Expo, rather than having someone, and we’ve had it, who bids at the last minute, submits a candidature and has no idea why they did it.â€? The BIE’s more laissez-faire attitude towards bidding, however, can perhaps be attributed to the fact that its members are government entities, not the private LQGLYLGXDOV XQDIĂ€OLDWHG WR DQ RUJDQLVDWLRQ who make up a section of the IOC’s membership.

The Destinations Report 2015 | 23

Destinations Report 2015 Middle East

MIDDLE EAST

Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar are well-established hosts of European Tour golf tournaments

2

015 will, barring more political shenanigans at the top of soccer’s governing body, be the year when the world will discover exactly when in 2022 the Fifa World Cup will be played. The well-publicised and at times interminable debate about how the tiny nation with the resources to match its ambition was awarded continues; Qatar, meanwhile, has hoovered up a number of other world championship-level events including last year’s winning bid for the 2019 World Athletics Championship. There is, perhaps inevitably, talk of a Formula One race, whilst another Olympic bid would not be unexpected. “In terms of Qatar’s objectives for sport, I think they are very clear in what they are trying to achieve and it’s a change in where they are on the development

24 | www.sportspromedia.com

curves,â€? notes Angus Buchanan, comanaging director of The Sports Consultancy, setting aside for a moment the wider controversies around the 2022 World Cup and putting Qatar’s efforts into some context. “They are very aggressively and rapidly JURZLQJ WKH SURĂ€OH RI 4DWDU RQ WKH international stage and I think they’ve done pretty well at securing some of the ZRUOG¡V KLJKHVW SURĂ€OH HYHQWV %XW WKHQ the focus begins to shift, because it has to, towards making sure you are making XVH RI WKH SRWHQWLDO VRFLDO EHQHĂ€WV RI hosting major events.â€? Buchanan points to the Qatari bid to stage either the 2019 or 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup as evidence of its increasing desire to accelerate social change. “That is not entirely, but very substantially driven by

their desire to encourage participation in sport generally, but indoor ball sports which can be held throughout the year VSHFLĂ€FDOO\ , WKLQN WKH\ DUH EHJLQQLQJ to create a much more sophisticated approach to hosting major events.â€? At the same time, Robert Datnow, The Sports Consultancy’s co-managing director, suggests that lost in the fog of controversy, Qatar has proved ´LQQRYDWLYH DGDSWDEOH DQG Ă H[LEOHÂľ ZKHQ it comes to how it stages its events – a commitment to installing the necessary lighting for more temperature-friendly evening world championship marathon is but one example. “They are being told by the international sporting community that there is an opportunity to bid for certain things and they are being told what the obstacles are and they are adapting.â€? Elsewhere in the region, Abu Dhabi and Dubai continue to hone their major event strategies, which, in sporting terms, revolve around key annual markers in golf and tennis. Since 2009, Abu Dhabi has staged a well-received Grand Prix at the spectacular Yas Marina. “They’ve become much more experienced and in becoming more experienced they’ve come to realise what major events can deliver for them DJDLQVW YHU\ VSHFLĂ€F VHWV RI REMHFWLYHV Âľ Buchanan suggests. “They are being more selective in terms of choosing what it is they’re going to bid for.â€? Most intriguing, perhaps, is Dubai’s successful bid for the 2020 World Expo, a non-sport event which will, nonetheless, occupy much of its time DQG WRXULVP LQLWLDWLYHV RYHU WKH QH[W Ă€YH years. “Time will tell whether that was the right choice,â€? says Datnow, “but the decision was taken for some very cogent reasons. I have no doubt that Dubai will achieve a broad set of objectives from its hosting of the World Expo. Looking at the portfolio of events both in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, I notice a lot of nonsporting as well as sporting events. This comes about because they are trying to market particular expertise, and that they are open for business in particular areas.â€?

WHAT TO WATCH FOR? -

The continuation of Qatar’s muchpublicised and controversial sporting rise

-

Abu Dhabi and Dubai consolidating event calendars

-

Will World Expo 2020 mark a shift away from sport by Dubai?

MARKETS TO WATCH? Qatar

The Destinations Report 2015 | 25

Destinations Report 2015 Middle East

UNIQUE FLAVOUR By Eoin Connolly

Having been overshadowed for a time by its brasher neighbour, Dubai, the emirate of Abu Dhabi has been using sport in recent years to build its international profile. It now hopes to drive tourism numbers by hosting an ever broader range of events.

I

t says much about the path of modern sport that golf ’s European Tour begins in earnest in the Middle East. World number one Rory McIlroy, two-time major winner Martin Kaymer, American Rickie Fowler and a clutch of other international stars chose this year to swing into the new season at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in January. “The players regard this golf course and this tournament as one of the best on the circuit,â€? claims IMG Golf ’s Peter German, the tournament director, speaking at the VIP Championship Pavilion at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club on the opening morning of the competition. As far as the players are concerned, the appeal of the tournament is obvious enough – the conditions are reliable, the weather is warm, and the oasis-like course is well-groomed and plays true. For the tournament organisers, the mission is to communicate that appeal to the wider public. Spectators at the course are afforded plenty of concessions and activities at the sponsor-led Championship Village, but the real target is the international audience watching on television and encountering the tournament through other media. The championship is celebrating its tenth edition in 2015. In 2004, IMG approached the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA), which had been keen to Ă€QG QHZ ZD\V WR SURPRWH WKH HPLUDWH DV D tourist destination. “I just pitched them the idea that a golf tournament is probably the quickest way of doing that because you’ve got guaranteed worldwide TV coverage,â€? German says.

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The TCA chose to underwrite the tournament and has since embraced it as a vital pillar of its wider events strategy, which sees it use sporting events as tourist assets to sit alongside its beaches, its malls, and attractions like Ferrari World. “This kind of event creates a desire and attachment to the golf community worldwide,â€? says Faisal Al Sheikh, the director of the TCA’s events bureau. “At the end, the ultimate goal is to occupy those golf clubs that we have; it’s to have more international visitors playing a round.â€? Al Sheikh, who is speaking on the second day of the championship, conceives of it as a “one-stop shop for the golf industry in the emirateâ€?, providing an occasion which brings together key stakeholders at all levels of the game as well as providing a promotional platform and a beacon for visiting fans. The Abu Dhabi Golf Championship is celebrating its tenth edition in 2015, and its rising status is perhaps an indication of how the emirate is maturing as a host. It comes in the middle of a busy period running back to the end of 2014. Formula One’s climactic race, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, was held in late November and remains the biggest sporting event in the UAE. Then from 12th December of last year to 3rd January of this one, Abu Dhabi hosted the third stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race. It was the second time the ZRUOG¡V KLJKHVW SURĂ€OH RIIVKRUH VDLOLQJ event had made its way to the emirate, following a debut in 2011. Chris Haber of Worldsport Arabia, also present

on day two of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, served as the stopover director on both occasions. “The core focus for the stopover revolved around the theme and the tagline of: ‘four centuries of maritime heritage meets the greatest ocean adventure of today in the world’s most exciting destination’,â€? Haber explains. “It’s really trying to marry Abu Dhabi’s longstanding maritime heritage – through GKRZ VDLOLQJ SHDUO GLYLQJ Ă€VKLQJ DQG its position on the Arabian coast – with cutting-edge technology, modern teamwork strategies, business-to-business communication goals, and putting those two together.â€? This was an evolution of the approach in 2011, which had been “about introducing

Abu Dhabi has become a regular Volvo Ocean Race stopover; over 160,000 people visited the race village there at the turn of the year

Abu Dhabi to the sailing worldâ€? and provide a showcase of its potential as “a centre of global business and tourismâ€?. After the success of that stopover – shorter than the 2014/15 edition at 15 days rather than 23 – Haber believes it was time WR ´UHDOO\ Ă€OO LQ WKH EDFN VWRU\Âľ :RUOGVSRUW LWVHOI KDV RIĂ€FHV LQ $EX 'KDEL DQG &DSH 7RZQ DQG Ă€UVW EHFDPH involved with the Volvo Ocean Race, then the Whitbread Round the World Race, ahead of its South African stopover in 1998. The agency was encouraged by Volvo to work with the TCA on the Abu Dhabi stopover in 2011, and has now developed a wider-ranging relationship with the agency. “I think we developed an DIĂ€QLW\ IRU $EX 'KDEL DV D GHVWLQDWLRQ Âľ says Haber of those initial experiences.

Haber suggests that the race is “unique in terms of the diversity of the objectives that one can reach�, adding that it reaches “sailing enthusiasts, travel enthusiasts, business enthusiasts�. The data is still being collected but the early signs are that the stopover made a greater impact this time around, with 160,000 spectators attending – up from 120,000 – and “around 40 to 45 tourism and business stakeholders in Abu Dhabi participating and contributing to the stopover, which is a massive increase from the previous one�. Tourist bed nights and media reach may take longer to calculate but the race also serves as a multi-pronged tool for Abu Dhabi when it comes to attracting global attention. As well as being a

stopover host, the emirate is a sponsor of the event – taking the ‘destination partner’ role – and backs the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team. “It just gives it relevance,� says Haber of Abu Dhabi’s race entry, “it gives it credibility, it gives us ambassadors as a stopover that we can hang our hat on in Adil Khalid, Ian Walker and some of the other guys. Those are huge assets for us as a stopover to open people’s eyes and put a human face on it and give a human voice as to why we’re doing it.� Haber adds that the team provide six months of publicity for the emirate ahead of its stopover, and is a meaningful way of “connecting those dots between the longstanding maritime heritage and the modern maritime heritage�.

The Destinations Report 2015 | 27

Destinations Report 2015 Middle East

Al Sheikh concurs, describing the team as a “good platformâ€? and revealing a WDUJHW RI SRGLXP Ă€QLVKHV LQ HYHU\ OHJ The strategy is repeated across Abu Dhabi’s major events – Italy’s Matteo Mannasero, playing at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, is a global ambassador for the emirate – and there are echoes of it in other activities. The leverage of Abu Dhabi-owned Premier League champions Manchester City, who travelled to the emirate for a warm-weather training camp in January, is a case in point. Although Haber believes the organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race appreciate WKH ´XQLTXH Ă DYRXUÂľ WKDW WKH $EX Dhabi stopover offers, it will be some time before there is any news about the make-up of the next edition. Still, Worldsport will have much to occupy itself with in the meantime. Immediately after the sailing village closed, the agency began work setting up the opening leg of the International Triathlon Union’s ,78 Ă DJVKLS FKDPSLRQVKLS WKH :RUOG Triathlon Series (WTS), held on 6th and 7th March. “It’s on the same event site – it’s down at the Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club site – so they’ll swim off the pontoons and then do a circuit race round the Corniche roads on bikes and running,â€? Haber reveals. Abu Dhabi has held its own triathlon IRU VHYHUDO \HDUV EXW WKH SURĂ€OH RI the WTS event is altogether different, guaranteeing the presence of most of the world’s leading men’s and women’s triathletes and considerable global LQWHUHVW 7KH 7&$ KDV VLJQHG D Ă€YH \HDU deal to stage the event, with Al Sheikh

Abu Dhabi is the host of an early-season European Tour event, an opportunity for branding

admitting to a “long-term visionâ€? of KRVWLQJ WKH Ă€QDO DW VRPH VWDJH DIWHU The event will sit in what is now a “very differentiatedâ€? portfolio, alongside the greens of the golf championship and the twilight spectacle of the Formula One Grand Prix. It also opens up a route to another overseas fanbase. For the TCA, the main targets are necessarily related to bringing visitors to the country. “We reached almost 3.1 million tourists in 2014,â€? says Al Sheikh. “That was the target and we achieved that, but we have more targets this year. Our main target is to maintain what we have and look for more events from the private sector side, creating some seasonal events in these key seasons to link the calendar with the off-period of key markets in the holidays.â€?

Formula One’s annual race at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi has quickly become a favourite

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Events like the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship have an inherent international appeal. Indeed, as German says: “The whole reason for doing this – the primary reason – is to promote Abu Dhabi, and therefore the television audience is of prime importance.â€? The counterpoint of this is that such events tend to lack a local presence, with spectators drawn largely from the expat community. “Initially, that’s certainly the way,â€? admits German. “That’s the same in many countries, really, and certainly here. “But it’s a whole programme of trying to interest the local population in playing the game – not just to go to a golf tournament, but we go to schools and we’ve done a whole thing where we get schools involved with helping with the tournament, running leaderboards and helping with the marshalling, just to try and get people involved. We do clinics for youngsters. With [title sponsor] HSBC’s help, we take some of their ambassadors around to schools to help promote the event. We’re doing everything we can to try and get the penetration of the golf game down to a lower level, to a younger level.â€? The brief for Worldsport is the same for both the Volvo Ocean Race and, more pertinently, the WTS event. The triathlon offers space for up to 4,000 amateur age-group participants and as Haber notes that “our job is really to grow as many of those participants to JHW SK\VLFDO Ă€WQHVV RQ WKH DJHQGD DPRQJ all Emiratis; to get into schools, clubs,

Delivering Business Solutions in Sport Brands - Host Cities - Rights Holders - Venues

www.thesportsconsultancy.com Contact: Angus Buchanan - angus@thesportsconsultancy.com or Robert Datnow - robert@thesportsconsultancy.com Address: The Sports Consultancy, One De Walden Court, 85 New Cavendish Street, London W1W 6XD - Tel: +44 (0) 20 7323 0007

Destinations Report 2015 Middle East

With an established calendar of events and superb facilities, Abu Dhabi has positioned itself as a destination of choice for many sports properties

government organisations to get them out on the road training to take part.â€? There are also attempts being made to engage the local population through events outside the sporting space – or at least straddling the line that divides sport from pure entertainment. Among these is the Al Ain Aerobatics Show, which drew 80,000 spectators to the royal seat in 2013. “You KDG WKH HOLWH SLQQDFOH RI Ă \LQJ EXW LQVWHDG RI VDLOLQJ RQ WKH ZDWHU WKLV ZDV Ă \LQJ LQ the desert,â€? recalls Haber, “and where we did dhows and pearl dives here we looked at falcons and desert culture there. It was a great counter-point [to the Volvo Ocean Race; we had a fantastic time. That’s scheduled to happen again in 2015 so it’s a biennial event.â€? Haber believes that Abu Dhabi’s “unique assetsâ€? such as its climate lend it huge potential as an event host. “It’s a great destination,â€? he argues. “We see that with the golf today and we see that with the triathlon and the Volvo. It’s a great place for people to come during the northern hemisphere winter. It’s a really safe, accessible way for people to experience Arabian culture and the culture of this region, which is unique. They don’t necessarily get that everywhere in the region, obviously, and it gives that authenticity that they don’t get in Dubai or other places where they can get to. So as a cultural experience, it’s huge.â€? Al Sheikh also takes pains to point out how private companies are being incentivised to stage their own events. The TCA provides “all the enablers that we have from the promotional side for that

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event�, he explains, and allows use of its online hub to create awareness among the local population. “So we are playing a vital role in promoting the events happening in the emirate and host more events that are not being organised by us but by other entities in the private sector.� The challenge for Abu Dhabi now as Haber sees it is to maintain the effort that has gone in so far, and to continue the development in “infrastructure, service level, actual facilities�. “It’s not just a monetary investment,� he says, “it’s an investment of passion and credibility and exposure. So I think the opportunity, really, is to leverage the investment that’s already been made, as opposed to needing to make new types of investments or go to new markets. I think now it’s about consolidating and that’s a fantastic opportunity to have that quite frankly, having worked around the world, a lot of destinations don’t have. There’s destinations around the world that try and squeeze stuff out of nothing, and the assets that Abu Dhabi has actually puts it way in front of the pack. “I think what needs to be learned is to continually now be smart about why you’re doing what you’re doing,� he adds, “so I think the lesson now is to say that there are a few focused, very successful properties – let’s expand around those. The second thing to be learned is the power of local input and the power of partnership. Some of these events grew out of top-down investment; what’s happened over time is that the successful ones have had partnerships grow up

around them that make them sustainable, and that sustainability has to be fostered.â€? However that happens, the events calendar in Abu Dhabi is still growing ORQJHU ,Q -DQXDU\ LW ZDV FRQĂ€UPHG that the Fiba 3X3 World Tour Final – the climax of the elite small-sided basketball competition – would be held in Abu Dhabi this year and next. The 2015 edition will be held on 15th and 16th November at the Corniche, with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Extra International Sport and Sport Arena taking on event management duties. In the longer term, the sights have been set higher. Reforms announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in December, which make provision for more than one city to host an Olympic Games, have given rise to speculation that Abu Dhabi might join Dubai in a future bid for the world’s biggest sporting occasion. $O 6KHLNK FRQĂ€UPV WKDW WKH HPLUDWH ZLOO be “looking for the major events, the Olympics, the main Fifa eventsâ€? over the next decade, and that infrastructure will be ramped up to that end. For now, however, the focus is on maintaining the emirate’s strengths as a destination, and building them into a strategy which suits its needs. “I think Abu Dhabi’s in a good place, they’ve got some good core positioning strategies in place,â€? says Haber. “They’re modern in their social media outreach and the way they’re messaging that stuff. So as a brand, I think they’ve got to continue to evolve that. But I think that’s just a function of smart people working hard every day.â€?

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Destinations Report 2015 Middle East

ABU DHABI’S SPORTING STAGE By David Cushnan

As the owner of many of Abu Dhabi’s most prized sports facilities and the operator of many of its most important events, Zayed Sports City has established itself both as a global events hub and a focal point of the community.

F

ounded and inaugurated by the 8QLWHG $UDE (PLUDWHV· ÀUVW president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayhan, Zayed Sports City has been a focal point of Abu Dhabi’s sporting landscape since 1980. In the SDVW ÀYH \HDUV RU VR KRZHYHU QHZ IRFXV KDV EHHQ IRXQG XQGHU WKH RZQHUVKLS RI Abu Dhabi Entertainment Company. =D\HG 6SRUWV &LW\·V FDOHQGDU RI HYHQWV international and local, has expanded DORQJ ZLWK LWV VWDWXV DV RQH RI WKH 0LGGOH East’s premier sports destinations. ´ ZDV DQRWKHU JUHDW \HDU SUREDEO\ WKH EXVLHVW ZH·YH HYHU KDG µ UHSRUWV general manager Barry Bremner. “Our JURZWK IURP D ÀQDQFLDO SHUVSHFWLYH FRQWLQXHG DQG LW ZDV DERXW SHU FHQW

32 | www.sportspromedia.com

KLJKHU WKDQ :LWKLQ WKDW ZH DOVR DGGHG D QXPEHU RI QHZ IDFLOLWLHV WR WKH FRPSOH[ $W WKH HQG RI WKH \HDU ZH DGGHG D VTXDUH PHWUH SDLQWEDOO SDUN DGGHG JROI VLPXODWLRQ ZLWKLQ WKH WHQQLV FRPSOH[ DQG ZH·UH MXVW ÀQLVKLQJ RII DQ LQGRRU GRPH ZKLFK LV DERXW VTXDUH PHWUHV :H·YH DOVR DGGHG DQRWKHU IRRWEDOO SLWFK WR WKH FRPSOH[ µ It is this process of continued expansion DQG FORVH DQDO\VLV RI ZKLFK HYHQWV DQG SDVWLPHV ZLOO WUDQVODWH LQWR LQFUHDVHG UHYHQXH DQG SDUWLFLSDWLRQ WKDW KDV NHSW Zayed Sports City at the forefront of sport LQ $EX 'KDEL RYHU WKH GHFDGHV ERWK DV D national brand-builder on the global stage and as a local, community hub. 2I WKH HVWLPDWHG HYHQWV WKH

IDFLOLW\ KROGV LQ DQ\ JLYHQ \HDU EHWZHHQ DQG DUH ZKDW %UHPQHU GHVFULEHV DV ´PDUTXHH W\SH HYHQWVµ OLNH WKH 1LWUR &LUFXV ::( RU WKH DQQXDO 0XEDGDOD World Tennis Championship. “The other SOXV DUH DOO YHU\ ORFDOO\ EDVHG ´(YHQW VSRQVRUV DQG RUJDQLVHUV DUH JHWWLQJ VPDUWHU µ KH DGGV ´7KH\ DUH QRW MXVW SXWWLQJ PRQH\ LQWR HYHQWV DQG looking for publicity, they are seeking SURJUDPPHV DQG HYHQWV WKDW KDYH elements that contribute to the health of WKH FRPPXQLW\ µ 7KH =D\HG 6SRUWV &LW\ RI LV PDGH up of an eclectic mix of facilities. The ,QWHUQDWLRQDO 7HQQLV &HQWUH ZKLFK RSHQHG LQ FRPSULVHV QLQH FRXUWV LQFOXGLQJ D VWDGLXP FRXUW IRU VSHFWDWRUV DQG

Soccer training camps are a vital revenue stream, while 2014 and 2015’s events calendar includes major championships in tenpin bowling and tennis

also consists of four beach tennis and YROOH\EDOO FRXUWV WKUHH EDVNHWEDOO FRXUWV D J\P ÀWQHVV VWXGLRV VKRSV DQG IRRG RXWOHWV .KDOLID ,QWHUQDWLRQDO %RZOLQJ &HQWUH PHDQZKLOH ZDV EXLOW LQ DQG LV WKH ODUJHVW ERZOLQJ DQG WDEOH VSRUWV YHQXH LQ WKH 0LGGOH (DVW DQG 1RUWK $IULFD UHJLRQ ,W LQFOXGHV IXOO\ HTXLSSHG ODQHV and billiard and table tennis facilities. %RWK YHQXHV KDYH EHHQ SXW WR JRRG XVH RYHU WKH SDVW PRQWKV DQG ZLOO EH WHVWHG DJDLQ WKURXJKRXW WKH International Tennis Centre is the host RI WKH DQQXDO 0XEDGDOD :RUOG 7HQQLV Championship, a three-day exhibition WRXUQDPHQW ZKHUH 1RYDN 'MRNRYLF 5DIDHO 1DGDO $QG\ 0XUUD\ DQG 6WDQ :DZULQND FKRVH WR VWDUW WKHLU VHDVRQV at the turn of the year, and this year DOVR ZLOO LQFOXGH D YLVLW IURP WKH :RUOG :UHVWOLQJ (QWHUWDLQPHQW /LYH WRXU .KDOLID ,QWHUQDWLRQDO %RZOLQJ &HQWUH ZDV WKH KRVW RI WKH 0HQ·V :RUOG 7HQSLQ %RZOLQJ &KDPSLRQVKLS DQ HYHQW ZKLFK %UHPQHU VD\V ZDV WKUHH \HDUV LQ WKH PDNLQJ DQG UHTXLUHG D PDMRU VSUXFH XS RI WKH EXLOGLQJ 7KH ZRPHQ·V YHUVLRQ LV D KLJKOLJKW RI =D\HG 6SRUWV &LW\·V FURZGHG HYHQWV FDOHQGDU 7KLV \HDU·V 0XEDGDOD :RUOG 7HQQLV &KDPSLRQVKLS ZDV D VHOO RXW RYHU DOO three days, but the planning for the next edition has already begun. “The debrief is LPSRUWDQW µ %UHPQHU H[SODLQV ´LQ WHUPV RI ZKDW ZRUNHG DQG ZKDW GLGQ·W ZRUN +H DGGV ´(YHU\ HYHQW ZH GR ZH GR customer satisfaction and customer

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Zayed Sports City’s world-class tennis facilities

WHVWHG DQG YHULÀHG WR PHHW )LID VWDQGDUGV DQG IRU ZKLFK =D\HG 6SRUWV &LW\ KDV UHFHLYHG ZLGHVSUHDG SUDLVH 0RUH JHQHUDOO\ WKH HYHQWV FDOHQGDU IRU LQFOXGHV SOHQW\ RI WKH ´UHSHDW EXVLQHVVµ ZKLFK %UHPQHU VD\V LV YLWDO QRW RQO\ IRU UHDVRQV RI UHYHQXH EXW DOVR WR instil a sense of consistency for the local SRSXODWLRQ 7KH ::( DQG WKH WHQQLV ZLOO UHWXUQ ZKLOH RQH RIIV OLNH WKH :RUOG *DHOLF *DPHV LQ )HEUXDU\ ZLOO FRPSOHPHQW ORFDO HYHQWV VXFK DV WKH 8$( &URVVÀW &KDOOHQJH In the longer-term, Bremner and his team DUH FXUUHQWO\ UHYLVLWLQJ D PDVWHUSODQ IRU H[SDQVLRQ DQG LPSURYHPHQW ZKLFK ZDV FUHDWHG LQ EXW QHYHU H[HFXWHG +H LV also keeping a close eye on other sports and disciplines, trampolining to cite one, that could one day be included as a Zayed Sports City offering. ´:H YHU\ PXFK ORRN WR WKH IXWXUH – looking to add additional partners, LPSURYH RXU FXVWRPHU VHUYLFH DGG QHZ IDFLOLWLHV µ %UHPQHU FRQWLQXHV ´<HV ZH KDYH D OHJDF\ DQG ZH VKRXOG UHVSHFW WKDW OHJDF\ EXW ZH VKRXOG EXLOG XSRQ LW DV ZHOO :H GR WKLV E\ GHYHORSLQJ QHZ DWKOHWHV DQG GHOLYHULQJ PRGHUQ KLJK WHFK VHUYLFHV :H KDYH VHYHUDO FDSLWDO SURMHFWV LQ WKH SLSHOLQH WKDW ZH QHHG WR GHOLYHU WKLV \HDU )RU PH LV DERXW FDSLWDOLVLQJ RQ WKH IDFLOLWLHV ZH KDYH ,W·V DERXW WKH ÀQH GHWDLOV RI UXQQLQJ WKH IDFLOLW\ ² WKH customer interaction and client satisfaction HOHPHQW ZKLFK ZH FRQVWDQWO\ ZRUN RQ 0\ VXFFHVV ZRXOG EH JHWWLQJ DOO RI WKH YHU\ YHU\ VPDOO GHWDLOV FRUUHFW µ

The Destinations Report 2015 | 33

Destinations Report 2015 Central Asia

CENTRAL ASIA

The under-construction Olympic Complex in Ashgabat, capital city of Turkmenistan, is one of a number of multi-sport projects in the region

T

he central Asian region is made up of oil-rich, former Sovietstates who are increasingly looking to make a grand entrance on the world stage and promote a domestic agenda of health and physical activity through major investment in events. Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, is furthest along that process of global brand-building. This June, after an accelerated planning and delivery phase, the city will host the inaugural European Games, a new event designed by the European Olympic Committee to sit alongside the likes of the Pan-American Games, All-Africa Games and Asian Games. In 2016, meanwhile, the city’s streets are scheduled to host Azerbaijan’s Ă€UVW )RUPXOD 2QH UDFH DQ HYHQW WR EH known as the European Grand Prix as the country continues to try and align itself more closely with Europe. “They have been strategic,â€? says The Sports Consultancy’s co-managing director Robert Datnow. “They are a fairly young economy compared with some of the more established sports event hosts. In recent history, they applied to host the 2020 Olympic Games and were told by the IOC what

34 | www.sportspromedia.com

needed to improve. They have listened and are proactively addressing those old concerns.â€? The European Games, which will feature 20 sports, is the result. “Because there was no template, the organisers have needed to be innovative and creative and work with local VWDNHKROGHUV DQG WKH IHGHUDWLRQV WR Ă€QG solutions that work for the city and country as well as for the event and the rights-holder.â€? In Kazakhstan, meanwhile, much of the central government’s focus has been on developing, re-branding and promoting sports teams in the capital Astana, but it is the former capital, Almaty, which may be thrust into the international limelight rather sooner. As a result of several withdrawals from (XURSHDQ FLWLHV $OPDW\ Ă€QGV LWVHOI LQ D VWUDLJKW Ă€JKW ZLWK %HLMLQJ IRU WKH ULJKW WR stage the 2022 Olympics. “Clearly each of the countries in the UHJLRQ KDV LGHQWLĂ€HG WKH RSSRUWXQLWLHV for nation-building and brand-building internationally through sport,â€? adds Angus Buchanan, Datnow’s co-managing director. With Azerbaijan emerging this year, Kazakhstan on the cusp and even

Turkmenistan, where an impressive Olympic sports complex is under construction in Ashgabat, awakening, it surely follows that the next to identify sport as a means of growing international SURĂ€OH ZLOO EH RWKHU &HQWUDO $VLDQ QDWLRQV like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. “Can you think of a better way for an emerging, wealthy nation with very low LQWHUQDWLRQDO SURĂ€OH WR SURMHFW LWVHOI internationally and look to accelerate its position as a place or destination marketing brand on the international stage?,â€? Buchanan asks. “There are few better ways of achieving that objective than through hosting major international sports events. “Those objectives may not tally with the international federation or rightsholder’s objectives, in terms of size of the market, strategic importance of the market, the sports facilities in that market or the ongoing legacy and sports SDUWLFLSDWLRQ EHQHĂ€WV %XW IURP WKH KRVW city’s perspective, you can absolutely see why they are now following the tried and tested model in terms of international destination brand marketing through hosting major sports events. The answer can only be yes.â€?

WHAT TO WATCH FOR? -

Baku’s sporting rise – European Games, Formula One and Euro 2020

-

Almaty’s 2022 winter Olympic bid

-

Huge investment in Olympicstandard sports facilities in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan

MARKETS TO WATCH? All of them, plus the possible emergence of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan

The Destinations Report 2015 | 35

Destinations Report 2015 Central Asia

Baku, the Azeri capital, is “an amazing city; a hidden gem; a very beautiful place,� according to Charlie Wijeratna, Baku 2015’s former commercial chief

EUROPEAN GAINS By Eoin Connolly - originally published in the October 2014 edition of SportsPro

The inaugural European Games will join a crowded continental sporting calendar this summer and even within the sports industry, few are sure quite what to expect. The event has been put together in a hurry but Baku 2015 commercial director Charlie Wijeratna is enjoying the challenge, and excited by what is to come in the Azeri capital.

R

ecent growth in sporting events has tended to happen in one of two ways. Either there is a yoking together – a commercial rationalisation – of a string of existing competitions, or there is a push into an underexploited or niche market. Rarer altogether, these days, is a venture like the European Games. &RQÀUPHG LQ 'HFHPEHU E\ WKH European Olympic Committees (EOC) – which will act as owner, regulator and co-organiser of every edition – WKH (XURSHDQ *DPHV ZLOO EH D QHZ quadrennial, continental multi-sport

36 | www.sportspromedia.com

HYHQW LQLWLDOO\ VFKHGXOHG D \HDU EHIRUH WKH summer Olympics. On the one hand, the FRQFHSW LV VLPSOH HQRXJK FRPSDUDEOH as it is to the like of the Asian Games and the Pan-American Games. On the RWKHU LW LV GLIĂ€FXOW WR VHH \HW KRZ WKLV QHZFRPHU ZLOO Ă€W LQ DORQJVLGH (XURSH¡V plethora of decades-old single-sport championships, not to mention the rest of its international calendar. 7KH (2&¡V DPELWLRXV QHZ SURMHFW ZLOO FRPH WR OLIH IRU WKH Ă€UVW WLPH RQ (XURSH¡V IULQJHV LQ %DNX WKH FDSLWDO RI $]HUEDLMDQ IURP WK WR WK -XQH 7KH LQDXJXUDO HYHQW ZLOO EH UXQ XQGHU

WKH DXVSLFHV RI WKH %DNX (XURSHDQ *DPHV 2SHUDWLRQ &RPPLWWHH %(*2& DQ RUJDQLVDWLRQ OHG E\ WKH $]HUL PLQLVWHU of youth and sport Azad Rahimov, who VHUYHV DV LWV FKLHI H[HFXWLYH %(*2& KDV DOVR EHHQ LQIXVHG ZLWK H[SHULHQFH from across the sporting world, with 6LPRQ &OHJJ D IRUPHU %ULWLVK 2O\PSLF $VVRFLDWLRQ %2$ FKLHI H[HFXWLYH DQG D NH\ ÀJXUH LQ WKH PRYH WR JHW /RQGRQ ELGGLQJ IRU WKH *DPHV FRPLQJ LQ DV FKLHI RSHUDWLQJ RIÀFHU -RLQLQJ WKDW LQà X[ LV &KDUOLH :LMHUDWQD 7KH %(*2& FRPPHUFLDO GLUHFWRU ZDV D GLUHFWRU RQ WKH /RQGRQ ELG ZKR

designed the sponsorship programme IRU WKH VXEVHTXHQW *DPHV DV ZHOO DV managing the licensing and retailing SURJUDPPH VHOOLQJ /RFRJ¡V KRVSLWDOLW\ ULJKWV DQG WKH EURDGFDVW ULJKWV IRU WKH 3DUDO\PSLFV +H ZHQW WR %DNX DW WKH VWDUW RI WKLV \HDU E\ ZD\ RI VRFFHU¡V 3UHPLHU /HDJXH KDYLQJ EHHQ WKH FRPPHUFLDO director of Tottenham Hotspur since 1RYHPEHU ´, ZDV DWWUDFWHG E\ GRLQJ WKH ZKROH GHJUHH SLHFH IURP VFUDWFK WKH EUDQG DQG VHOOLQJ LW VHOOLQJ WKH EURDGFDVWLQJ rights, selling the sponsorship, setting up a licensing and retailing programme, servicing the clients and the sponsors,â€? he UHYHDOV VSHDNLQJ DKHDG RI KLV )HEUXDU\ PRYH WR $VWRQ 9LOOD ´<RX GRQ¡W very often get an opportunity to do that IRU D PDMRU HYHQW ZLWK SURSHU EXGJHWV and you can pick your own team and do it LQ D EHDXWLIXO FLW\ Âľ 7KDW FLW\ LW VHHPV ZLOO EH FHQWUDO WR the inaugural European Games pitch. :LMHUDWQD DGPLWV WR EHLQJ ´LQWULJXHG DW Ă€ UVWÂľ E\ WKH LQLWLDO FDOO WR D SODFH KH ´GLGQ¡W NQRZ YHU\ PXFK DERXWÂľ +LV ignorance is easily forgiven. Aside from LWV VSHFXODWLYH ELG IRU WKH 2O\PSLFV %DNX LV EHVW NQRZQ WKURXJK PXFK RI WKH FRQWLQHQW DV WKH VLWH RI WKH (XURYLVLRQ 6RQJ &RQWHVW $]HUEDLMDQ DV WKH RFFDVLRQDO VXEMHFW RI $PQHVW\ International missives on the actions of its powerful president Ilham Aliyev and the treatment of human rights campaigners. For all that, the European Games is D FKDQFH IRU WKH IRUPHU 6RYLHW UHSXEOLF

WR SURMHFW D PRUH PRGHUQ RSHQ LPDJH :LMHUDWQD LV KXJHO\ WDNHQ ZLWK %DNX VR far. ´:KHQ \RX ERLO LW GRZQ Âľ KH VD\V ´WKLV LV DQ DPD]LQJ FLW\ ,W¡V NLQG RI D KLGGHQ JHP D YHU\ EHDXWLIXO SODFH ,I \RX KDG WR compare it to any one city in the world – , NQRZ WKLV VRXQGV D ELW RXW WKHUH ² WKH SODFH , WKLQN LW¡V FORVHVW WR WKDW ,¡YH EHHQ WR LV %DUFHORQD 7KHUH¡V D ELJ ED\ WHQ NLORPHWUHV RI VHDIURQW 7KHUH¡V DQ DQFLHQW FLW\ KHUH ² D \HDU ROG FLW\ ² VR WKHUH¡V KLVWRU\ DQG DUFKLWHFWXUH $QG WKHQ \RX¡YH JRW UHDOO\ LPSUHVVLYH WK FHQWXU\ ERXOHYDUGV DQG JUDQG DYHQXHV DQG WKHQ \RX¡YH JRW H[WUDRUGLQDU\ PRGHUQ DUFKLWHFWXUH ² =DKD +DGLG¡V FXOWXUDO FHQWUH LV MXVW DQ H[WUDRUGLQDU\ EXLOGLQJ and the Flame Towers.â€? %XW DV HQFKDQWHG DV KH LV E\ WKH KRVW FLW\ :LMHUDWQD LV MXVW DV HQHUJLVHG E\ WKH WDVN DW KDQG %(*2& ZDV KDQGHG D VREHULQJ WLPHWDEOH E\ WKH (2& %DNX ZLOO IHDWXUH RYHU DWKOHWHV ² FRQVLGHUDEO\ PRUH WKDQ 6RFKL DQG WZR WKLUGV DV PDQ\ DV /RQGRQ ² EXW the organisers must rattle through the setup of a multi-sport Games in a fraction of the time allotted to Olympic hosts. “The Games were granted two and D KDOI \HDUV EHIRUH WKH HYHQW Âľ VD\V :LMHUDWQD ´WKH FRUH WHDP DUULYHG DERXW WZR \HDUV EHIRUH WKH HYHQW , JRW KHUH PRQWKV PRQWKV EHIRUH WKH HYHQW ,W¡V D VKRUW SHULRG RI WLPH WR GHYHORS WKH EUDQG UDLVH DZDUHQHVV JHW SHRSOH H[FLWHG DQG UHDOO\ EXLOG D PRPHQWXP Âľ Much of the infrastructure, at least, is in place, as remnants of the failed

Pedestrians walk in downtown Baku, a city that blends traditional and modern architecture

Charlie Wijeratna worked to prepare Baku 2015

2O\PSLF ELG DERXQG DFURVV WKH IRXU YHQXH FOXVWHUV 7KH VHDWHU 1DWLRQDO 6WDGLXP ZLOO EH DW WKH KHDUW RI things, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics, while venues such as the Crystal Hall have already hosted international championships. 2SHUDWLRQDOO\ WKHUH KDV EHHQ QR WHPSODWH IRU %DNX WR ZRUN IURP EXW :LMHUDWQD IRU KLV SDUW VD\V D ODFN RI time can sharpen minds. ´7KH JUHDW WKLQJ DERXW KDYLQJ D VKRUW WLPHWDEOH LV WKDW \RX GRQ¡W VSHQG WRR PXFK WLPH IDIĂ€ QJ DURXQG DQG ZDVWLQJ WLPH Âľ KH VXJJHVWV ´<RX KDYH WR JHW RQ with stuff. So for example, the ticketing WHQGHU LQ /RQGRQ WRRN PH VL[ PRQWKV 7KH RQH KHUH LQ %DNX WRRN OHVV WKDQ VL[ weeks.â€? The pitch for the European Games, DV :LMHUDWQD ZRXOG KDYH LW LV ´WRS FODVV VSRUW LQ DQ DPD]LQJ SODFHÂľ EXW WKHUH LV OLWWOH GRXEW WKDW WKH FRQFHSW IDFHV D FKDOOHQJH WR MXVWLI\ LWV H[LVWHQFH 7KH primary commercial argument for their FUHDWLRQ LV WKDW LW JLYHV (XURSH¡V individual National Olympic Committees (NOCs) another platform on which to display their wares. “This is a third PDMRU HYHQW LQ D \HDU ZKHUH WKH\ GRQ¡W KDYH DQ\WKLQJ Âľ VD\V :LMHUDWQD ´7KH teams come as the National Olympic &RPPLWWHH WHDP 6R WKH %2$ ZLOO FRPH ZLWK $GLGDV EUDQGLQJ RQ WKHLU NLW Âľ That, in theory, should give the NOCs the incentive to press for stronger teams to EH VHQW WR %DNX DQG VXEVHTXHQW HGLWLRQV of the Games – as should the opportunity of giving experience of a multi-sport environment to younger and inexperienced DWKOHWHV $OPRVW WKH Ă€ UVW TXHVWLRQ DVNHG RI the EOC when the European Games were

The Destinations Report 2015 | 37

Destinations Report 2015 Central Asia

The Baku 2015 organisers have ramped up their preparations, readying the venues, such as the National Gymnastics Arena (centre), and the branding

DQQRXQFHG DW LWV VW *HQHUDO $VVHPEO\ was what the sporting programme would look like. After all, Europe is hardly wanting for continental championships in its most popular sports and for the likes of soccer and athletics, the calendar is already full enough. That was not a question the organisers ZHUH LQ D SRVLWLRQ WR DQVZHU LQ 'HFHPEHU EXW DOO LV D VKDGH FOHDUHU QRZ 6KRUWO\ EHIRUH SXEOLFDWLRQ %(*2& FKLHI RSHUDWLQJ RIĂ€FHU 6LPRQ &OHJJ FRQĂ€UPHG WKDW WKH OLVW RI FRPSHWLWLRQ VSRUWV IRU %DNX KDG EHHQ FDSSHG DW LWV FXUUHQW The last sport into the group was the YDJXHO\ MXGR OLNH ZUHVWOLQJ GLVFLSOLQH VDPER ZKLFK FRXOG V\PSDWKHWLFDOO\ EH GHVFULEHG DV OLWWOH NQRZQ RXWVLGH 5XVVLD DQG WKH IRUPHU 6RYLHW 8QLRQ EXW LV making a concerted play for international attention. The rest of the programme LV PRUH IDPLOLDU EXW WKHUH LV D GHĂ€QLWH VSUHDG LQ KRZ VLJQLĂ€FDQW WKH HYHQW ZLOO EH IRU HDFK VSRUW 6RFFHU DQG EDVNHWEDOO ZLOO EH HQWHULQJ PLQRULW\ GLVFLSOLQHV ² EHDFK soccer and 3x3 respectively – and the WUDFN DQG Ă€HOG HYHQWV VHUYLQJ DV D PHHWLQJ RI WKH KXPEOH (XURSHDQ $WKOHWLFV 7HDP &KDPSLRQVKLSV UG /HDJXH :LMHUDWQD SKOHJPDWLFDOO\ VXJJHVWV WKDW ´VRPH RI >WKH VSRUW@ LVQ¡W WKH YHU\ EHVW LQ (XURSH EXW D ORW RI LW LV WKH YHU\ EHVW LQ (XURSHÂľ EXW RI PRUH LPSRUWDQFH DW WKLV VWDJH LV WKH FHUWDLQW\ WKDW FDQ EH communicated in rights tenders. “The pitch is slightly different for EURDGFDVWHUV DV RSSRVHG WR VSRQVRUV Âľ :LMHUDWQD DGPLWV ´:LWK EURDGFDVWHUV \RX KDYH WR EH UHDOO\ FOHDU 7KH\¡UH LQWHUHVWHG in which athletes from the top countries DUH JRLQJ WR FRPH IRU HDFK VSRUW 7KH\¡UH QRW VWXSLG VR \RX KDYH WR EH UHDOO\ UHDOLVWLF DQG VWUDLJKW DERXW WKDW EXW WKRVH DUH FRQYHUVDWLRQV ,¡YH KDG DERXW J\PQDVWLFV YROOH\EDOO EHDFK YROOH\EDOO WULDWKORQ %0; WUDFN F\FOLQJ ² WKHVH DUH DOO WRS FODVV VSRUWV DQG WKH\ ZLOO EH

38 | www.sportspromedia.com

sending their top athletes. Nine of the VSRUWV DUH 2O\PSLF TXDOLĂ€HUV IRU 5LR Âľ 7KH Ă€UVW LQWHUQDWLRQDO EURDGFDVW GHDO IRU WKH *DPHV ZDV DFWXDOO\ FRQĂ€UPHG MXVW EHIRUH :LMHUDWQD¡V SportsPro interview, ZLWK 7XUNH\¡V 179 6SRU SLFNLQJ XS a package for seven hours of live and GHOD\HG FRYHUDJH IRU HDFK RI WKH FRPSHWLWLRQ GD\V +RVW EURDGFDVW GXWLHV were awarded to International Sports %URDGFDVWLQJ D FRPSDQ\ IRXQGHG E\ IRUPHU 2O\PSLF %URDGFDVWLQJ 6HUYLFHV managing director Manolo Romero, in 'HFHPEHU 7KH VSRQVRUVKLS SURMHFW DW OHDVW SXEOLFO\ LV D OLWWOH IXUWKHU DGYDQFHG ZKLOH the selling point to potential partners is different. “The sponsors are more LQWHUHVWHG LQ WKH EUDQG ZKDW LW¡V JRLQJ WR ORRN OLNH %DNX DV D FLW\ DQG WKH PHGLD SODWIRUP WKDW ZH¡UH GHYHORSLQJ Âľ VD\V :LMHUDWQD :LWK ´QR ELQGLQJ SURPLVHVÂľ PDGH DERXW UROHV DW IXWXUH *DPHV DQG QR overarching EOC structure in place, the ORFDO PDUNHW KDV EHHQ TXLFNHVW WR UHDFW ,2& 723 VSRQVRU 3 * EHFDPH WKH Ă€UVW top-level partner of the Games in May, running a campaign through its Azeri DUP %3 ZKRVH &DVSLDQ 6HD RSHUDWLRQ LV EDVHG LQ $]HUEDLMDQ MRLQHG XS LQ -XQH ZLWK %DNX KHDGTXDUWHUHG 1DU 0RELOH IROORZLQJ LQ -XO\ $]HUL GDLU\ Ă€UP 0LOOD WRRN D SODFH DORQJVLGH 0F'RQDOG¡V LQ WKH VHFRQG WLHU RI SDUWQHUV LQ 6HSWHPEHU 6ZLVV ZDWFK EUDQG 7LVVRW ZKLFK ZLOO provide timing services to the event, is WKH RWKHU WRS WLHU SDUWQHU RQ ERDUG VR IDU “The sponsorship is very simple,â€? H[SODLQV :LMHUDWQD ´7KHUH DUH WZR WLHUV ,¡G OLNH WR KDYH VL[ WR HLJKW ÂśRIĂ€FLDO SDUWQHUV¡ DW WKH WRS OHYHO :H¡YH DQQRXQFHG IRXU 7KHUH¡V D FRXSOH PRUH DQQRXQFHPHQWV FRPLQJ DQG ZH¡OO Ă€QLVK XS ZLWK VL[ VHYHQ RU HLJKW , WKLQN 7KRVH JX\V JHW EUDQGLQJ URXQG WKH Ă€HOG RI SOD\ WKH\ JHW VRPH PHGLD H[SRVXUH URXQG WKH Ă€HOG RI SOD\ $QG ZH¡YH FDSSHG WKDW DW HLJKW

´7KHQ RQ WKH VHFRQG WLHU WKH ÂśRIĂ€FLDO VXSSRUWHUV¡ , WKLQN ZH ZRXOG OLNH WR KDYH HLJKW WR WHQ RI WKRVH PD\EH :H FDQ KDYH XS WR , WKLQN LW ZRXOG Ă€W SHUIHFWO\ ZHOO EXW ZH PD\ VWRS DW eight and we may stop at ten if we can JHW WKH ULJKW EUDQGV FRPLQJ WR MRLQ WKH FOXE 7KH\¡UH DOO JRLQJ WR EH GRLQJ D ORW of marketing activities themselves, some RI LW IRFXVHG RQ $]HUEDLMDQ DQG WKH Caucasus region, others focused more widely across the whole of Europe.â€? 7KHUH LV D VHQVH WKDW LQ LWV Ă€UVW HGLWLRQ DQG ZLWK D ZLOGO\ YDULDEOH FDOLEUH RI VSRUWLQJ FRPSHWLWLRQ RQ GLVSOD\ %DNX ZLOO QHHG WR GHYHORS D VWURQJ identity if it is to succeed. In that respect, the organisers have a fairly strong recent example to which it can look – the &RPPRQZHDOWK *DPHV RI -XO\ DQG August. “I think we did learn some really good OHVVRQV IURP *ODVJRZ Âľ VD\V :LMHUDWQD ´:H VHQW D GHOHJDWLRQ RI SHRSOH WKHUH DQG , WKLQN WKH\ GLG D IDQWDVWLF MRE RQ their ticket marketing. All the events were full, all the time. They created a sense of atmosphere and fun and party in Glasgow. They generated a sense of civic pride from the city of Glasgow as well and I think WKDW ZLOO EH LPSRUWDQW LQ %DNX Âľ To that end, and in keeping with *ODVJRZ ¡V HIIRUWV %(*2& ZLOO EH ´EXLOGLQJ D IHVWLYDOÂľ DURXQG WKH VSRUWLQJ action. ´2Q WKH ERXOHYDUG ZKLFK LV WKH VHDIURQW SDUW WKHUH ZLOO EH FRQFHUWV DQG PXVLF DQG IXQ HYHU\ QLJKW Âľ :LMHUDWQD UHYHDOV ´,W¡V D EHDXWLIXO FLW\ DQG WKH ZHDWKHU¡V ORYHO\ VR WKHUH ZLOO EH D NLQG RI %DNX DUW DQG IHVWLYDO DWPRVSKHUH EXW LW¡V EXLOW DURXQG WRS FODVV VSRUW LQ EHDXWLIXO YHQXHV GHOLYHUHG WR WKH very highest standards.â€? :LMHUDWQD VD\V WKH WHDP ZLOO DOVR EH ORRNLQJ WR WKH DFKLHYHPHQWV RI WKH /RQGRQ WHDP ZLWK WKH 3DUDO\PSLFV EXW LV DOVR aware of the need to create something XQLTXHO\ EXW FRPSUHKHQVLYHO\ (XURSHDQ

´:H GR QHHG WR PDUNHW WKLV DFURVV WKH whole of Europe,â€? he says, “from east to ZHVW 7XUNH\ DQG 5XVVLD LQ WKH HDVW DOO WKH way to Ireland and Portugal in the west. :H QHHG WR JHW SHRSOH LQ DOO RI WKRVH FRXQWULHV Ă€UVW RI DOO WR KDYH WKH DZDUHQHVV that the Games are happening, and secondly get them interested in the Games WKHPVHOYHV :H¡YH JRW D SODQ WR GR WKDW RYHU WKH QH[W QLQH PRQWKV DQG ZH¡OO UHDOO\ VWDUW WR VHH WKDW RXWVLGH RI $]HUEDLMDQ QH[W \HDU ZKHQ WKH VXSSRUW RI WKH EURDGFDVW coverage will really get going.â€? 7KH PDUNHWLQJ SXVK ZLOO VRRQ EH underway in earnest within the country DV ZHOO ZLWK :LMHUDWQD H[SHFWLQJ ´WKH PDMRULW\ RI IDQVÂľ EX\LQJ WLFNHWV WR FRPH IURP $]HUEDLMDQ ´)RU WKHP LW¡V explaining some of the sports and getting WKHP H[FLWHG DERXW VRPH RI WKH VSRUWV VRPH RI ZKLFK WKH\¡UH QRW GHVSHUDWHO\ familiar with,â€? he says. The plan, he adds, is to “showcase the sport, make JUHDW OLWWOH ELWV RI Ă€OP DERXW DWKOHWHV doing really cool stuff against amazing EDFNGURSV VHW WR IDQWDVWLF PXVLFÂľ ZLWK the resulting campaigns disseminated WKURXJK VRFLDO DQG EURDGFDVW PHGLD All of this amounts to a good deal of ZRUN DKHDG EXW :LMHUDWQD LV FRQĂ€GHQW WKDW WKH UHVRXUFHV DUH WKHUH ´,¡YH EHHQ DEOH WR KLUH ZRUOG FODVV SHRSOH Âľ KH VD\V ´:H¡YH EXLOW D JUHDW WHDP KHUH :H KDYH WKH DELOLW\ WR JHW VWXII GRQH YHU\ TXLFNO\ :H¡UH SOXJJHG LQ ULJKW DW WKH WRS RI $]HUL SROLWLFV DQG EXVLQHVV Âľ 8OWLPDWHO\ KH DUJXHV ´$OO EXVLQHVV FKDOOHQJHV FRPH EDFN WR SHRSOH DQG WHDPV

and getting the right quality of people.â€? 7KH %DNX RUJDQLVDWLRQ ERDVWV DQ LQWHUHVWLQJ EOHQG RI H[SHULHQFH DQG \RXWKIXO ORFDO WDOHQW ZLWK :LMHUDWQD VXJJHVWLQJ KLV WHDP KDV ´SUREDEO\ JRW ORFDO LQWHUQDWLRQDOÂľ EDODQFH 7KHUH DUH YHWHUDQV IURP RWKHU PDMRU HYHQWV ZLWK $WKHQV KHDG RI VSRUW 0DNLV $VLPDNRSRXORV EURXJKW LQ DV D FRQVXOWDQW IRU WKH (2& DQG WKH %(*2& WHDP VSULQNOHG ZLWK /RQGRQ DOXPQL /RFRJ¡V XQGRXEWHG FRPPHUFLDO DQG operational success has left a crop of KLJK SURĂ€OH H[HFXWLYHV WR EH UHDSHG E\ agencies, teams and events in the UK – where the organising committee for the 5XJE\ :RUOG &XS KDV WKH IHHO RI D theatrical company reforming after strong UHYLHZV ² DQG HOVHZKHUH ,Q %DNX WKHUH is the faint impression of that process EHJLQQLQJ DJDLQ ´,W¡V JUHDW WR WU\ DQG GHYHORS VRPH RI WKH WDOHQW KHUH Âľ :LMHUDWQD VD\V ´7KHUH are some very talented, hard-working SHRSOH KHUH DQG LW¡V PL[LQJ ERWK FXOWXUHV ² WKDW¡V UHDOO\ JRRG IXQ $QG WKDW¡V UHDOO\ LQWHUHVWLQJ Ă€QGLQJ SHRSOH ZLWK WKH potential to learn really quickly and work KDUG 7KDW¡V EHHQ JUHDW IXQ Âľ 7KLV QHZ JHQHUDWLRQ ORRNV VHW WR EH EXV\ LQ WKH \HDUV DKHDG :KDWHYHU WKH ongoing prospects of the European *DPHV WKH PLVVLRQ WR WXUQ %DNX LQWR D PDMRU VSRUWLQJ GHVWLQDWLRQ LV EHLQJ undertaken with real intent. ´7KH\¡YH JRW )RUPXOD 2QH *UDQGV 3UL[ FRPLQJ HYHU\ \HDU IURP IRU WHQ \HDUV Âľ VD\V :LMHUDWQD ´7KH\¡YH

The Baku Crystal Hall illuminated for its hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2012

JRW D ELG IRU (XUR 7KH\¡YH JRW WKH ,VODPLF *DPHV 7KH\¡YH UXQ IRXU RU Ă€YH (XURSHDQ FKDPSLRQVKLSV KHUH $]HUEDLMDQ LV YHU\ YHU\ VHULRXV DERXW sport. This city, I can say with the highest OHYHO RI FRQĂ€GHQFH LV JRLQJ WR EH RQ WKH VSRUWLQJ PDS LQ WKH QH[W WHQ RU \HDUV DQG SHRSOH KHUH UHDOO\ HQMR\ WKHLU VSRUW 6R LW¡V EHHQ D JUHDW RSSRUWXQLW\ WR EH LQ it quite early on, that process of them OHDUQLQJ DERXW SXWWLQJ RQ PDMRU HYHQWV EHFDXVH WKHUH¡V JRLQJ WR EH D ORW PRUH PDMRU HYHQWV KHUH ´, ZRXOGQ¡W EH VXUSULVHG LI WKH\ ELG again for a summer [Olympic] Games in the next couple of editions. That ZRXOGQ¡W EH D PDVVLYH VXUSULVH Âľ %XW DOO RI WKDW OLHV DKHDG 7KH FRXQWGRZQ WR %DNX LV DOUHDG\ EHLQJ measured in a matter of days, and there is VWLOO PXFK WR GR LQ WKLV WUXQFDWHG EXLOG up. ´,¡YH SHUVXDGHG D ORW RI UHDOO\ JRRG SHRSOH WR FRPH RXW WR %DNX VR ZH DUH fully focused on putting on an amazing event and the future will take care of itself,â€? he says. ´7KH IXWXUH ZLOO WDNH FDUH RI LWVHOI :H DUH UHDOO\ H[FLWHG :H¡UH JRLQJ WR VXUSULVH SHRSOH DQG WKDW¡V DOZD\V IXQ :H¡UH JRLQJ to have some fun with the marketing of this as well. ´$QG LW¡V JRLQJ UHDOO\ ZHOO Âľ :LMHUDWQD DGGV 7KDW RSLQLRQ LV RQH VKDUHG E\ WKH EOC Coordination Committee that YLVLWHG %DNX DW WKH HQG RI WKH VXPPHU ´6LJQLĂ€FDQW ZRUN KDV EHHQ DFKLHYHG over the past year and a half and the continued efforts to innovate, particularly with regards the sports programme, is YHU\ LPSUHVVLYH Âľ VDLG WKH FRPPLVVLRQ¡V chairman, Spyros Capralos, in a statement released at the end of the trip. 7KH Ă€QDO (2& DVVHVVPHQW WRRN SODFH LQ )HEUXDU\ ² D VWURQJ LQGLFDWLRQ RI MXVW how little time remains to get everything LQ SODFH <HW :LMHUDWQD FRXOG KDUGO\ VHHP PRUH FRQĂ€GHQW UHYHDOLQJ WKDW WKHUH are “a whole series of announcements comingâ€? and rarely missing an opportunity to stress how much he is HQMR\LQJ WKH ZKROH SURFHVV :KDWHYHU HOVH %DNX FDUULHV ZLWK it the promise of the unfamiliar. As GDXQWLQJ DV D EODQN VODWH PD\ EH LW GRHV EULQJ WKH FKDQFH WR EH FUHDWLYH DQG VKRZ RII LGHDV QRW VHHQ EHIRUH ´, KRSH VR Âľ VD\V :LMHUDWQD ´%XW ZH ZRQ¡W EH UHYHDOLQJ WKDW \HW Âľ

The Destinations Report 2015 | 39

Destinations Report 2015 Central Asia

FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY By David Cushnan - originally published in the July 2014 edition of SportsPro

Kazakhstan, vast but virtually unknown to the wider world, is not the first emerging nation with huge economic potential and a desire for soft power to look to sport as a means of building a global profile, but it might be the first to do so through a major rebranding of many of its major sports teams. The result is the state-funded Presidential Professional Sport Club Astana, a US$100 million domestic project with an ambitious international outlook.

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ast an eye down the list of the world’s largest countries and it soon becomes apparent it is not simply a ranking of square kilometres and land mass, but of nations where sport is part of the fabric. Russia, Canada and the United States need no introduction as major event hosts and homes of established, popular leagues. China and Brazil are widely acknowledged as coming forces on the global stage, while Australia, sixth largest, and India, seventh, have rich histories of sport and international sporting pedigree. Argentina, in eighth, falls into much the same bracket. Scan down to ninth place, however, and you reach Kazakhstan, a landlocked country of 2.7 million square kilometres and nearly 18 million people. Surrounded by Russia but also sharing borders with a selection of fellow former Soviet nations

to the south – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgystan – and China to the east, this giant mystery of a country has little sporting history or pedigree to draw on, certainly from an international perspective. But Kazakhstan is the latest UHVRXUFH ULFK WHUULWRU\ WR KDYH LGHQWLÀHG sport as a method of developing its JOREDO UHSXWDWLRQ DQG IXOÀOOLQJ LWV ambitions for soft power. First, some background. For better or worse, Kazakhstan’s short history as an independent nation has been shaped by its only president since 1991, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev has, controversially at times, steered the country through independence and is overseeing an accelerated period of growth in all areas. He lacks nothing for ambition, as evidenced by the presidential launch last year of ‘Strategy 2050’: a roadmap for

Darkhan Kaletayev is the managing director of Samruk-Kazyna, the Presidential Club’s key backer

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global success which covers governance, infrastructure, tourism, business, and youth engagement and development, and aims to position Kazakhstan among the 30 most developed countries in the world within the next 40 years. “Today, many successful countries – China, Malaysia and Turkey – follow their long-term strategies,” the president explained in an address to parliament in 2013. “Strategic planning is a ‘number one’ rule in the 21st century.” ‘Strategy 2050’ revolves around concepts such as increasing the effectiveness of Kazakhstan’s traditional mining centres – “They are our natural competitive advantage,” as Nazarbayev put it – and geological exploration. The ground is the country’s international calling card, containing as it does 99 of the 105 elements in the periodic table, 70 of which have been explored to date and 60 of which have been used in production. This rich seam of minerals has gifted Kazakhstan huge economic potential, which it intends to showcase by hosting Expo 2017, which will be dedicated to future energy. In December 2013, Brand Finance’s analysis positioned Kazakhstan 48th in the list of most valuable nation brands in the world. The plan is to rise through the ranks, quite literally from the ground up. Sport may not be as fundamentally important as energy, but it is undoubtedly more appealing as a marketing and branding exercise. Nazarbayev clearly has an eye for public relations – in 2014 he suggested Kazakhstan should drop

Astana replaced Almaty as Kazakhstan’s capital in 1997 and one of the aims of the Presidential Club is to provide cultural assets for the understocked city

the ‘-stan’ from its name to differentiate itself from neighbouring former Soviet countries and to boost its global appeal – so it is perhaps no surprise that the national strategy for sport should currently revolve around a major rebranding project. The Presidential Professional Sport Club Astana was founded in 2013, with the approval of Nazarbayev and funding from Samruk-Kazyna, the country’s sovereign wealth fund and the largest in central Asia. Samruk-Kazyna was created in 2008 and owns or partly owns Kazakhstan’s biggest companies, across RLO DQG JDV DYLDWLRQ DQG Ă€QDQFLDO VHUYLFHV It is responsible for around 70 per cent of Kazakhstan’s gross domestic product and records annual turnover in the region of US$100 billion. Some US$100 million has so far been spent on the eight sports clubs, some established, some new, which now compete under the Presidential Club banner, an umbrella brand designed to promote $VWDQD WKH FDSLWDO FLW\ VSHFLĂ€FDOO\ DQG indirectly, Kazakhstan as a whole. A little more background: in 1997, Nazerbayev moved the capital from Almaty, the largest city in the country, located in the south east, to Astana, then known as Akmola, in the centre. His reasoning was at least partly that the tiny city – Astana’s population is still well short of a million – had more room for expansion: the city might be full of shiny

new buildings but there is little, currently, beyond its borders. The idea to group the capital’s sports teams under a single banner came from the state’s investment in the Astana Pro Cycling team, a squad which in just eight years has managed to create a chequered history for itself involving Grand Tour success, doping controversies, and headline-grabbing riders such as Alberto Contador and the now-disgraced Lance Armstrong. Amidst it all, the light blue RI .D]DNKVWDQ¡V QDWLRQDO Ă DJ LV QRZ an established part of the peloton. “It ZDV PRVWO\ DQ LPDJH SURMHFW Âľ FRQĂ€UPV Darkhan Kaletayev, who as managing director of Samruk-Kazyna is one of the PRVW LQĂ XHQWLDO Ă€JXUHV LQ .D]DNKVWDQ ² D PDQ RI PHDQV DQG LQĂ XHQFH ´:H VDZ it was a very good tool to promote our country, so we decided to coordinate and unite such projects.â€? Samruk-Kazyna has investments in around 500 companies, many of which have supported sports teams and individual Kazakh athletes. That piecemeal approach has been replaced with a single, consistent brand and direct, central funding. The idea was .DOHWD\HY¡V ´7KH\ ZHUH Ă€QDQFHG E\ different companies [previously] but all those companies were inside the holding FRPSDQ\ Âľ KH VD\V ´:H XQGHUVWRRG ZH saw we could make a product from that. 7DNLQJ WKH F\FOLQJ WHDP DV D Ă DJVKLS we started to unite other teams to this

SURMHFW :H VD\ WKDW 3UHVLGHQWLDO 6SRUWV Club is only a one-year project, but the idea and the structure we have now has come over the last three or four years.â€? Alongside the Astana Pro Team – whose current leading rider, Italian Vincenzo Nibali, dominated the 2014 Tour de France – the Astana Presidential Sports Club is made up of Astana Motorsport, which participates in the annual Dakar Rally and holds the commercial rights to young Spanish Formula One hopeful Daniel Juncadella; the Astana Arlans boxing club, which was set up to compete LQ WKH :RUOG 6HULHV %R[LQJ FRPSHWLWLRQ ice hockey club Barys; the Astana basketball club; Astana soccer club; Astana water polo club; and Kazakh kuresy, the FRXQWU\¡V WUDGLWLRQDO QDWLRQDO Ă€JKWLQJ GLVFLSOLQH 7ZR LQGLYLGXDO DWKOHWHV Ă€JXUH skater Denis Tan and weightlifter Ilya Ilyin, Olympic medallists both, are also supported. ´7KH Ă€UVW WKH RQO\ DQG WKH PRVW important criteria was participation internationally,â€? Kaletayev says, pointing out, by way of example, that ice hockey team Barys competes in the Kontinental Hockey League, and outlining his hope that the soccer and basketball teams will one day become regulars in European tournaments. “The second criteria, which came later, was connected to the national Ă€JKW DQG WR ,O\D ,O\LQ¡V SRSXODULW\ Âľ KH adds, referring to the 25-year-old, who took a gold at London 2012. “The

The Destinations Report 2015 | 41

Destinations Report 2015 Central Asia

The Astana Presidential Club: team by team ASTANA MOTORSPORT

ASTANA PRO TEAM

KAZAKH KURESY

Motorsport Founded: 2010 General Manager: Arthur Ardavichus

Cycling Founded: 2006 General Manager: Alexander Vinokourov

National ďŹ ght Project Manager: Arman Shurayev

The team has won all three of cycling’s Grand Tours since it was formed eight years ago, most recently the 2011 Giro d’Italia. One of the best-funded RXWÀWV LQ WKH SHORWRQ EXW QHYHU IDU from controversy. BC ASTANA Basketball Founded: 2011 General Director: Valery Tihonenko

$Q HLJKWK SODFH ÀQLVK DW WKH Dakar Rally remains the rally raid team’s EHVW ÀQLVK WR GDWH $VWDQD 0RWRUVSRUW also owns the commercial rights to young Spanish driver Daniel Juncadella. Astana has funded his Sahara Force India reserve seat to the tune of ₏2 million this season.

BC Astana are part of a six-team national basketball league, with the VTXDG ZLQQLQJ LQ WKHLU ÀUVW VHDVRQ 2011. The roster is made up of Kazakhs and players from other basketball nations, led by Olympic gold medallist Tihonenko.

ASTANA ARLANS Boxing Founded: 2010 General Manager: Bolat Mankenov

The Arlans were one of the founder :RUOG 6HULHV %R[LQJ WHDPV DQG IROORZHG D UXQ WR WKH VHPL ÀQDOV LQ ZLWK RYHUDOO YLFWRU\ LQ 7KH Ukrainian Atamans were defeated 11-10 LQ WKH ÀQDO LQ 0D\ ODVW \HDU BARYS Ice hockey Founded: 1999 President: Nurlan Orazbayev

There is a 10-team national hockey championship but Barys, who play in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), are one of four Kazakh teams which sit outside the system. Barys are Kazakhstan’s only representative in the KHL, which features clubs from Russia and several eastern European countries. They joined the league in 2008, but also play in the President’s Cup at home, winning on two occasions.

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FC ASTANA Soccer Founded: 2009 President: Kaisar Bekenov

A development fund for Kazakhstan’s QDWLRQDO ÀJKWLQJ FRQWHVWV ZDV FUHDWHG in 2011 and now comes under the Presidential Sports Club banner. The biggest tournament in the sport was traditionally Kazakhstan Barysy but, since 2013, a more international outlook has taken the form of the Eurasian Barysy, which features Kazakh ÀJKWHUV FRPSHWLQJ DJDLQVW ULYDOV IURP Russia, China, Poland, Turkey, Iran and elsewhere. The Kazakh team won the inaugural competition. DENIS TAN

FC Astana play home games at the 30,000 capacity Astana Arena. Formed in 2009, they compete in the 12-team Kazakh Premier League, which was formed after independence in 1992. Astana won the Kazakhstan Cup in 2012 and, midway through May, lay second in the Premier League after a dozen games of the 2014 season. They have yet to win the league.

Figure skating

ILYA ILYIN

In the absence of a national league in Kazakhstan, Astana’s water polo club is part of the Russian national championship. In 2013, Astana won the $VLDQ :DWHU 3ROR &OXEV &KDPSLRQVKLS the continental competition organised by the Asia Swimming Federation.

Weightlifting

Ilyin is a double Olympic gold medallist, in Beijing and London, and a weightlifting world record holder. He is perhaps Kazakhstan’s brightest sporting star.

Tan was a silver medallist in the 2007 ÀJXUH VNDWLQJ ZRUOG FKDPSLRQVKLS and is a previous Asian Games gold medallist. In 2014, he took a bronze medal at the winter Olympics in Sochi. ASTANA Water polo Founded: 2010 General Manager: Sergey Loginov

two individual projects could become clubs. Ilya Ilyin and Denis Tan have the possibility to invite people and athletes who have a future – a weightlifting club and an ice skating club. At the same time, existing projects which are clubs can be transformed in the future.” +H ODWHU FKHFNV KLPVHOI ´:H DUH QRW LQ a hurry to participate in other sports.” Kaletayev, speaking through a translator, is sipping a cappuccino on a warm April morning in Turkey, halfway through a busy week at SportAccord in the Turkish resort town of Belek. It is the Presidential Club’s international debut and Kaletayev and a small entourage are being briefed and steered through a series of introductory meetings by Michael Payne, the former International Olympic Committee (IOC) marketing directorturned-consultant to sports brands, federations and, in this case, a nation. Payne was introduced to Kaletayev and other members of the Presidential Club team a year earlier, when SportAccord was staged in the Russian city of St Petersburg. “One of the interesting aspects of this project,” he says, “is you are starting at the beginning in what is a fairly virgin market. You have a country that is very big, that has a very important economic future relative to its resources, but it’s a country that very little is known about on the world stage.” :KDW LV SHUKDSV PRVW LQWULJXLQJ IRU Payne, however, is the route to the global sporting stage Astana is taking. There are, for the moment at least, no major event bids – Almaty’s 2022 winter Olympics bid is an entirely separate project. Instead, the Presidential Club is intended to be both a solid platform for future growth and recognition, and a twist on the traditional multi-sport club seen across Europe. Payne, however, prefers to compare it not to the likes of Real Madrid or Galatasaray but to Red Bull. “It’s the name which keeps cropping up,” he insists, having taken counsel from other SportAccord delegates. “And it’s both in terms of how they manage the diversity of sports, how they create the synergies between sports, both in performance and management, and how they create this very strong brand platform that in time has invited commercial companies and third parties to become partners and sponsors. “Once you’ve created the true brand identity, the true positioning, you look

Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, personally supports the country’s sports project

One of the interesting aspects of this project is you are starting at the beginning in what is a fairly virgin market.

“

”

at the country and the development of its industry, you look at the international companies that are moving into the country with major investment, you’ve got a very interesting discussion to be had,” Payne adds. “These companies will want to associate themselves with what is then the leading sports project not just inside Kazakhstan but that has a year-round and VXFFHVVIXO SURÀOH RQ WKH ZRUOG VWDJH 7KH president of the country has said this is a great idea and wants to be not just the patron, but the driver behind it.” The longer-term revenue opportunities are obvious and various, according to Kaletayev, who is still in the process of developing the business model which will ultimately underpin the Presidential Club and begin the process of getting a return on Samruk-Kazyna’s investment. “Maybe it is the level of investment coming into the country,” he says of the measures by which the project will be judged, “or maybe it is the level or quality of the PR of the country, but I would like no one to have the impression we are spending money just because we like to spend it. For the country, we know that we have our niche and can do work on promotion, as tourism and other sectors do, but as a business company, we want to get our

PRQH\ EDFN ² DQG EHWWHU LQ FDVK :H ZDQW to have the return on investment and that is why we are building the platform.” There are no shortcuts. A sizeable amount of money has been spent already but Payne, for one, is talking in terms of years, not months. “You begin with an opportunity to build an understanding and a recognition and that is something that, over a period of time, you can see how it is being delivered,” he says. “As you build that appreciation and respect you move into the revenue opportunity, which is either direct or indirect – direct revenue being companies wanting to associate with the venture, which either allows Samruk to make their investment cost-effective or to expand the investment: ‘This is working, we can do more by bringing new partners in.’ “Secondly, on the world stage, in what is an ever more cluttered market with each country saying, ‘Look at me, come and invest in me,’ you look at how much countries are investing in trade attracting and development. For a start, you’ve got to know something about the country. Astana will stage Expo in 2017 and those will also be important partnerships and platforms, but they will also be major investments. It will be interesting to look

The Destinations Report 2015 | 43

Destinations Report 2015 Central Asia

The Astana professional cycling team has packed plenty of highs and lows into its nine-year history

back in time at how cost-effective the Astana Presidential Club is because it is 12 months a year, ongoing, as opposed to a one-off. This isn’t a mad rush, it’s a step-by-step approach to see what’s working and you’ll have adjustments in the thinking, in the plan and in the sports that are part of it.� The club has turned to several Kazakh athletes of note to assist in its development and promotion. Given his popularity in Kazakhstan, Ilya Ilyin was an obvious choice as an ambassador while boxer Gennady Golovkin, though not a direct member of the club, also has a promotional role. More senior managerial positions have been taken by the likes of Valery Tihonenko, a gold medal winner with the Soviet Union in 1988 who is general director of the basketball team, and Alexander Vinokourov who, despite a previous doping ban, won the London 2012 Olympic road race and is now general manager of Astana’s cycling team. Yuriy Melnichenko, an Olympic wrestling champion at Atlanta in 1996, has been appointed general manager of the umbrella organisation. He is, predictably, on message with the broader aim of the project. “The development of sport is very essential for each government of each country,� he says. “Astana Professional Sports Club is 100 per cent an image project for Kazakhstan. :H ZRXOG OLNH IURP WKLV SRLQW SHRSOH WR

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know about us from the sporting side, with the achievement of high sporting results. To achieve this goal, we will, in the same way, promote our country, our club and our nation.â€? The new level of investment in – and state focus on – Astana’s set of teams begs inevitable questions about the level of competition they will face domestically, where rival teams have far smaller budgets, and whether Astana’s residents will be galvanised into adopting new local clubs as their own. Around 75 per cent of the total club budget is currently spent on the “very cost-intensive sportsâ€? – soccer, ice hockey and cycling – and while the new Astana basketball team attracts crowds of up to 10,000, tickets are often given away for free. “For us, it is very important that our project is part of international projects but inside the country we need a competitive environment,â€? Kaletatev reiterates. “It will push us to continue development.â€? His hope is that investment in Astana will spur investment elsewhere in Kazakh sport and help with developing a wider pool of local talent. ´:H XQGHUVWDQG ZH FDQQRW VROYH DOO WKH questions and we have to develop and grow our own athletes,â€? he says, pointing out that while sponsorship of Juncadella, who Astana have parachuted into a reserve driver role at the Sahara Force India Formula One team this year, is one

thing, to have a Kazakh driver on the Formula One grid is the ultimate, albeit longer-term, target. As always, one effect of a presence on the international sporting stage will be an increase in global scrutiny of the country and its governance. Kazakhstan – which, two decades after independence, might best be described as a nation in a hurry – still has work to do. Human Rights :DWFK DQ LQGHSHQGHQW RUJDQLVDWLRQ which investigates and chronicles incidents of human rights abuses, has reported that ‘Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record continued to deteriorate in 2013, with authorities cracking down on free speech and dissent through misuse of overly broad laws’. As recently as April 2014, authorities in Almaty shut down the Assandi Times, an independent newspaper perceived to have links to another publication, Republika, which was banned at the end of last year. On a lesser scale, Vinokourov’s presence at SportAccord as an Astana representative saw him asked inevitable questions about his doping past – the Astana Pro Cycling team of 2014, he insists, was “100 per cent against dopingâ€?. For his part, Kaletayev describes the project as a whole as a “very high challenge for meâ€? and concedes he and his team are on a steep learning curve in their efforts to put Kazakhstan on the PDS ´:H GR QRW KDYH H[SHULHQFH DQG ZH honestly say that,â€? he states. “Before, it [sport] wasn’t our business. But we have DPELWLRQV DQG ZH ZDQW WR PDNH LW :H understand that without participation in some global processes we are not able to make this project happen. If we didn’t have the ambitions to be in global marketing, in the global sports business, all the money we are spending for this project we would spend on mass sport. :H KDYH RQH ELJ PLQXV DQG RQH ELJ plus in our participation in global sports marketing: the big minus is that we are geographically a little bit far away, but the big plus is that we are a new market. ´:H VWLOO GR QRW KDYH HQRXJK H[SHULHQFH and knowledgeâ€? Kaletayev adds, as he is beckoned away to continue his international VSRUWV LQLWLDWLRQ ´:H PDNH PLVWDNHV %XW probably we have to go through this way of mistakes and new things. “But no matter who is leading us and helping us, we have to do it our own way.â€?

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Destinations Report 2015 Central Asia

A PRESIDENT’S COMPLEX By Michael Long

A US$5 billion totem to one man’s ego, or a game-changer for sport in Turkmenistan? Ashgabat’s underconstruction Olympic Complex is probably both.

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andering about the grounds of Ashgabat’s Olympic &RPSOH[ LW LV GLIÀFXOW not to be impressed. Covering 157 hectares of what was once industrial land in the heart of the capital of Turkmenistan, the US$5 billion facility is a sparkling totem to all things sport, as modern, well-built and technologically advanced as any in the sporting world. Work on the complex broke ground in late 2012 and phase one of the construction process is now complete. :KHQ WKH WKLUG DQG ÀQDO SKDVH LV ÀQLVKHG LQ HDUO\ LW ZLOO ERDVW D 45,000-capacity national stadium for soccer and athletics, a 15,000-capacity arena for indoor sports like basketball, handball and volleyball, and, with seating for 6,000 spectators, one of the world’s largest indoor velodromes. %XLOW E\ 7XUNLVK FRQVWUXFWLRQ ÀUP Polimeks, the complex will also include a

hotel and restaurants, a business centre, training facilities, outdoor soccer pitches, tennis courts, two athletics tracks, a medical centre, and a monorail to transport spectators around the site. An Athletes’ Village is also being built, and is set to contain 12,000 beds once completed. Readers with any knowledge of Turkmenistan – a desert nation of DURXQG ÀYH PLOOLRQ VDQGZLFKHG EHWZHHQ Iran, Afghanistan and two fellow Turkic states in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan will know that there is only one man who can be behind such a project. His Excellency Garbanguly Berdimuhamedow, the country’s president, rose to power in 2007 and has since made it a priority to modernise the natural resource-rich nation mostly through grandiose infrastructure projects. As well as the Olympic Complex and a new international airport in Ashgabat that is due for completion in 2016, he

The gleaming US$5 billion Olympic complex sits at the heart of the Turkmen capital Ashgabat

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has also commissioned the construction of several marble and gold national monuments dotted about the vicinity of his extravagant presidential palace. Berdimuhamedow’s penchant for new builds has continued a construction boom that has seen Ashgabat completely transformed in the two decades or so since Turkmenistan gained independence upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It is, however, sport that gets him excited above anything else. Earlier this year state media in Turkmenistan reported that His Excellency had competed in a mass participation cycling race through the streets of Ashgabat (naturally, he won), while he has been known to compete in – and win, naturally - a few horse races in his time too. And judging by the elaborate, gold-encrusted presidential boxes that loom over each of the venues in the Olympic Complex, it is safe to assume this particular sports-mad head of state will be a regular at any events staged there. But even by Berdimuhamedow’s standards, it would surely have been excessive to spend US$5 billion from Turkmenistan’s national purse just to entertain one man. To his credit Berdimuhamedow, a self-proclaimed leader of the people, has insisted the Olympic Complex will have “an important role� to play in promoting sports participation in Turkmenistan, a country which has yet to win an Olympic medal. Sport, he said during a public appearance in late November, is one of his government’s “main policies� that helps “strengthen the health of our nation� and contributes to “social and economic development� in the country.

Phase one of the Olympic complex construction broke ground in 2012; the third and ďŹ nal phase is due for completion in 2017

But going from almost no major sporting infrastructure at all to having a world-class facility that would be the envy of many established sporting nations is a somewhat outlandish way of going about things. Building from the bottom up, this is not. During a visit to the Olympic Complex last autumn, one western TV production H[SHUW ZDV DPD]HG WR ÀQG D 86 spider cam hanging within the auditorium inside the complex’s large indoor arena, doing little more than gathering dust. Though impressed by the attention to detail that has gone into each venue, particularly the extent to which every one has been designed with a broadcaster’s needs in mind, the expert questioned what it was all for. And he certainly wasn’t alone. The rationale behind the construction of such a lavish, state-of-the-art facility in a country where international sport rarely ever comes to town is certainly vague, regardless of the ambition that has gone into building it. Even vaguer still is who exactly will use the venues. As event strategies go, the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) may be by some distance the ODUJHVW DQG PRVW KLJK SURÀOH LQWHUQDWLRQDO sports event ever to take place in 7XUNPHQLVWDQ EXW LW KDUGO\ MXVWLÀHV VXFK an expensive project. Ashgabat’s two

representative teams in the country’s domestic soccer league, the �okary Liga, VXUHO\ FDQQRW EH H[SHFWHG WR ÀOO WKH QHZ national stadium week in, week out. The involvement of strategic FRPPXQLFDWLRQV ÀUP -RQ 7LEEV Associates and CSM Strategic, the company chaired by Lord Sebastian Coe that is behind the master planning of AIMAG 2017, has brought proven expertise and a degree of credibility to Berdimuhamedow’s project. But business, as they say, is business, and it is not unreasonable to assume there was a VLJQLÀFDQW IHH LQYROYHG Indeed, while sport may be the tool with which Berdimuhamedow is attempting to build Turkmenistan’s international image, generate trade and bolster tourism, there is no escaping the fact that his government remains one of the world’s most reclusive authoritarian regimes. The government’s efforts to ingratiate Turkmenistan to the international sports media ahead of AIMAG 2017 will see foreign journalists invited to the country on various occasions over the coming months. But it is hard not to be a tad sceptical when every aspect of the country remains so tightly controlled by the state. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other western social media networks are blocked,

as are foreign news and opposition websites. The state has an absolute monopoly on the media in Turkmenistan and the ever-present authorities are deemed to have created an atmosphere of fear within the general population. Even foreigners attempting to take a photograph of the statue of Lenin or government buildings in Ashgabat will be sternly admonished for doing so. It is clear, then, that the Berdimuhamedow’s government has a job on its hands to convince the international community that its motives, sporting or otherwise, are genuine. As for the Olympic Complex, it is certainly unclear what the future holds. Without a stash of international events in the bag, not to mention bids in the pipeline, the only conclusion that can be drawn from the construction of the Olympic Complex is that Berdimuhamedow has his eyes set on far greater sporting prizes, perhaps even the greatest of them all. Why else would he invest such resources? With the IOC having taken the decision to allow multiple nations to host events at its showpiece ‘in exceptional circumstances’, an Olympic Games staged partly or fully in Turkmenistan may not be such a far-fetched idea.

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ASIA-PACIFIC

T

he Olympic Games are heading east, with PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and, potentially, Beijing 2022 on the way. The winter Olympic spotlight has swung from Sochi to Korea, but with the PyeongChang 2018 organisers’ commercial programme currently lagging VLJQLÀFDQWO\ EHKLQG WDUJHW WKH QH[W to 24 months is likely to prove pivotal in determining whether the Games will be viewed as a success. Over in Tokyo, meanwhile, the newly-formed organising committee has made a strong start to its own commercial programme, delivering WZR VLJQLÀFDQW GHDOV LQ -DQXDU\ 7RN\R LV OLNHO\ WR EH WKH ÀUVW *DPHV WR EH truly impacted by the IOC’s new Agenda 2020 recommendations, which have LQMHFWHG à H[LELOLW\ LQWR WKH FRPSRVLWLRQ of the sport’s programme and, to an H[WHQW SXW WKH EDOO LQ WKH ORFDO RUJDQLVLQJ committee’s court. Games organisers now have the ability to add a sport to the programme, assuming common ground and an DSSURSULDWH ÀQDQFLDO DQG RUJDQLVDWLRQDO

plan can be forged. It is a potential gamechanger. Elsewhere, across Asia, Singapore opened the doors on its world-class Sports Hub in 2014, a multi-sports, PXOWL XVH FRPSOH[ GHVLJQHG DV PXFK for Singaporean residents as a venue for international events. “Singapore have published their sport development policy where they’ve tried to focus on really encouraging much greater sports participation amongst the Singaporean citizenship and to create programmes to develop and encourage participation in sport to mirror sports they are hosting,â€? The Sports Consultancy’s co-managing GLUHFWRU $QJXV %XFKDQDQ H[SODLQV 7KH :7$ 7RXU )LQDOV KHOG IRU WKH Ă€UVW WLPH in Singapore last year, meet a dual need. Buchanan says: “It’s about promoting Singapore internationally, but GRPHVWLFDOO\ LW¡V DERXW WKH H[WHQW WR which they can use that sport to stimulate participation in sport. It’s very clever and it’s a very well-developed sports facility which really looks to be at the centre of Singaporean sports life, both from an

The Singapore Sports Hub has been designed with community participation ďŹ rmly in mind

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elite and participation perspective.â€? Further south, Australia and New Zealand began the year in the midst of a huge sporting summer. The Asian Cup, won by the Socceroos, was swiftly followed by the Cricket World Cup. From a hosting perspective, the region is also home to some of the most wellestablished, sophisticated event agencies anywhere on the planet. “Particularly with Victoria Major Events, ATEED in Auckland and Events Corp in Perth, people do look at Australia and New =HDODQG DV H[DPSOHV RI EHVW SUDFWLFH Âľ says The Sports Consultancy’s comanaging director Robert Datnow. “I think it’s noticeable that each of these organisations is the city or regional events organisation, rather than simply the sports agency. Many of the principles that apply to sport equally apply across other major events and vice versa. The same return on investment metrics in terms of economic stimulation, destination marketing value and media impact apply across the board and the money spent on bidding and hosting KDV WR EH MXVWLĂ€HG LQ YHU\ VLPLODU ZD\V , think the events model that coordinates and shares knowledge across multiple stakeholder, government, private sector and facilities, across sport and other major events is a model for certain sized cities to replicate.â€? China, though, remains the Asian3DFLĂ€F PDUNHW PRVW ZRUWK ZDWFKLQJ according to Angus Buchanan. The FRQĂ XHQFH RI WKH 6WDWH &RXQFLO¡V QHZ target for sport – the stated aim is for it to contribute one per cent of gross domestic product by 2025 – and the evolving media market makes for a potent EUHZ ´;L -LQJSLQJ DQG KLV JRYHUQPHQW have very clearly prioritised, principally, the ball sports – volleyball, basketball and football – and are really trying to see how they can use sport and the way in which western countries have used sport to encourage participation, increase public health and enfranchisement, Buchanan points out. Coupled with the deregulation of the broadcast market, that is a move RI JUHDW VLJQLĂ€FDQFH Âľ

WHAT TO WATCH FOR? -

The legacies of the Cricket World Cup and Asian Cup, both in Oceania early in 2015

-

A potential opening-up of China

-

The build-up to Tokyo 2020 and the challenges faced by PyeongChang 2018 organisers

MARKETS TO WATCH? China

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THE SHOW NEVER STOPS By David Cushnan

Two World Cups and a return visit from the Volvo Ocean Race fleet are the highlights of Auckland’s 2015 calendar, but they are but one element of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development’s well-established, well-honed events strategy.

W

ith a population of just 1.4 million, Auckland doesn’t make it onto the list of the world’s largest cities, but New Zealand’s biggest certainly punches well above its weight when it comes to bidding for and staging major events. As 2015 began, it was poised to welcome the Cricket World Cup and, in June, the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The Volvo Ocean Race, meanwhile, was due to make a return visit in late February for a 17-day stopover. Combined with an annual V8 Supercars date (the ITM500 Auckland) and the recently-launched Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines, which sees every team in Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) make the short hop to New Zealand to compete in a nine-aside tournament, plus a multitude of non-sport and community-focused projects, Auckland’s event strategy has long been regarded as one of the most sophisticated on the planet. Since 2010, the city’s events acquisition arm has been part of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), an organisation formed when eight council bodies were amalgamated into one ‘super council’. It was one of several new bodies created as part of the administrative changes and was immediately thrust into action as Auckland staged 15 of the 48 matches at the Rugby World Cup 2011. Major events planning, tourism and wider economic development now fall under the ATEED umbrella. The approach to major event bidding, acquisition and hosting has been honed

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ever since, event by event. In 2014, that translated into a dual approach: international events designed to drive tourism and stimulate the economy, and domestic events with a more local and community focus. “For us, we have a consistent approach ZKHUH ZH FRQVLGHU YHU\ VSHFLĂ€F DWWULEXWHV for the hosting of both major sporting and non-sporting eventsâ€?, explains Rakel Liew, ATEED’s general manager of major events, who joined the organisation in December 2013. “But because we take a whole-of-portfolio approach when it comes to measuring our outcomes, each type of event may contribute in a different way towards achieving targetsâ€? “To provide some examples, cultural events like the Auckland Diwali Festival, $XFNODQG /DQWHUQ )HVWLYDO DQG 3DVLĂ€ND >D FHOHEUDWLRQ RI 3DFLĂ€F ,VODQG FXOWXUH@ capture the attention of the diverse Auckland audience and contribute towards our liveability targets. We FDQ JHQHUDWH VLJQLĂ€FDQW *'3 LPSDFW through concerts and business events. In WHUPV RI LQWHUQDWLRQDO SURĂ€OH VSRUWLQJ events tend to be the best way to achieve our targets. Obviously we always try to make sure we have balance in the portfolio and that all events held in Auckland are relevant to our city.â€? Auckland is one of 14 host cities for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, played across Australia and New Zealand. The responsibility for securing the event sat with the central governments and cricket bodies of New Zealand and Australia; ATEED then led on the process to secure four matches during the

tournament at the city’s 48,000-capacity Eden Park, including a clash between WKH FR KRVWV DQG RQH RI WKH VHPL Ă€QDOV Liew says there are many ways in which Auckland can optimise the opportunities of playing host to one of the largest sporting events of 2015. “What it does present is a very good platform to collaborate with the other cities and at the same time work on attracting more people to Auckland. “Our plan is to activate across the tournament as a whole, not just during the Auckland games, to showcase the city to the world and reinforce our brand positioning, because the world will be watching us.â€? Liew adds that opportunities exist to showcase the city to business leaders

Auckland will welcome back the Volvo Ocean Race in 2015, an event which is designed to showcase the city’s harbour and marine sector

We ensure that every year we have events that globally reinforce our positioning.

“

and to “demonstrate strength as one of the leading cities around the region” throughout the tournament. That is consistent with Auckland’s positioning for the Rugby World Cup 2011. The elongated format of the Cricket World Cup – the tournament begins on Valentine’s Day and does not conclude until the end of March – means that EHWZHHQ WKH ÀUVW JDPH DQG WKH ÀQDO WKH

”

9ROYR 2FHDQ 5DFH ÁHHW ZLOO KDYH DUULYHG in Auckland, spent 17 days there and left, bound for the Brazilian coastal resort of Itajaí. The race came to Auckland, a city sometimes nicknamed the City of Sails, during its 2011/12 edition, a stopover so successful that ATEED promptly signed up not only for 2014/15 but also the next event, in 2017/18. Again, there are VSHFLÀF UHDVRQV IRU GRLQJ VR

“We have been very deliberate in looking at the race as a catalyst for Auckland’s marine sector,” Liew explains. “To a great extent, it’s about showcasing our harbour, our marinas, and our marine expertise. The success of 2012 did not just capture the attention of New Zealanders who have a passion for sailing, it also reinforced the position of Auckland as a destination for all things marine and for a return of the Volvo Ocean Race stopover.” This year’s stopover, which begins on 27th February, is scheduled to be longer than in 2011/12, allowing for more footfall in the race village. “We’re anticipating about 400,000 people to come through the race village,” suggests Liew.

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The Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines attracts thousands of fans and has proved a popular addition to Auckland’s annual events calendar. The sports events are complemented by non-sports gatherings such as the Lantern Festival and PasiďŹ ka Festival, a celebration of PaciďŹ c culture

Later in the year, Auckland will be one of seven New Zealand cities to stage games in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. North Harbour Stadium, which opened in 1997 and has a capacity of around 25,000, will host the opening JDPH DQG RQ WK -XQH WKH Ă€QDO RI the 24 team tournament. Preparations have been underway for some time. The remarkable exploits of semi-professional Auckland City FC, winners of the 2014 OFC Champions League and as a result participants in last December’s FIFA &OXE :RUOG &XS Ă€QLVKLQJ WKLUG KDYH only heightened interest in soccer in the city – a timely boost. “We see it as a very good opportunity to showcase Auckland and not just from a football point of view,â€? says Liew. “For us, we see one-off major events like the FIFA U-20 World Cup as very good platforms to build capabilities within Auckland itself. At the same time, we believe it is important to HQVXUH WKDW WKHVH ZRUOG FODVV HYHQWV Ă€W our strategic objectives. The ongoing, year-on-year events like the Dick Smith

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NRL Auckland Nines and the ITM 500 Auckland are major events that allow ongoing leverage for sponsors and to engage the community. We have a good balance between the two [one-off events DQG UHJXODU DQQXDO HYHQWV@ :H HQVXUH that every year we have events that globally reinforce our positioning.� Longer-term planning and a global perspective is vital in order to take advantage of bidding opportunities as they arrive. Liew describes ATEED’s strategy in this area as “robust�, adding that the organisation has a ten-year outlook in place. “We have a planning group set up to look at how relevant the future portfolio of events is for aligning with ATEED’s objectives,� she says, “as well as the overall positioning for Auckland.� Along with the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race, the city is to stage the :RUOG 0DVWHUV *DPHV D YDVW VSRUWLQJ festival which sees 28 sports played over 10 days across 45 competition venues by as many as 25,000 competitors, in 2017. The bid was won as long ago as 2012. “We have a very established structure,

but we do tailor our leverage activities for each major event, to make sure they are relevant to the target audience and maximise the outcomes,� continues Liew. “The good thing about having a very consistent and established approach to structure and measurement is that it enables us to improve year-on-year and be able to compare events with each other.� Furthermore, over time ATEED has developed what Liew calls “onestop facilitation� for major events, an integrated approach which involves liaising with other key city authorities and delivery partners like Auckland Transport and the New Zealand Police to ensure that events and the city run smoothly. “That has been one of the great successes of the Rugby World Cup,� Liew explains, referring back to 2011. “We believe it is important to look at proper integration across all organisations, from community development to investment, to optimise our return.� That integrated approach, plus the results of the thorough, detailed

A top ATEED priority is to ensure that visitors attracted by its calendar of events are able to experience Auckland and all it has to offer

analysis ATEED undertakes to measure the impact and success of each and every event, must also be communicated effectively to Auckland’s residents, especially if public money is involved. After all, scrutiny around major events and how they work for the host has never been greater. “The important thing is to be transparent,” says Liew. “We try to bring the public and media along with us from the point of winning the bid or even considering bidding for some events. In terms

of level of investment versus public expectation, it is important to make sure we have a transparent approach so the public can relate to the rationale right from the start. “Beyond that, in terms of the data, we are constantly reviewing our methods of assessment. We are increasingly looking at areas relevant to the public like job creation and broader liveability outcomes, and we look to incorporate these multiple outcomes into our major event assessment.”

The Auckland tourism experience: Great Barrier island, which lies in the city’s Hauraki Gulf

Australia, primarily for reasons of geographical proximity, remains Auckland’s number one international market for visitors, with the UK, USA and China also key targets in the tourism drive. That goes beyond simply event tourism: ATEED is, for example, looking to grow Auckland’s international education sector. And while hotel nights and visitor numbers are clearly important metrics, ATEED is focusing strongly on ensuring that visitors attracted to the city by events have the opportunity to experience Auckland and all it has to offer. “Because of the broad events portfolio that we have we can really capture and appeal to different audiences. The experience running up to an event is equally important and we believe the uniqueness of the tourism experience in Auckland, complementing the event, is crucial. We see events as a way to bring attention to the city and people to the city – but we must make sure they have a great experience when they get here.” “In this coming 12 months,” Liew concludes, examining a calendar full to bursting with events, “it’s about how we optimise the events that are coming through and ensure there are longerWHUP EHQHÀWV IRU $XFNODQG DQG ORRNLQJ beyond each event’s direct outcomes.”

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TOKYO RISING By James Emmett. Photographs by Itaru Ishii - originally published in the April 2014 edition of SportsPro

To truly understand the Japanese sports industry, a visit to Tokyo, one of the most bewitching, advanced cities on the planet, is a mandatory requirement. As planning for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games accelerates, SportsPro toured a city with a unique sporting framework.

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orget the car manufacturers and consumer electronics brands that have become part of a worldwide lexicon, good old fashioned ZKLVN\ LV RQH RI -DSDQ¡V Ă€ QHVW H[SRUWV The art form into which the Japanese have turned bar-keeping is now being emulated around the world, and the country’s distilleries have dominated the World Whiskies Awards in recent \HDUV VDZ D -DSDQHVH ORFNRXW DW the awards, the accepted standard bearer IRU WKH LQWHUQDWLRQDO ZKLVN\ LQGXVWU\ The Nikka distillery, headquartered in Tokyo but with plants in Hokkaido and Miyagi, took top spot in the blended PDOW FDWHJRU\ ZKLOH LWV Ă€ HUFH FRPSHWLWRU Suntory won the blue-riband single malt

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SUL]H IRU LWV \HDU ROG <DPDND]L The Suntory headquarters, an LPSUHVVLYH JODVV HGLĂ€ FH DFURVV WKH Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo – over the city harbour where a cluster of YHQXHV IRU WKH 2O\PSLF DUH VHW WR EH built – is an appropriate place to begin a Ă€ YH GD\ YLVLW JHWWLQJ XQGHU WKH VNLQ RI WKH -DSDQHVH VSRUWV EXVLQHVV 7KH SUHYLRXV GD\ WKH QHZV RI 6XQWRU\¡V 86 ELOOLRQ buyout of US bourbon brand Jim Beam and its associate drinks companies had EHHQ DQQRXQFHG 7KH PRRG DW 6XQWRU\ +4 ZDV EXR\DQW The drinks brand plays a central role LQ 6RĂ€ D &RSSROD¡V Ă€ OP /RVW LQ Translation, Bill Murray playing the part of an American movie actor in Tokyo to

Ă€ OP D WHOHYLVLRQ VSRW DGYHUWLVLQJ 6XQWRU\ ZKLVNLHV ,W LV D EHJXLOLQJ WDOH RI DOPRVW love in a dazzling city that is at once welcoming and disenfranchising, teeming DQG ORQHO\ &RPPXQLFDWLRQ LV WKH LVVXH DW LWV FRUH 7RGD\¡V 6XQWRU\ WLPH KRZHYHU LV YHU\ PXFK D UHOD[LQJ RQH ,Q D VPDOO PHHWLQJ URRP RQ WKH JURXQG Ă RRU RI WKH EXLOGLQJ WKH FRPSDQ\¡V various labels displayed in a cabinet DFURVV RQH ZDOO ZDLWV 0DPL 6DWR $ veteran of three Paralympic Games and one of Japan’s best-known Paralympians, the long jumper is also in the full-time employ of Suntory, working in the FRPSDQ\¡V &65 GHSDUWPHQW 6DWR KHUVHOI is a key piece in the company’s outreach SURJUDPPH 6KH YLVLWV VFKRROV WKH OHQJWK

and breadth of Japan to tell the children KHU VWRU\ ,W LV VRPH VWRU\ DQG VKH LV VRPH VWRU\WHOOHU Sato had wanted to be a cheerleader IURP D \RXQJ DJH 3UDFWLVLQJ DIWHU VFKRRO throughout her teenage years, she made the cheerleading squad when she got to :DVHGD 8QLYHUVLW\ DQG VKH ZDV WKULOOHG ,Q KHU VHFRQG \HDU DW XQLYHUVLW\ VKH ZDV diagnosed with an osteosarcoma in her OHJ 6KH XQGHUZHQW WUHDWPHQW IRU WKH cancer, the chemotherapy savaging her ERG\ +HU ULJKW OHJ ZDV DPSXWDWHG EHORZ WKH NQHH Miserable after her treatment, Sato felt EHUHIW ZLWKRXW FKHHUOHDGLQJ :LWK WKH encouragement of her friends and family, she took up athletics, practising for hours on end to get used to the prosthetic VKH KDG KDG Ă€ WWHG 6KH IRXQG VKH KDG D particular aptitude for the long jump and began to set herself goals, a systematic series of objectives to focus on and train IRU 6RRQ HQRXJK VKH ZDV DW 3DUDO\PSLF VWDQGDUG DQG TXDOLĂ€ HG IRU WKH 3DUDO\PSLF *DPHV LQ $WKHQV ,W ZDV DW WKLV SRLQW WKDW DQ H[HFXWLYH DW Suntory noticed not only the talent and spirit of this remarkable young woman, but her grace, eloquence and empathy ZKHQ WDONLQJ DERXW KHU RUGHDO 6XQWRU\ hired her as a motivational speaker in WKHLU &65 GHSDUWPHQW SD\LQJ KHU DQ annual salary that would allow her to train and compete, and of course providing KHU ZLWK DV Ă H[LEOH D VFKHGXOH DV WKRVH DWKOHWLF QHHGV GHPDQGHG 6DWR VD\V WKDW ZKHQ VKH Ă€ UVW UHFHLYHG KHU DUWLĂ€ FLDO OHJ LW ZDV DV LI VKH KDG EHHQ JLYHQ KHU PLVVLRQ %XW LQ 0DUFK D QHZ GLVDVWHU VWUXFN The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami which devastated Japan, killing almost SHRSOH REOLWHUDWHG 6DWR¡V KRPHWRZQ )RU VL[ GD\V VKH ZDV LQ WKH dark, unsure of whether her family were DOLYH RU GHDG :KHQ VKH IRXQG WKHP DOLYH she had a new mission: to use sport to help the tsunami survivors in the same way as it had helped her, giving goals and FRQĂ€ GHQFH WR YXOQHUDEOH SHRSOH ZKR KDYH EHHQ GHDOW EORZV Sato is accustomed to inspiring children; RYHU WKH FRXUVH RI VKH HVWLPDWHV VKH DGGUHVVHG VRPH \RXQJVWHUV DFURVV the country, but especially in those areas DIIHFWHG E\ WKH WVXQDPL %XW LQVSLULQJ DQ DXGLHQFH RI ,QWHUQDWLRQDO 2O\PSLF &RPPLWWHH ,2& PHPEHUV ZLWK D WULR RI bidding cities to hear from and deciding

votes to be cast, was a different matter HQWLUHO\ 7KDW ZDV WKH SRVLWLRQ LQ ZKLFK Sato found herself in September, when WKH 7RN\R ELG WHDP DVNHG KHU WR LQWURGXFH WKHLU FUXFLDO Ă€ QDO SUHVHQWDWLRQ DW WKH ,2& 6HVVLRQ LQ %XHQRV $LUHV 7RN\R¡V ELG IRU WKH *DPHV IRXU years previously had fallen short – partly, it is generally accepted, as a result of a rather formal presentation style that dwelled on status, position and facts, UDWKHU WKDQ HPRWLRQ 6DWR¡V VWRU\ WRXFKHG the audience, and Tokyo recorded a comprehensive victory to take the 2O\PSLF YRWH WKLV WLPH DURXQG ´,¡YH FRPSHWHG LQ WKUHH 3DUDO\PSLFV $WKHQV %HLMLQJ DQG /RQGRQ Âľ UHFDOOV 6DWR QRZ ´, NQRZ , FDQ FRQWURO P\ nervousness before competition but doing a presentation in front of so many people made me more nervous than FRPSHWLQJ LQ WKH 3DUDO\PSLFV :KHQ ZH ZRQ LW ZDV OLNH D GUHDP ´7R EH KRQHVW , GLGQ¡W WKLQN ZH could win because of [negative stories about the damaged nuclear power plant] )XNXVKLPD %HIRUH WKH SUHVHQWDWLRQ , ZDV LQ WKH KRWHO DQG %%& &11 MXVW KDG PRUH DQG PRUH QHZV DERXW )XNXVKLPD Âľ Sato had presented for the bid team before, but only in front of a handful of people at a behind-closed-doors ,2& PHHWLQJ LQ 0DUFK $IWHU KHU performance then, she was asked to reprise the role for the main event in 6HSWHPEHU ´, SUHSDUHG P\VHOI DV KDUG DV , FRXOG Âľ VKH VD\V ´$W WKH VDPH WLPH , FRPSHWHG LQ WKH ZRUOG FKDPSLRQVKLSV DQG DOVR LQ (QJODQG WZLFH , WULHG WR WDON DOO WKH WLPH ZKLOH , ZDV WKHUH ² SUDFWLVH SUDFWLVH SUDFWLVH $QG ZKHQ , ZDV EDFN LQ -DSDQ LQ WKH PRUQLQJ , ZRXOG DOZD\V WXUQ RQ %%& DQG 1+. :RUOG DQG MXVW OLVWHQ 6R , GLG P\ EHVW ZLWK WKH (QJOLVK Âľ Now that Tokyo is preparing for the Games, Sato stresses the need for athletes WR LQVSLUH LV JUHDWHU WKDQ HYHU 6KH ZLOO EH E\ WKH WLPH WKH *DPHV come around: too late, she concedes, for another shot at the Paralympic long MXPS FRPSHWLWLRQ ´,W¡V PD\EH WRR ROG Âľ VKH VD\V ´EXW , KDYH DOUHDG\ VWDUWHG FRPSHWLQJ LQ WULDWKORQ ,W¡V VWLOO D VHFUHW IRU -DSDQHVH SHRSOH ,W¡V QRW WRR ROG IRU WULDWKOHWHV ,¡OO EH EDFN Âľ Whether as an athlete or in another FDSDFLW\ 6DWR ZLOO EH WKHUH LQ DQG she would be delighted to be offered a IRUPDO UROH E\ WKH RUJDQLVLQJ FRPPLWWHH

Three-time Paralympian Mami Sato made a telling contribution to the Tokyo Olympic bid

Corridors of power 2Q WKH VDPH GD\ DV WKH LQWHUYLHZ ZLWK Mami Sato, rumours are circulating that <RVKLUR 0RUL D IRUPHU -DSDQHVH SULPH minister, has accepted an offer to become president of the organising committee IRU WKH *DPHV $W WKH DJH RI Mori is more than a little experienced, and the rumours also have it that he took the job after two senior business leaders WXUQHG LW GRZQ 7RVKLDNL (QGR¡V RIĂ€ FH LV LQ RQH RI the smart new congress buildings back DFURVV WRZQ IURP 6XQWRU\ (QGR D member of parliament for the ruling /LEHUDO 'HPRFUDWLF 3DUW\ LV RQH RI WKH Japanese government’s leading voices RQ VSRUW +H LV SUHSDULQJ WR KHDG RYHU WR 5XVVLD IRU Ă€ YH GD\V WR ZDWFK WKH ZLQWHU 2O\PSLFV 7KH PRWKHU RI WLQ\ Sara Takanashi, Japan’s big hope in the women’s ski jumping competition, is from KLV <DPDJDWD FRQVWLWXHQF\ 6R WRR LV -RML .DWR DQ H[SHULHQFHG VKRUW WUDFN VSHHG skater whose house, Endo says, is just Ă€ YH PLQXWHV IURP KLV RZQ LQ <DPDJDWD Endo appears in one of the iconic images to have come out of the Japanese FHOHEUDWLRQV LQ %XHQRV $LUHV :KHQ asked to recall the emotion of the day, he simply raises his arms aloft and declares, ´%DQ]DL Âľ 7KH FRQJUHVVPDQ ZDV RQH RI WKH NH\ Ă€ JXUHV EHKLQG WKH ELG 7DUR Aso, Japan’s deputy prime minister, was chairman of the parliamentary committee for the bid, but it was Endo, as director general and a man for whom sport is a SDVVLRQ ZKR ZDV KDSS\ WR JHW VWXFN LQ The pair are reprising similar roles

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Destinations Report 2015 Asia-PaciďŹ c

Yoshiro Mori was appointed president of the Tokyo 2020 local organising committee in January

now that Tokyo is a host city, not just a bidding one, and should work together next year when the Japanese government is expected to create a specialist agency – probably as an offshoot of the ministry of education and science – to deal VSHFLĂ€FDOO\ ZLWK VSRUW ,Q WKH UXQ XS WR %XHQRV $LUHV (QGR pushed through a law in Japan that saw, IRU WKH Ă€UVW WLPH WKH JRYHUQPHQW REOLJHG to invest in sport, and visited scores of FRXQWULHV VSUHDGLQJ WKH 7RN\R PHVVDJH ´7KH SUHYLRXV 2O\PSLFV ZDV WR ERRVW WKH HFRQRP\ LQ -DSDQ DIWHU :RUOG :DU ,, Âľ VD\V (QGR ´7KLV WLPH -DSDQ ZRXOG OLNH WR FRQWULEXWH WR WKH ZRUOG WKURXJK VSRUW /DVW WLPH VSRUW FRQWULEXWHG WR -DSDQ WKLV WLPH -DSDQ ZLOO FRQWULEXWH WR VSRUW Âľ Endo is happy to address the rumours DURXQG 0RUL $IWHU DOO LW WUDQVSLUHV WKDW he was the man that convinced his old FROOHDJXH WR WDNH WKH MRE ´, SHUVXDGHG 0U 0RUL WR WDNH WKH UROH Âľ KH UHYHDOV ´7KH 2O\PSLFV LV QRW MXVW D FLW\ PDWWHU ² LW needs customs and immigration input, it needs transportation input, and many RWKHU GHSDUWPHQWV 7KH RSHUDWLRQ RI WKH 2O\PSLF *DPHV LV OLNH D QDWLRQDO JRYHUQPHQW LWVHOI ,I ZH ORRN DW SHRSOH LQ Japan, the person who knows economics, politics and sport and who is trusted by

56 | www.sportspromedia.com

people throughout industry, we have no FKRLFH RWKHU WKDQ 0U 0RUL 7R DSSRLQW 0U 0RUL DV FKDLUPDQ LV WKH EHVW FKRLFH 2I FRXUVH VRPH SHRSOH WKLQN KH LV ROG EXW KH LV VWLOO YHU\ KHDOWK\ ,W¡V QR SUREOHP “There is a big difference here EHWZHHQ ZHVWHUQ FRXQWULHV DQG -DSDQ )RU H[DPSOH LQ WKH /RQGRQ 2O\PSLFV 6HEDVWLDQ &RH KH ZDV WKH OHDGHU DQG KH ZDV WKHUH WR UHDFK HYHU\ERG\ %XW DFWXDOO\ the Japanese way to operate a group is different: we need somebody to be at the FHQWUH EXW ZH GR WKLQJV DV D JURXS 6R Mr Mori is the best person to be at the FHQWUH ´, RULJLQDOO\ ZDQWHG WKH FKDLUPDQ RI 7R\RWD RU WKH FKDLUPDQ RI &DQRQ WR SOD\ the part, and Mr Mori talked directly with them about it, but at the same time they were thinking about the current situations of their companies so neither were so KDSS\ WR WDNH WKH UROH :KHQ 0U 0RUL met them, they asked Mr Mori to play the part, and they promised to cooperate as PXFK DV SRVVLEOH RQ Ă€QDQFLDO PDWWHUV VR , WKLQN >VSRQVRUVKLS@ VKRXOG EH 2. Âľ ,Q WKH PLGGOH RI (QGR¡V ERDUGURRP table lies a basket full of rice crackers, the packaging emblazoned with a caricature of his face as a quirky campaigning tool;

RQ RQH ZDOO LV D 7RN\R SRVWHU on the other, a framed Japan national UXJE\ VHYHQV MHUVH\ 5XJE\ LV D SDUWLFXODU SDVVLRQ RI (QGR¡V DV LW LV 0RUL¡V 7KH 7RN\R SUHVLGHQW LV DOVR WKH KHDG RI WKH -DSDQ 5XJE\ )RRWEDOO 8QLRQ DQG has been laying the early foundations for WKH FRXQWU\¡V KRVWLQJ RI WKH 5XJE\ :RUOG &XS (QGR LV GHOLJKWHG WR GHVFULEH himself – in English – as a “rugger man, IURQW URZÂľ +H SRLQWV WR KLV FDXOLĂ RZHU ears – the same term is used in Japanese – and says he hopes to play in the WUDGLWLRQDO SUH :RUOG &XS UXJE\ JDPHV between parliamentary teams from the competing countries, as he has done in WRXUQDPHQWV RI WKH SDVW ´2I FRXUVH LW will be challenging to hold two such big FRPSHWLWLRQV WZR \HDUV LQ D URZ Âľ (QGR VD\V ´5XJE\ KDV D ORQJ WUDGLWLRQ DQG WKH 5XJE\ :RUOG &XS LV KHOG RYHU PRUH WKDQ D PRQWK VR WKDW¡V D ORQJ WLPH ,W¡V KDUG but my idea is that essentially we hold WKHVH WZR FRPSHWLWLRQV DV RQH ELJ HYHQW By chance Mr Mori is in charge of rugby DV ZHOO VR LW PLJKW ZRUN Âľ Endo believes that Tokyo’s superb infrastructure has given the organising committee, which would go on to be IRUPDOLVHG LQ ODWH -DQXDU\ MXVW RYHU a week after this interview, a head start LQ LWV SUHSDUDWLRQV ´, WKLQN RU SHU FHQW KDV EHHQ FRPSOHWHG DOUHDG\ Âľ KH VD\V “But if we compare the situation to the P GDVK WKHQ ZKHUH ZH DUH QRZ LV PD\EH OHVV WKDQ WHQ PHWUHV %XW ZH VWLOO KDYH WKH EDVLFV LQ SODFH Âľ

A Paralympic model ,I LW LV WKH 5XJE\ :RUOG &XS WKDW (QGR is most looking forward to watching, it LV WKH 2O\PSLFV WKDW KH KRSHV ZLOO PDNH PRUH RI D VRFLHWDO LPSDFW +H ZDV VWUXFN E\ WKH HTXLYDOHQFH EHWZHHQ WKH 2O\PSLFV DQG 3DUDO\PSLFV DW /RQGRQ DQG believes Tokyo is one of the few cities in the world that will be able to replicate DQG LQGHHG HQKDQFH WKDW VSLULW RI HTXDOLW\ “We’d like to show the world that we can KDYH DQ 2O\PSLFV DQG D 3DUDO\PSLFV LQ MXVW RQH VKDSH Âľ KH VD\V ,Q IDFW WKDW VHQWLPHQW VHHPV WR EH a refrain that echoes around Tokyo’s sporting, political and corporate FRUULGRUV ,W LV IRU H[DPSOH D KRSH VKDUHG E\ 6DWR ´,I , FRXOG GR RQH WKLQJ Âľ VKH says, responding to a hypothetical

Japanese Paralympic skier Yoshihiro Nitta is assisted by a JAL-trained airport staff member

question that has her as the leader of WKH 7RN\R RUJDQLVLQJ FRPPLWWHH ´, ZRXOG OLNH WR PHUJH WKH 2O\PSLFV and Paralympics into one thing, one VKDSH 7KH 3DUDO\PSLFV KDYH WKH SRZHU to make a better society and to motivate SHRSOH , ZDQW WR EH D EULGJH EHWZHHQ WKH 2O\PSLFV DQG WKH 3DUDO\PSLFV LQ -DSDQ DQG DEURDG :H QHHG WR PD[LPLVH WKDW SRZHU E\ Âľ )XQGLQJ LV DQ LVVXH IRU WKH PDMRULW\ RI SHRSOH ZLWK 2O\PSLF RU 3DUDO\PSLF aspirations around the world so it is little surprise when Sato calls on the corporate world to step up its support RI 3DUDO\PSLDQV LQ SDUWLFXODU +HU situation with Suntory should be, she EHOLHYHV D PRGHO IRU RWKHU FRUSRUDWLRQV ´, WKLQN HDFK 3DUDO\PSLDQ QHHGV DURXQG 86 SHU \HDU MXVW WR WUDLQ Âľ VKH VD\V ´/LNH PH VRPH DWKOHWHV DUH supported by companies, but not so PDQ\ VR VSRQVRUVKLS LV YHU\ LPSRUWDQW , ZRUN IURP DP WR DERXW RU SP DW Suntory, and then go to training only PLQXWHV IURP KHUH LQ P\ KRPH VWDGLXP ,Q VXPPHU ,¡P RIWHQ DEURDG IRU FRPSHWLWLRQ EXW WKH FRPSDQ\ LV KDSS\ , DP D UHJXODU HPSOR\HH KHUH , WHOO WKHP ZKDW ,¡G OLNH WR GR DQG WKH\ XQGHUVWDQG They don’t give me free alcohol but it’s a JRRG VXSSOHPHQW IRU WUDLQLQJ ´,W¡V SUREDEO\ TXLWH WRXJK IRU a company to support a team of 3DUDO\PSLDQV VR , WKLQN RQH FRPSDQ\ should have one Paralympian as a regular employee, but that company should SD\ DWWHQWLRQ WR WKDW HPSOR\HH )RU

example, if they go to a competition outside of Japan, normally the company makes them take unpaid holiday, but the FRPSDQ\ VKRXOG UHFRJQLVH WKHP PRUH , WKLQN 6XQWRU\ NQRZV KRZ WR XVH PH IRU LWV LPDJH DQG , KRSH ,¡P KHOSIXO IRU 6XQWRU\¡V LPDJH Âľ While Sato is lucky to have the unequivocal backing of Suntory, her Paralympic teammates also share in the EHQHĂ€W RI RQH RI WKH ORQJHVW UXQQLQJ VSRQVRUVKLSV LQ 3DUDO\PSLF VSRUW -DSDQ $LUOLQHV -$/ KDV VSRQVRUHG WKH -DSDQHVH 3DUDO\PSLF &RPPLWWHH -3& VLQFH <XNLR 6KLVKLNXUD D YLFH SUHVLGHQW LQ -$/¡V DGYHUWLVLQJ GHSDUWPHQW KDV KHOSHG DUUDQJH WKH LQWHUYLHZ ZLWK 6DWR :KHQ Sato expresses her genuine gratitude for the airline’s support of Japan’s Paralympic WHDP KH LV DEVROXWHO\ GHOLJKWHG ´)RU SHRSOH ZLWK GLVDELOLW\ -$/ LV NLQG RI SHUIHFW Âľ 6DWR VD\V ´,W¡V LPSRUWDQW , WDNH LW IRU JUDQWHG WKDW -$/ VKRZV JRRG behaviour and good service to disabled SHRSOH ,W¡V JUHDW WKDW WKH\ GR EHFDXVH LW shows other people in the aircraft how WR GR LW 7KH\ KDYH DQ LPSRUWDQW UROH to play not just for the disabled people WKHPVHOYHV EXW IRU HYHU\RQH HOVH WR VHH Âľ -$/¡V VSRQVRUVKLS RI WKH -DSDQHVH Paralympic team is the visible peak of D SROLF\ WKDW H[WHQGV PXFK GHHSHU 7KH airline wants to be not just an industry leader in its care for disabled passengers, EXW DQ H[DPSOH IRU ZLGHU VRFLHW\ /DWHU 6KLVKLNXUD ZKR LV UHVSRQVLEOH IRU LPSOHPHQWLQJ -$/¡V YDULRXV VSRUWV sponsorships, explains the what, why DQG KRZ RI -$/¡V H[WHQVLYH SURYLVLRQV IRU GLVDEOHG SDVVHQJHUV 6WDUWLQJ with basic infrastructure – ramps and bamboo wheelchairs that don’t necessitate invasive security searches – and going through to an extensive staff WUDLQLQJ SURJUDPPH -$/ KDV LQFXOFDWHG DQ HPSDWKHWLF FXOWXUH ZLWKLQ LWV VWDII 7KH SURFHVV VWDUWV ZLWK UHFUXLWPHQW ´, PXVW VWUHVV WKH LPSRUWDQFH LV ODLG very high on the crew to achieve a warm KHDUW Âľ VD\V 6KLVKLNXUD ´-DSDQ $LUOLQHV is constantly working very hard on these basic human qualities; in our recruitment we look for people who show the desire to work hard in life and have the correct attitude and demonstrate a voluntary willingness to help others and strive to EHWWHU WKHPVHOYHV Âľ -$/ UXQV D WUDLQLQJ SURJUDPPH WR RIIHU LWV VWDII D ÂśGLVDELOLW\ FDUHU¡ TXDOLĂ€FDWLRQ

,W LV QRW PDQGDWRU\ DQG VWDII PXVW volunteer to take the course on their days RII 6KLVKLNXUD UHSRUWV WKDW RI WKH DLUOLQH¡V DLUSRUW VWDII KDYH WDNHQ WKH course, and passed the examination at the HQG RI LW WR GDWH DV ZHOO DV RI WKH FDELQ FUHZ VWDII 7KHUH LV QR SRLQW Shishikura says, in proudly carrying the Japanese Paralympic team if staff don’t understand when a disabled passenger QHHGV KHOS RU ZDQWV WR EH OHIW DORQH ´'XULQJ WUDLQLQJ VWDII JDLQ OLYH experiences of how it feels to be sat in a wheelchair, or to be blind, and we use special glasses or a wheelchair so the staff FDQ DFWXDOO\ H[SHULHQFH Ă€UVWKDQG KRZ LW IHHOV Âľ KH UHYHDOV ´6LWWLQJ LQ D ZKHHOFKDLU staff understand the challenges that are faced each day, from crossing an unlevelled road to encountering steps, things ableERGLHG SHRSOH WDNH IRU JUDQWHG Âľ

Flightpath to Olympic sponsorship $V WKH VWUXFWXUH RI WKH 7RN\R organising committee takes shape, the scrambling over how the commercial element will be undertaken is also JRLQJ RQ EHQHDWK WKH VXUIDFH 'HQWVX the advertising giant whose tentacles extend into almost every sporting operation around the country, secured D 86 ELOORQ JXDUDQWHH WR WDNH

In 2012, Yoshiharu Ueki became the ďŹ rst ever former pilot named president of Japan Airlines

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Destinations Report 2015 Asia-PaciďŹ c

Japan Airlines has used sport sponsorship to help its steady recovery from bankruptcy

the local sponsorship rights off the organising committee’s hands in April $FFRUGLQJ WR LQVLGHUV WKH ,2& KDV DOUHDG\ FOHDUHG 7RN\R WR VLJQ multiple partners in each sponsorship category, a practice that dilutes the power, DQG YDOXH RI 2O\PSLF VSRQVRUVKLS EXW one that is deemed necessary because of the unique corporate environment in -DSDQ 7KHUH FRXOG EH D VLWXDWLRQ LQ ZKLFK

58 | www.sportspromedia.com

Mizuno, Asics and potentially Adidas all have rights to the local sportswear FDWHJRU\ ,W FRXOG DOVR EH DQ HQYLURQPHQW WKDW DOORZV -$/ DQG ULYDO DLUOLQH $1$ WR À OO RXW WKH DLUOLQH FDWHJRU\ VSHQGLQJ EHWZHHQ 86 PLOOLRQ DQG 86 PLOOLRQ HDFK Exclusive or not, it is a sponsorship WKDW WKH KLHUDUFK\ DW -$/ DUH HDJHU WR secure, and Shishikura jokes that his job

LV RQ WKH OLQH LI KH GRHVQ¡W SXOO LW RII %XW KH KDV KLV ZRUN FXW RXW -$/ LV UHFRYHULQJ from the most turbulent period in its corporate history, and marketing yen are QRW WKH HDVLHVW WR FRPH E\ ,Q -DQXDU\ -$/ ZHQW EDQNUXSW ZLWK 86 ELOOLRQ LQ GHEW EHFRPLQJ one of Japan’s largest ever corporate IDLOXUHV 7KHUH ZHUH RYHU redundancies, as well as pension cuts and

Both JAL and ANA could well become airline sponsors of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

pay freezes, controversial debt waivers and a corporate fat-trimming exercise RQ DQ LQGXVWULDO VFDOH (PHUJLQJ IURP EDQNUXSWF\ SURWHFWLRQ LQ 0DUFK WKH company is still on the road to recovery, despite registering record revenues and successfully realunching itself on the VWRFN PDUNHW ,Q RUGHU WR PDQDJH WKH WUDQVLWLRQ SHULRG WKH -$/ KLHUDUFK\ WRRN the unprecedented decision of installing a former pilot, rather than an established EXVLQHVV OHDGHU DV SUHVLGHQW LQ ´, HQMR\HG WKH FRFNSLW PRUH Âľ ODXJKV <RVKLKDUX 8HNL VSHDNLQJ LQ DQ LQWHUYLHZ RQ WKH WRS Ă RRU RI -$/¡V XQIXVV\ FRUSRUDWH KHDGTXDUWHUV ´%HLQJ D SLORW LV WLPHV PRUH HQMR\DEOH %XW EHFDXVH of the bankruptcy the company needed some different thinking, someone to be more in touch with the staff, so the company needs some different person to EH WKH WRS RI WKH FRPSDQ\ 7KDW¡V ZK\ , ZDV FKRVHQ , WKLQN Âľ Ueki has put staff contentment at WKH FRUH RI -$/¡V UHFRYHU\ ´6LQFH WKH bankruptcy we’ve been involved in two PDLQ WKLQJV Âľ H[SODLQV 8HNL ´2QH WKLQJ LV WR FKDQJH WKH V\VWHP IRU PDNLQJ SURĂ€W :H FKDOOHQJHG IRU VWUXFWXUDO UHIRUP 7KH second thing was changing the mindset RI -$/ VWDII , WKLQN WKH VHFRQG WKLQJ LV PRUH LPSRUWDQW IRU -$/ ,Q WHUPV of services there are three things: hard, VRIW DQG KXPDQ %HFDXVH ZH GLGQ¡W KDYH enough money with the bankruptcy, we couldn’t do enough investment for hard

and soft – we were far behind from the RWKHUV :H UHDOLVHG WKDW KXPDQ KDG WR EH RXU PDLQ VWUHQJWK ´6R QRZ WRS RI WKH -$/ SKLORVRSK\ is pursuing the happiness of all of the HPSOR\HHV , GRQ¡W VD\ WKDW ZH LJQRUH RXU VKDUHKROGHUV FXVWRPHUV RU VRFLHW\ ,I RXU PDQDJHPHQW ORYH DQG NHHS RXU employees very important then our staff will love the company and then that will lead us to customer satisfaction and shareholder satisfaction and good VHUYLFHV 6R , WKLQN LW LV YHU\ LPSRUWDQW IRU XV WR ORYH RXU VWDII 7KDW¡V ZKDW ZH OHDUQHG WKURXJK WKH EDQNUXSWF\ Âľ Staff contentment is now also at the EDVH RI -$/¡V VSRQVRUVKLS VWUDWHJ\ :KHQ the company went bankrupt almost all of its marketing activities, including a raft RI VSRUWV VSRQVRUVKLSV ZHUH VXVSHQGHG 7KH -3& DJUHHPHQW KRZHYHU ZDV FRQVLGHUHG WRR LPSRUWDQW WR ORVH ´$FWXDOO\ FRRSHUDWLQJ ZLWK -3& WUDQVIRUPHG WKH KDSSLQHVV RI WKH -$/ VWDII Âľ VD\V 8HNL ´2I FRXUVH LQ D EDQNUXSWF\ VLWXDWLRQ all the staff feel bad but we wanted to have something very cheerful, something very happy so we wanted to keep this FRRSHUDWLRQ ZLWK WKH -3& Âľ .HHSLQJ LWV -3& GHDO DW WKH FHQWUH -$/ has gradually increased its sponsorship activities as it has left bankruptcy further EHKLQG $ ORQJVWDQGLQJ GHDO ZLWK WKH Honolulu Marathon was picked up again, and contracts with the Japanese Artistic *\PQDVWLFV $VVRFLDWLRQ DQG - /HDJXH VRFFHU VLGH 6KLPL]X 6 3XOVH ZHUH UHYLYHG /RRNLQJ EDFN DW -$/¡V EDQNUXSWF\ 8HNL VLQJOHV RXW RQH IRUPHU -$/ HQGRUVHU ZKR stuck with the airline through a sense of loyalty, even when the sponsorship FKHTXHV UDQ RXW ´0U +LGHNL 0DWVXL ZKR XVHG WR SOD\ IRU WKH 1HZ <RUN <DQNHHV he continued to work with us even though the size of our support was suddenly PXFK ORZHU Âľ KH VD\V ´,W¡V D NLQG RI VHOĂ HVVQHVV ,QGLYLGXDOV OLNH KLP VDLG WKH\ don’t want any money, they just wanted WR VXSSRUW -$/ EHFDXVH WKH\ KDYH EHHQ ZRUNLQJ WRJHWKHU ZLWK XV IRU D ORQJ WLPH Âľ

-DSDQHVH GRPHVWLF EDVHEDOO 0DWFKGD\ DWWHQGDQFH JUHZ E\ SHU FHQW DFURVV WR ² HQRXJK WR SXW WKH league third in terms of total attendance across all professional sports leagues last \HDU RYHU DKHDG RI WKH 1DWLRQDO %DVNHWEDOO $VVRFLDWLRQ 1%$ LQ WKH US in fourth spot, and behind only the WLFNHWLQJ EHKHPRWK WKDW LV 0DMRU /HDJXH %DVHEDOO 0/% DQG WKH VSUDZOLQJ EHDVW WKDW LV LWV PLQRU OHDJXH RIIVKRRW 2I FRXUVH ZLWK UHJXODU VHDVRQ games per team across the season, there are lot more opportunities to reach those KHLJKWV WKDQ WKHUH DUH LQ RWKHU VSRUWV But, unlike in the US where ‘America’s Pastime’ scraps it out with football and basketball for the right to call itself the country’s most popular sport, NPB baseball is by some distance the most SRSXODU VSRUWV OHDJXH LQ -DSDQ ,QGHHG LW was the only sport played professionally LQ WKH FRXQWU\ XQWLO DV UHFHQWO\ DV DQG WKH IRUPDWLRQ RI VRFFHU¡V - /HDJXH 7KH WHDPV WKDW PDNH XS WKH 13% are split evenly between two divisions, the &HQWUDO /HDJXH DQG WKH 3DFLĂ€F /HDJXH ZKLFK ZHUH ERWK IRXQGHG \HDUV DJR The teams are concentrated in and around Japan’s larger metropolitan areas – Tokyo and Nagoya in the centre of the FRXQWU\ DQG 2VDND DQG )XNXRND LQ WKH VRXWK 8QOLNH LQ 0DMRU /HDJXH %DVHEDOO where the franchises are named after their location, NPB teams were founded for the large part by corporations and have effectively been ‘title sponsored’ since

Baseball nation ,I DWWHQGDQFH ZHUH WKH WUXHVW PHDVXULQJ stick, Nippon Professional Baseball 1%3 ZRXOG URXWLQHO\ EH FRQVLGHUHG one of the biggest sports leagues on the SODQHW ZDV D VWHOODU \HDU IRU WKH WHDPV WKDW PDNH XS WKH WRS WLHU RI

Baseball is Japan’s favourite sport and NPB is the world’s third-best attended league of any kind

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Destinations Report 2015 Asia-PaciďŹ c

NPB special counsel Shigeo Araki with the league’s deputy general secretary, Shoji Numazawa

WKHLU LQFHSWLRQ $OWKRXJK PRVW WHDPV have now incorporated place names into their titles in an attempt to cement a local fanbase in the face of growing competition from other sports, the most popular have not felt it necessary to FKDQJH ,Q RIĂ€FLDO OHDJXH FRPPXQLFDWLRQV and in most Japanese media, the teams are still referred to purely by their FRUSRUDWH QDPHV ´,W¡V \HDUV VLQFH WKH &HQWUDO DQG 3DFLĂ€F OHDJXHV ZHUH HVWDEOLVKHG Âľ H[SODLQV NPB deputy general secretary Shoji Numazawa, “but actually this year marks WKH WK DQQLYHUVDU\ IRU SURIHVVLRQDO EDVHEDOO LQ -DSDQ “The background of the sport is that Ă€UVW LW ZDV HVWDEOLVKHG DV D MRE %DVHEDOO

at that time got a lot of support from companies – who set teams up for their ZRUNHUV 7KH UHODWLRQVKLS ZLWK PHGLD ZDV very, very strong and it contributed to the high growth of the Japanese economy because TVs were put into every house and on those TVs the main content was SURIHVVLRQDO EDVHEDOO 7KDW¡V ZK\ EDVHEDOO LQ Japan is called the national sport and that’s ZK\ DOPRVW DOO -DSDQHVH NQRZ EDVHEDOO Âľ 8QOLNH LQ 0/% WKH SRZHU VWLOO OLHV very much with the teams rather than WKH FHQWUDO 13% ERG\ $OO WHOHYLVLRQ sponsorship, ticketing and licensing ULJKWV DUH UHWDLQHG E\ WKH WHDPV 7KH NPB was founded as an independent body to solve a dispute between the WZR OHDJXHV &RRUGLQDWLRQ EHWZHHQ WKH

The Yomiuri Giants of Tokyo are by far the most popular team in Nippon Professional Baseball

60 | www.sportspromedia.com

GLYLVLRQV UHPDLQV LWV SULPDU\ UROH WRGD\ 7KH SHUVRQ RUJDQLVDWLRQ VDQFWLRQV WKH games, provides professional umpires – for which it is paid a membership fee by the teams – and organises both the Japan Series, the seven-game play-off series to decide the ultimate champion between the two leagues, and the annual All-Star JDPH 7KH WHDPV KRZHYHU VSOLW WKH commercial rights to the All-Star game between them, with the NPB providing RSHUDWLRQDO VHUYLFHV DORQH ´2XU PDLQ UROH LV WR VXSSRUW WKH WHDPV WR PDNH SURĂ€W Âľ 1XPD]DZD VD\V VXFFLQFWO\ ´,Q WHUPV RI WKH -DSDQ 6HULHV which is our only revenue stream beyond WKH PHPEHUVKLS IHHV LW¡V DERXW -3< ELOOLRQ 86 PLOOLRQ WR -3< ELOOLRQ 86 PLOOLRQ SHU \HDU Âľ 7KH <RPLXUL *LDQWV DQG WKH +DQFKLQ Tigers have little need for the NPB’s VXSSRUW 7KH WZR PRVW SRSXODU WHDPV in Japan have long been the only two SURĂ€WDEOH HQWLWLHV LQ HLWKHU OHDJXH although Numazawa suggests a third WHDP MRLQHG WKHP LQ WKH EODFN WKLV \HDU Teams usually sell the broadcast rights WR DOO WKHLU KRPH JDPHV WR D VSHFLĂ€F SD\ TV broadcaster, and then allow terrestrial broadcasters to cherry-pick games, at KLJKHU UDWHV WKURXJKRXW WKH VHDVRQ 7KH UHFHQW ODXQFK RI D )R[ 6SRUWV SODWIRUP LQ Japan has driven up the cost of baseball rights, but with average pay-TV rights JRLQJ IRU DURXQG 86 PLOOLRQ SHU team, the bulk of a team’s revenues must come from ticket sales and sponsorship, a situation that has rendered many of the WHDPV FKURQLFDOO\ ORVV PDNLQJ ´7HDPV JHW VXEVLGLVHG E\ WKH RZQHU FRPSDQLHV Âľ H[SODLQV 1XPD]DZD ´7KRVH FRPSDQLHV pay that money as advertising expenses HDFK \HDU 3HU WHDP LW¡V DERXW -3< ELOOLRQ 86 PLOOLRQ WR -3< ELOOLRQ 86 PLOOLRQ Âľ Recognising that other sports are gaining in popularity, the NPB, as well as the various marketing agencies the teams contract independently – primarily DGYHUWLVLQJ JLDQWV 'HQWVX DQG +DNXKRGR – are working on schemes to boost revenue streams in baseball, chief among them is a specialist business unit set up by WKH 13% ODVW \HDU “The main thing for expanding the EXVLQHVV LV 7HDP -DSDQ EDVHEDOO Âľ H[SODLQV Shigeo Araki, special counsel for the NPB RQ LWV Âś6DPXUDL -DSDQ¡ EXVLQHVV VWUDWHJ\ “We used to have Team Japan only for

The NPB teams Central League

PaciďŹ c League

Team

Location

Owner

Chunichi Dragons

Nagoya, Aichi

Chunichi Shimbum, the dominant newspaper in Nagoya’s Aichi Prefecture.

Hanshin Tigers

Nishinomiya, Hyogo

Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group, owners of the Hanshin Electric Railway that links Kobe and Osaka.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

Hiroshima

The Matsuda family, founders of the Mazda automotive company, which changed its ofďŹ cial name from Toyo Kogyo Co in 1984.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Tokyo

Yakult, the probiotic drinks manufacturer that bought the team in 1970. Previous owners include Kokutetsu, the Japanese National Railway company, which named the team Kokutetsu Swallows, and newspaper Sankei Shimbum, which renamed it Sankei Atoms.

Yokohama DeNA BayStars

Yokohama, Kanagawa

DeNA Co, a provider of mobile portal and e-commerce websites, which bought the team from seafood giant the Maruha Corporation in 2011. Maruha-owned Taiyo Fishing Company had called the team Taiyo Whales to promote its whale meat, before a move to Yokohama and new whaling laws in the early 1990s.

Yomiuri Giants

Tokyo

Yomiuri Group, the media conglomerate that publishes the newspaper with the largest circulation in the world, the Yomiuri Shimbum.

Chiba Lotte Marines

Chiba City, Chiba

Lotte Group, a Tokyo-based conglomerate with 60 business units across diverse sectors and over 60,000 employees.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

Fukuoka

SoftBank Corp, the telecommunications and internet corporation that bought the team from department store chain Daiei in 2005. The Fukuoka Daiei Hawks had originally been called Nankai, after the Nankai Electric Company that founded the team.

Hokkaido NipponHam Fighters

Sapporo, Hokkaido

Nippon Meat Packers, the food processing conglomerate that bought the team in 1973 from the Nittaku Home real estate company.

Orix Buffaloes

Osaka

Orix Group, the Tokyo-based ďŹ nancial services company that kept the name of the team after the Orix BlueWave of Kobe merged with the Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka in 2004. Orix, under its previous name of Orient Lease, bought the Hankyu Braves from the Hankyu Kyuko Railway Company in 1988.

Saitama Seibu Lions

Tokorozawa, Saitama

Seibu Railway Company, a conglomerate with rail, tourism and real estate interests.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

Sendai, Miyagi

Rakuten, Inc, the electronic commerce and internet company which founded the team in 2004 to replace the PaciďŹ c League team that was lost in the merger between the Orix BlueWave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes.

Baseball broadcasts were a signiďŹ cant factor in the rise of television in Japan in the 1950s

the international competitions like the :RUOG %DVHEDOO &ODVVLFV DQG WKH 2O\PSLFV Recently, we decided to have the team always set in place so that we can have more games as well as having more and longer sponsors for Team Japan, which is QLFNQDPHG 6DPXUDL -DSDQ Âľ :RUNLQJ ZLWK WKH %DVHEDOO )HGHUDWLRQ of Japan, the NPB hopes to take DGYDQWDJH RI D UHFHQW ,QWHUQDWLRQDO %DVHEDOO )HGHUDWLRQ ,%$) UXOH FKDQJH sanctioning one-on-one international IULHQGO\ JDPHV IRU UDQNLQJV SRLQWV 7KH NPB anticipates the national team playing XS WR VHYHQ WLPHV SHU \HDU “Japan is aggressively developing WKHLU QDWLRQDO WHDP EUDQG Âľ FRQĂ€UPV 5LFFDUGR )UDFFDUL FR SUHVLGHQW RI WKH recently renamed World Baseball Softball &RQIHGHUDWLRQ ´$Q\ WLPH WKH 6DPXUDL

are involved in an event, it draws a wave of media interest and raises the value and reach of the broadcast – and raises the DWWUDFWLYHQHVV RI WKH HYHQW LWVHOI “Japan has been organising development programmes in emerging countries and even highly competitive FRXQWULHV OLNH &XED )URP DQ international federation perspective, WKLV LV PRGHO W\SH EHKDYLRXU $V D global sport, we have a duty of social UHVSRQVLELOLW\ ,Q -DQXDU\ WKH Ă€UVW baseball/softball stadium in Uganda was completed, under the patronage of the -DSDQHVH (PEDVV\ %XLOGLQJ WKLV VWDGLXP means job creation, in addition to having generations of young people gain access WR VSRUW 2XU IULHQGV LQ -DSDQ DUH KHOSLQJ to evolve our sport and leaving legacies EHKLQG LQ WKH SURFHVV Âľ

The Destinations Report 2015 | 61

Destinations Report 2015 Central and South America

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA

After a successful delivery of the Fifa World Cup in 2014, Rio de Janeiro is beginning the final preparations for next year’s summer Olympic Games

2

014 was a year which began badly for Brazilian organisers of next year’s summer Olympic Games. Early in the year they were given a public hurry-up by international sports federations and then by the International Olympic Committee itself. For a time, it looked as if frustrations over organisational and construction delays might boil over. By the end of the year, however, calm appeared to have been restored, new processes and timelines had been put in place and, quite simply, politicians in Brazil and the Rio 2016 local organising committee were under no illusions at the scale of the task which lies ahead. Beyond the continued venue construction, 2015 will provide a gauge of Brazil’s interest in the Olympic Games as the ticketing process begins in earnest. Memories of the public disturbance in the build-up to the 2014 Fifa World Cup, as Brazilians protested about the use of public money, remain fresh in the memory. “In countries where the disparity between rich and poor is so great, the importance of

62 | www.sportspromedia.com

legacy is probably greater,” argues Robert Datnow, co-managing director of The Sports Consultancy. “Here there is a JUHDWHU QHHG IRU WKH EHQHÀWV RI D PDMRU VSRUWLQJ HYHQW WR ÀOWHU LQWR WKH SRRUHVW communities, into the regions and out of the host cities. “What we’re being told is Rio will be UHDG\ RQ WLPH DQG WKDW VLJQLÀFDQW VWHSV are being taken, that the construction programme is being accelerated. I have no doubt that the show, when it comes to town, will be great and that Rio will put on a fantastic event. However, I think because of the increased focus on getting ready in time, it would be natural to think that less time and effort has been focused RQ ZLGHU EHQHÀWV µ Angus Buchanan, co-managing director at The Sports Consultancy, adds that the Brazilian psyche means “the preparation phase is not particularly kind to Brazil”, in that it tends to result in a last-minute push to deliver what has been promised. “With the events themselves, you have to take a binary approach to assessment,” Buchanan says. “Was it a successful World Cup? Yes, it was – a great festival of football. I’m

sure the same will be true of the Olympic Games: it will be perceived internationally as having been a success, but there are two very distinct phases – the event delivery and the event itself. The event I’m sure will be seen as having been uniquely Brazilian and very successful.” The decision in Brasilia to cede hosting rights to the 2019 Universiade, however, is likely, in Datnow’s view, to make rightsholders “more circumspect” as they carry out “increasing levels of due diligence on their bidding cities”. Outside Brazil, The Sports Consultancy’s experts point to Peru and Uruguay as markets to keep an eye on while $UJHQWLQD·V VWDWXV DV D PDMRU HYHQW KRVW ZLOO be determined by its economic recovery. For Buchanan, however, there is one obvious market in the region which cannot be ignored. “Mexico’s economic fate is more than logically linked to the US and the US is rebounding very rapidly, so Mexico has to be at the top of the list,” he suggests. The country is currently SUHSDULQJ WR VWDJH LWV ÀUVW *UDQG 3UL[ LQ 23 years this November, at a permanent circuit in the heart of Mexico City.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR? -

The final countdown for Rio 2016 underway

-

November’s return of the Mexican Grand Prix

-

Beyond Brazil: where are the likely next-generation sports hosts in South America?

MARKETS TO WATCH? Mexico

The Destinations Report 2015 | 63

Destinations Report 2015 Central and South America

DOWN MEXICO WAY By Eoin Connolly - originally published in the February 2015 edition of SportsPro

Anthony Devlin/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Mexico is a two-time host of the Fifa World Cup and its capital staged the Olympic Games in 1968, but it has failed to keep pace with the development of modern sporting centres. Now, though, a burgeoning sports industry could finally deliver for a country long on the verge of a major breakthrough.

Mexican capital Mexico City has a population of over 8.5 million, with around 21.2 million thought to be living in the greater metropolitan area

A

n image is emerging of the modern sporting city. Venues rise from some disused plot of land – maybe deprived, maybe desert – to sit together in high-end little settlements. Spectators are whisked in and out of wide, gleaming concourses, with space cleared out for shopping and sponsorship activation. $W ÀUVW JODQFH 0H[LFR &LW\ GRHV QRW ÀW WKDW GHVFULSWLRQ 7KLV LV RQH RI WKH biggest cities in the world – with a central

64 | www.sportspromedia.com

population of over 8.5 million and as many as 21.2 million thought to live in the greater metropolitan area – and it VKRZV &RQFUHWH VSUDZOV DQG FDUV FUDZO LQ every direction, with streets visibly forged by urgent human activity rather than meticulous overhead planning. 7KLV LV D FLW\ ZKLFK KRVWHG WKH 2O\PSLF Games in 1968 and has twice staged WKH )LID :RUOG &XS ÀQDO ,W LV DQ DOPRVW XQPDWFKHG UHFRUG EXW IRU VRPH 0H[LFDQ sporting life has receded since.

´&XOWXUDOO\ 0H[LFDQ SHRSOH DQG WKH young people don’t see sport as part of WKHLU OLYHV Âľ ZDUQV &KULVWLDDQ %DUQDUG EUDQG PDQDJHU IRU VSRUWVZHDU DW 1LNH 0H[LFR VSHDNLQJ DW WKH 6SRUW ,QQRYDWLRQ 6XPPLW LQ 0H[LFR &LW\ LQ ODWH 2FWREHU ´,I \RX WKLQN RI 0H[LFDQ FXOWXUH \RX WKLQN DERXW IRRG history, art, but sport lives in another realm. ,Q $PHULFDQ FXOWXUH VSRUW LV LQVLGH WKDW EXW LQ 0H[LFR LW¡V VRPHWKLQJ DSDUW IURP ZKDW ZH WKLQN RI DV RXU RULJLQDO FXOWXUH 7KDW¡V been challenging.â€?

7KH PDQ ZKR PLJKW EHDU PRUH responsibility than anyone for changing that, at least within the capital, is also at WKH 6SRUW ,QQRYDWLRQ 6XPPLW +RUDFLR de la Vega is the director of sport for 0H[LFR &LW\ ´,¡YH MXVW EHHQ KHUH RQH \HDU DQG D KDOI Âľ KH VD\V ´7KH ODVW MRE , KDG ZDV DV FRPPHUFLDO GLUHFWRU DQG secretary general of the Pan American *DPHV >LQ *XDGDODMDUD LQ @ $QG QRZ WKDW WKH PD\RU RI 0H[LFR &LW\ ² KLV QDPH LV 0LJXHO ÉQJHO 0DQFHUD ² LV actually kind of an athlete, he runs and KH ER[HV DQG KH VZLPV WKLV JLYHV PH D ORW RI FRQĂ€ GHQFH LQ WKH WKLQJV WKDW ZH¡UH GRLQJ DQG WU\LQJ WR GR LQ 0H[LFR &LW\ ´,¡P DOZD\V NHHQ LQ WHUPV RI VD\LQJ WKDW \RX EXLOG \RXU RZQ UHDOLW\ $QG , WKLQN WKH EXLOGLQJ RI VSRUWV LQ 0H[LFR &LW\ QHHGV WR EH GRQH E\ WKH PLQGV \RX¡UH going to have, the passion that you have for sport, and the team you’re building. 7KHUH¡V D ORW RI WKLQJV WKDW ZH¡UH JRLQJ WR GR LQ WKH IXWXUH EXW , WKLQN ZH¡YH GRQH D Ă€ QH MRE LQ WKH Ă€ UVW \HDU DQG D KDOI WR EXLOG XS VSRUWV LQ 0H[LFR &LW\ Âľ A former modern pentathlete who represented his country at the Atlanta DQG 6\GQH\ 2O\PSLFV GH la Vega hopes to rediscover the city’s sporting heritage. ´2QH WKLQJ WKDW ,¡P WU\LQJ WR reposition here, to promote again, is that 0H[LFR &LW\ VWLOO LV DQ 2O\PSLF FLW\ Âľ KH says. “You never lose this kind of name. 1RZDGD\V LQ P\ MRE ,¡P WU\LQJ WR DLP IRU FHUWDLQ VSHFLĂ€ F WKLQJV JRLQJ ZLWK KLJK SHUIRUPDQFH DWKOHWHV EXW , WKLQN VRFLDO sport covers a lot more of the things that ZH¡UH WU\LQJ WR GR LQ 0H[LFR Âľ $W WKH FRUH RI GH OD 9HJD¡V SURMHFW LV D public-private partnership to transform the city’s sporting infrastructure. Around 86 PLOOLRQ KDV EHHQ FRPPLWWHG VR far to a programme of works that will see IRUPHU 2O\PSLF YHQXHV UHFODLPHG IRU PDMRU HYHQWV DQG IRU SXEOLF XVH ´, WKLQN ZKHQ , KDG WKH RSSRUWXQLW\ WR UHWKLQN ZKDW WKH YHQXHV QHHGHG WR EH LQ WKH Ă€ UVW FDVH , QHYHU thought about building new infrastructure,â€? says de la Vega. “We’re trying to recover them and to put them in form like, for H[DPSOH DQ DWKOHWH 7KH YHQXHV QHHG WR EH in form and need to be well managed in order to give better service.â€? 7KH PDMRULW\ RI WKHVH YHQXHV FDQ EH IRXQG LQ D FOXVWHU DURXQG WKH 0DJGDOHQD 0L[KXFD 6SRUWV &LW\ D KHFWDUH FRPSOH[ ZKLFK JUHZ IURP WKH 2O\PSLF

Horacio de la Vega, director of sport for Mexico City, on stage at October’s Sport Innovation Summit

One thing that I’m trying to reposition here, to promote again, is that Mexico City still is an Olympic city.

“

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3DUN DIWHU 7RGD\ WKH SDUN LV IULQJHG with soccer pitches and basketball courts SOD\LQJ KRVW WR SLFN XS JDPHV 7KH skeletal development at the AutĂłdromo +HUPDQRV 5RGUtJXH] ZKLFK ZLOO KRVW WKH )RUPXOD 2QH 0H[LFDQ *UDQG 3UL[ DJDLQ IURP DIWHU D \HDU EUHDN LV ULVLQJ against the city’s hills from within. 7KH UHGHYHORSPHQW VFKHPH LV LQWHQGHG WR WXUQ WKH 0DJGDOHQD 0L[KXFD LQWR WKH OHDGLQJ VSRUWV FRPSOH[ LQ /DWLQ $PHULFD RQH EHDULQJ WKH LQĂ XHQFH RI ´'XEDL 6SRUWV &LW\ RU 6LQJDSRUH 6SRUWV +XE RU %DNX LQ $]HUEDLMDQ RU WKH /RQGRQ 2O\PSLF 3DUNÂľ 2QFH FRPSOHWHG LW ZLOO service the “different tiersâ€? of the city’s VSRUWLQJ SURJUDPPH IURP PDMRU HYHQWV to local amateur teams to “the individual DWKOHWH WKDW MXVW ZDQWV WR JR DQG UXQ RU swim or cycleâ€?. 7KH PRVW SUHVVLQJ FRQFHUQ IRU GH OD Vega, in a country where obesity rates rival those anywhere in the world, is to get people active. “We have important SURMHFWV Âľ KH VD\V ´:H KDYH ÂśXUEDQ gyms’ – we call them that – and the plan LV WR KDYH ZRUNLQJ J\PV WU\LQJ WR impact 2.5 to three million people.â€? Stimulating grassroots participation is also among the aims of one of the international sporting bodies that has so far made the most headway in the country. 0H[LFR LV WKH ODUJHVW PDUNHW RXWVLGH WKH 86 IRU WKH 1DWLRQDO )RRWEDOO /HDJXH

1)/ DQG ZKLOH IRRWEDOO KDV EHHQ SOD\HG KHUH RQ VRPH VFDOH IRU RYHU \HDUV LW LV KDUGO\ D PDLQVWUHDP SXUVXLW 0RUH to the point, it is beyond the means of PDQ\ 0H[LFDQV WR SDUWLFLSDWH FDVXDOO\ 7KH 1)/¡V VROXWLRQ LV 7RFKLWR D VPDOO VLGHG tag-based version of the game which requires no protective equipment. ´,W¡V D QDWXUDO JDWHZD\ WR WKH VSRUW Âľ VD\V $UWXUR 2OLYp WKH PDQDJLQJ GLUHFWRU RI 1)/ 0H[LFR )URP D EDVH RI WHDPV VL[ \HDUV DJR DFFRUGLQJ WR 2OLYp 7RFKLWR KDV JURZQ WR EH SOD\HG E\ WHDPV PLOOLRQ boys and girls are involved in schools programmes, with co-ed teams allowing WKH 1)/ ´WR SURPRWH WKH YDOXHV RI gender respectâ€? as well as other sporting IXQGDPHQWDOV 7KH JDPH LV DQ REYLRXV corporate social responsibility vehicle for the league but it is also a commercial HQWU\ SRLQW RI JURZLQJ LPSRUWDQFH 7KH local organising committees for Super %RZOV ;/,; DQG / ² WR EH SOD\HG LQ WKH /DWLQR KHDY\ FRPPXQLWLHV RI 3KRHQL[ DQG 6DQWD &ODUD UHVSHFWLYHO\ ² KDYH DOUHDG\ UHDFKHG RXW WR 1)/ 0H[LFR WR VHH ZKDW 7RFKLWR FDQ GR IRU WKHP ´7KH\ KDYH DVNHG XV WR ZRUN WRJHWKHU RQ KRZ ZH FDQ H[SDQG WKH UHDFK RI 7RFKLWR LQWR WKHLU FRPPXQLWLHV ² RU WKH other way around, them leading the way WR FRQQHFW ZLWK RXU 7RFKLWR FRPPXQLW\ Âľ 2OLYp DGGV

The Destinations Report 2015 | 65

Destinations Report 2015 Central and South America

The opening ceremony at the Estadio Azteca for the 1986 Fifa World Cup; Mexico also staged soccer’s biggest event in 1970 and held the Olympics in 1968

Soccer remains comfortably the biggest GUDZ LQ 0H[LFR 7KH JRYHUQDQFH RI /LJD 0; WKH QDWLRQDO WRS Ă LJKW KDV been overhauled in the past two years. /HDGLQJ FOXEV DUH EDFNHG E\ PDMRU PHGLD and industrial concerns, giving them WKH UHVRXUFHV WR NHHS PDQ\ RI 0H[LFR¡V best players in the country and attract IRUHLJQ VWDUV OLNH %UD]LOLDQ :RUOG &XS ZLQQHU 5RQDOGLQKR ,W LV UHOHQWOHVVO\ commercialised – the logo of title VSRQVRU %%9$ %DQFRPHU Ă€OOV WKH VFUHHQ during goal celebrations on television broadcasts, while the commentators appear during breaks to talk to camera of WKH YLUWXHV RI &RQFRUG ERRWV )RU 1LNH %DUQDUG FRQĂ€UPV PDUNHWLQJ spend is dominated by soccer and running, even if it tends to be casual sportswear which sells most strongly “because those lines are so bigâ€?. Nike’s NH\ VSRQVRUVKLS GHDO LV ZLWK &OXE $PpULFD D 7HOHYLVD RZQHG VLGH ZKR SOD\ LQ 0H[LFR &LW\¡V FDSDFLW\ (VWDGLR $]WHFD DQG UHFHQWO\ FDSWXUHG WKH SUH &KULVWPDV $SHUWXUD WLWOH ´&OXE $PpULFD LV WKH PRVW KDWHG FOXE Âľ VD\V %DUQDUG “the most loved one – the one that sells the most shirts.â€? 7KRVH EHKLQG RWKHU VSRUWV KDYH reason to believe there is room in the PDUNHWSODFH EH\RQG LW %R[LQJ DQG WKH 8OWLPDWH )LJKWLQJ &KDPSLRQVKLS 8)&

66 | www.sportspromedia.com

both have a considerable following, ZKLOH LQ 0H[LFR &LW\ ZRUN LV RQJRLQJ to construct a new home for the 'LDEORV 5RMRV GH 0H[LFR EDVHEDOO WHDP Nevertheless, the lay of the land is clear enough. “We’re not aiming to work against WKH SRSXODULW\ RI VRFFHU Âľ LQVLVWV 2OLYp “We’re working with the popularity of soccer as one additional option of a team sport by which people and NLGV \RXQJVWHUV FDQ HQMR\ WKHPVHOYHV We have a great relationship with the 0H[LFDQ VRFFHU IHGHUDWLRQ DQG RWKHU federations because we see each other as part of a collaborative effort more than working against each other and competing against each other.â€? 0H[LFR LV WDUJHWLQJ D UDQJH RI RWKHU VSRUWV SDUWLFXODUO\ 2O\PSLF VSRUWV DV LW seeks to round out its event portfolio and its offering to aspiring young athletes. 5HJXODU HYHQWV LQ 0H[LFR &LW\ UXQ IURP LWV PDUDWKRQ WR WKH /RUHQD 2FKRD ,QYLWDWLRQDO /3*$ JROI WRXUQDPHQW EXW it is working out a niche for itself in other international disciplines. 0H[LFR &LW\ ZLOO EHFRPH IDPLOLDU WR DUFKHU\ DĂ€FLRQDGRV LQ WKH QH[W FRXSOH of years as it stages the sport’s World &XS Ă€QDO LQ DQG WKHQ WKH ZRUOG FKDPSLRQVKLS LQ ² DW WKH XUJLQJ says World Archery general secretary

7RP 'LHOHQ RI DWKOHWHV OHG E\ 0H[LFR¡V RZQ -XDQ 5HQp 6HUUDQR ´,W KDV EHFRPH DQ LPSRUWDQW WHUULWRU\ to us because of the fact that the athletes DUH VXFFHVVIXO Âľ VXJJHVWV 'LHOHQ ´7KHUH is a lot of media interest in our sport LQ 0H[LFR 7KH IDFW WKDW WKH\ ZRQ WZR PHGDOV LQ WKH /RQGRQ 2O\PSLF *DPHV for sure, was an important breakthrough IRU WKH VSRUW LQ 0H[LFR EXW DOUHDG\ LQ %HLMLQJ ZKHUH 6HUUDQR Ă€QLVKHG IRXUWK WKHUH ZDV D ORW RI LQWHUHVW %XW LW LV DQ LPSRUWDQW PDUNHW ,W¡V D ELJ PDUNHW ZLWK D ODUJH SRSXODWLRQ ,W¡V RQH RI WKH FRXQWULHV that is really moving forward.â€? 'LHOHQ DQG :RUOG $UFKHU\ KDYH EHHQ impressed by the levels of innovation VKRZQ E\ 0H[LFR &LW\ WKURXJK HYHQWV OLNH WKH 0H[LFDQ &KDOOHQJH ZKLFK SLWV the country’ s best archers against the EHVW LQ WKH ZRUOG 7KH WRXUQDPHQWV LQ DQG ZLOO EH VWDJHG LQ SXEOLF areas, set against the backdrop of some of the capital’s most striking historical landmarks. ,W LV D PRYH LQ NHHSLQJ ZLWK :RUOG Archery’s growing preference for memorable or unusual event locations but for de la Vega, it has a couple of DGGLWLRQDO EHQHĂ€WV )LUVWO\ LW PDNHV WKH sport accessible for the city’s young population. Secondly, it makes the city accessible to audiences around the world.

South of the border: the NFL in Mexico

I

t is often overlooked amid its ongoing colonisation of a corner of QRUWK ZHVW /RQGRQ EXW WKH 1DWLRQDO )RRWEDOO /HDJXH¡V 1)/ Ă€UVW PRGHUQ DWWHPSWV DW JOREDO H[SDQVLRQ were made across the border, rather WKDQ WKH $WODQWLF 2Q QG 2FWREHU 0H[LFR &LW\¡V (VWDGLR $]WHFD ZDV WKH VHWWLQJ IRU WKH Ă€UVW 1)/ UHJXODU season game played outside the US – a ZLQ IRU WKH $UL]RQD &DUGLQDOV over the San Francisco 49ers. ´0H[LFR LV WKH VHFRQG ODUJHVW fanbase behind the US,â€? reveals $UWXUR 2OLYp WKH PDQDJLQJ GLUHFWRU RI 1)/ 0H[LFR ´:H KDYH D YHU\ ODUJH SHUFHQWDJH RI FDVXDO IDQV ,Q WHUPV RI avid fans we may be on a par with the 8. DQG &DQDGD EXW ZKHQ ZH DGG WKH casual fans – three out of four fans LQ 0H[LFR DUH VWLOO DW WKH FDVXDO OHYHO which means they do not engage with us with such avidity as the other 25 SHU FHQW 7KH\ UHDFK RXW DURXQG WKH 6XSHU %RZO WKH\ UHDFK RXW DURXQG WKH play-offs and try to connect in those moments. ´%XW ZKDW ZH KDYH GRQH LV ZH KDYH ZRUNHG RQ EULQJLQJ WKH 1)/ as a season-long opportunity of connection to those fans, and it has shown that it’s growing. We’re growing in all demographics: kids, adults, females. And, oddly, American football LV D VSRUW WKDW¡V EHHQ SOD\HG LQ 0H[LFR IRU RYHU \HDUV VR LW¡V QRW WKDW LW¡V WKDW QHZ WR WKH SHRSOH DQG WKH 1)/ KDV EHHQ EURDGFDVW IRU RYHU 7KHUH is knowledge of the game, the sport, the league and the teams.â€?

´7KLV NLQG RI VWXII KDV D SRVLWLYH impact directly for the children, and has a positive impact not only for the sports in 0H[LFR &LW\ EXW DOVR IRU WKH KLVWRULF SDUWV RI 0H[LFR DV D FRXQWU\ ¾ GH OD 9HJD VD\V ´,I ZH LQFOXGH DQ HYHQW LQ WKH 3DVHR GH OD 5HIRUPD E\ 7KH $QJHO RI ,QGHSHQGHQFH RU LQ WKH PDLQ SOD]D RI =yFDOR RU LQ WKH different historical venues that we have not RQO\ IRU VSRUW EXW IRU KLVWRU\ LQ 0H[LFR DQG we do it in these kind of places, we actually FDQ UHà HFW GLIIHUHQW VLGHV RU GLIIHUHQW DQJOHV for the people who are watching the events RQ 79 RU GLIIHUHQW PHGLD ¾

The Arizona Cardinals’ Robert GrifďŹ th in 2005

2OLYp¡V RIĂ€FHV DUH EDVHG LQ 0H[LFR &LW\ ZKLOH KH LV DOVR SDUW RI D FURVV border group working out of New <RUN ´2XU IRFXV KDV EHHQ DV DQ RIĂ€FH RQ 0H[LFR DQG WKH 0H[LFDQ WHUULWRU\ Âľ he notes, “but there are learnings we have shared, there are opportunities ZLWK 0H[LFDQ VSRQVRUV WKDW KDYH activities in the US and in other parts of the world.â€? ,Q UHFHQW \HDUV WKHUH KDV EHHQ D FOHDU WDUJHWLQJ RI ERWK WKH /DWLQR FRPPXQLW\ LQ WKH 86 DQG WKH 0H[LFDQ SRSXODWLRQ ZDWFKLQJ RQ 79 ² ZLWK Âś1)/ )~WERO $PHULFDQR¡ PDUNLQJV DSSHDULQJ RQ WKH Ă€HOG GXULQJ JDPHV LQ +RZHYHU ZKLOH WKHUH DUH thought to be “around four million >DYLG IDQV@ RXW RI D PLOOLRQ 7KH PHVVDJH WKHQ LV WKDW 0H[LFR &LW\ is open for business. With that in mind, 2OLYp KDV VRPH Ă€UP DGYLFH IRU IRUHLJQ companies looking to capitalise. ´(LWKHU JHW D ORFDO RU EH DGYLVHG E\ locals,â€? he says, “people that have known and have been here for many years and who know how to be with the media networks, how to be with the sponsors, with the different entities that are part of the programme; how to approach our UHWDLO SDUWQHUV LQ WKH ULJKW ZD\ , PHDQ VL[ \HDUV DJR ZH KDG WKH SUHVHQFH RI 1)/ SURGXFWV LQ PD\EH VWRUHV QDWLRQZLGH

IDQEDVHÂľ LQ WKH FRXQWU\ WKH H[SHULPHQW LV \HW WR EH UHSHDWHG ´, WKLQN LW¡V DQ RQJRLQJ OHDUQLQJ SURFHVV Âľ VD\V 2OLYp ´, WKLQN WKDW there are many things that the league has and continues to learn from /RQGRQ $V \RX VD\ LW¡V D GLIIHUHQW market when you look at it from the economic standpoint compared WR 0H[LFR %XW WKHUH DUH DOVR PDQ\ similarities. ´, WKLQN WKDW RQH NH\ GLIIHUHQFH EHWZHHQ WKH /RQGRQ PDUNHW DQG WKH 0H[LFR &LW\ PDUNHW LV WKH VWDGLXP LQIUDVWUXFWXUH , WKLQN WKDW WKH IDFW WKDW the league was able to capitalise on the opportunity of the new Wembley puts us on a thinking frequency of: we need WR DLP IRU WKH VDPH WKLQJ LQ 0H[LFR 0H[LFR &LW\ KDV WZR ODUJH HQRXJK stadiums to host games like these but RQH LV JRLQJ WR EH \HDUV ROG LQ D couple of years and the other one was WZR \HDUV DJR Âľ 7KDW VDLG DV D /RQGRQ IUDQFKLVH drifts gently from possibility to inevitability, there are now renewed discussions about a return of FRPSHWLWLYH DFWLRQ WR 0H[LFR ´7KHUH¡V no date on that, there’s no teams on that, there’s no venue on that but there’s the work being done by us DW WKH GHVN OHYHO Âľ 2OLYp FRQĂ€UPV “We’re analysing, evaluating, sharing information, learning from what’s KDSSHQLQJ LQ /RQGRQ DQG , WKLQN WKDW our aim right now should be what we need to do to bring one yearly game to 0H[LFR $QG IURP WKHUH JURZ LQWR WKH SURFHVV OLNH /RQGRQ KDV GRQH Âľ and we started this season with over VWRUHV FDUU\LQJ 1)/ SURGXFWV “So how can you get that local knowledge to get that sense of what QHHGV WR EH GRQH" %HFDXVH WKH VROXWLRQV that apply in the US, or the UK or &DQDGD RU &KLQD GR QRW QHFHVVDULO\ DSSO\ WR 0H[LFR DQG YLFH YHUVD Âľ 7KHVH SHFXOLDULWLHV FDQ HYHQ DIIHFW D EUDQG WKH VL]H RI 1LNH :KLOH LW KDV D per cent share of the local market, the sportswear giant still has a minor image problem. “Nowadays, kids feel like Nike LV DQ $PHULFDQ OLYLQJ LQ 0H[LFR Âľ H[SODLQV

The Destinations Report 2015 | 67

Destinations Report 2015 Central and South America

Mexico City mayor Miguel Ă ngel Mancera and CIE president Alejandro Soberon listen to a talk by Mexico’s secretary of tourism Claudia Ruiz Massieu as Formula One’s return is conďŹ rmed in 2014

%DUQDUG ZKR DOVR QRWHV WKH FRPSDQ\¡V UHODWLYH GLIĂ€FXOW\ LQ FXWWLQJ WKURXJK WR /DWLQR \RXQJVWHUV LQ WKH 86 6HOOLQJ LQ 0H[LFR SUHVHQWV VRPH unusual challenges for Nike. For one thing, the target consumer skews slightly older – up to 21 from the US demographic of 16 to 19. For another, 0H[LFR ODFNV WKH NLQG RI VSRUWLQJ superstars that inspire Nike’s marketing elsewhere and those it does have do not HQMR\ WKH VDPH VWDWXV LQ SRS FXOWXUH DV WKHLU FRXQWHUSDUWV HOVHZKHUH ´7KH\¡UH QRW RQO\ VWDUV RQ WKH FRXUW >LQ WKH 86@ but they also are a reference for a trend RU IDVKLRQ Âľ VD\V %DUQDUG ´'RZQ KHUH LW doesn’t happen that way.â€? %DUQDUG ZKR VSRUWV KDQGPDGH traditional bracelets with his suit and Nike trainers, thinks the solution is to Ă€QG DQ LGHQWLW\ WKDW LV DW RQFH WUXH WR WKH FRPSDQ\ DQG DXWKHQWLFDOO\ 0H[LFDQ Wieden & Kennedy, Nike’s long-time advertising partner, has already conducted research on how the company’s DVSLUDWLRQDO WDNH RQ VSRUW DQG Ă€WQHVV FDQ work in the country. ´:KDW GRHV Âś-XVW 'R ,W¡ PHDQ IURP WKH 0H[LFDQ DQJOH Âľ DVNV %DUQDUG ´IRU WKH 0H[LFDQ DWKOHWH"Âľ 7KH IUXLWV RI WKDW ODERXU ZLOO EH HYLGHQW LQ ZKHQ 1LNH SXVKHV WKH button on a new campaign and dedicated product lines, inspired in part by releases LQ %UD]LO DKHDG RI WKH )LID :RUOG &XS %DUQDUG EHOLHYHV WKDW VSRUW LV DW

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´DQ LQĂ HFWLRQ SRLQWÂľ LQ 0H[LFR WLHG LQWR SROLWLFDO DQG VRFLDO FRQVFLRXVQHVV 7KDW said, Nike’s reasons for stimulating it have their pragmatic roots as well. ´,I ZH JLYH PRUH DFFHVV WR VSRUW WR PRUH SHRSOH Âľ VD\V %DUQDUG ´ZH¡OO KDYH PRUH potential consumers for our products. Nike 0H[LFR DW OHDVW KDV WKDW PLVVLRQ :H ZDQW WR PRYH 0H[LFR :H ZDQW WR SXW VSRUWV closer to the young consumer and make it part of their lifestyle.â€? All of this ties into the public strategy to grow participation but for the 0H[LFDQ DXWKRULWLHV WKH ULVH RI VSRUW KDV RWKHU EHQHĂ€WV :KLOH JURZWK KDV RFFDVLRQDOO\ EHHQ VWXEERUQ 0H[LFR¡V economy is now the 14th largest in the ZRUOG DQG VLWV DORQJVLGH ,QGRQHVLD 1LJHULD DQG 7XUNH\ LQ WKH Âś0LQW¡ FRXQWULHV LGHQWLĂ€HG E\ HFRQRPLVW -LP 2¡1HLOO ² RI %5,& IDPH ² DV UHVSRQVLEOH IRU WKH QH[W ZDYH RI JOREDO HFRQRPLF GHYHORSPHQW 3UHVLGHQW (QULTXH 3HxD

Club AmĂŠrica are a major asset for Nike Mexico

1LHWR EHJDQ D VL[ \HDU WHUP RQ D UHIRUP SODWIRUP LQ WKH QDWLRQ KDV VORZO\ begun to modernise in recent decades. Yet the popular perception, not least internationally, is coloured by reports RI YLROHQFH DQG LQVWDELOLW\ 0H[LFR &LW\ has been the site of repeated protests in recent months about the apparent failure RI IHGHUDO RIĂ€FLDOV WR DFW RYHU WKH PDVV kidnapping – and probable murder – of VWXGHQW WHDFKHUV LQ ,JXDOD RQ WK 6HSWHPEHU 7KH DVVDLODQWV DUH EHOLHYHG WR have been aided by corrupt local police DQG RIĂ€FLDOV Such stories understandably appal but WKHUH LV DQRWKHU VLGH WR PRGHUQ 0H[LFDQ life that de la Vega believes is greatly underrepresented. ´, WKLQN LW¡V KXJH EHFDXVH EDG QHZV travels alone and all the media can get it ULJKW DZD\ Âľ KH VD\V ´7KDW¡V WKH HDV\ SDUW , WKLQN 7KH GLIĂ€FXOW SDUW LV WR EXLOG ELJJHU stories, important stories, positive stories. /HW PH WHOO \RX ZH KDYH PXFK PRUH SRVLWLYH VWRULHV WKDQ EDG VWRULHV LQ 0H[LFR 7KH GLIĂ€FXOW WKLQJ LV KRZ WR DSSURDFK WKH media and communicate in the right way so that people can actually understand ZKDW LV UHDOO\ JRLQJ RQ RU QRW %XW , WKLQN that happens all around the world.â€? Sport, he proposes, can play a part in SURMHFWLQJ WKDW RWKHU LPDJH DURXQG WKH ZRUOG ´7KH ZD\ WKDW ZH FDQ DFWXDOO\ SXVK information,â€? he adds, “and give the right information and communication for the media and deliver this kind of input for the people is the way that sports can have a very important leverage for the image of the country and for sure for the city.â€? $V DQ LQGXVWU\ 0H[LFDQ VSRUW undoubtedly lacks the depth and wealth of the market in its neighbour to the north DQG LQ (XURSH EXW WKHUH LV HYLGHQFH RI growing sophistication at the top and bottom ends. Yousport is a crowdfunding initiative with a plan to “democratise VSRUWÂľ LQ WKH FRXQWU\ ,W KDV UDLVHG PRQH\ IRU RYHU SURMHFWV LQFOXGLQJ VHQGLQJ D Wahaca-based youth basketball team to a global championships after doubling the initial target. ´7KHUH DUH D ORW RI SHRSOH KHUH DQG the industry can be growing constantly EHFDXVH RI WKLV Âľ DUJXHV GH OD 9HJD ´, think in terms of big events, we have F1, ZH KDYH 1%$ PDWFKHV 8)& ZH¡UH WU\LQJ WR PDNH QHJRWLDWLRQV ZLWK 1)/ LQ RUGHU WR KDYH D FRXSOH RI JDPHV KHUH %HVLGHV the United States the most important

Destinations Report 2015 Central and South America

South of the border: the NFL in Mexico

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hough its Grand Prix has been off the calendar since 1992, 0H[LFR¡V Ă LUWDWLRQ ZLWK )RUPXOD One has been burgeoning for several years. Mexican sponsorship PRQH\ KDV Ă RZHG LQWR WKH VSRUW LQ recent years, most notably from Carlos Slim’s Telmex conglomerate and most QRWDEO\ WR WHDPV Ă€HOGLQJ 0H[LFDQ GULYHU Sergio Perez, currently of Force India. In July 2014, the return of a Mexican stage to the championship ZDV FRQĂ€UPHG DIWHU D GHDO EHWZHHQ local authorities, Formula One and event promoter CIE. For Mexico City director of sport Horacio de la Vega, it represents an international promotional opportunity to match anything outside the Fifa World Cup or Olympic Games. “We need to do it well for sure,â€? he says, “because you do not only have to handle this the right way and to have a good and positive result, but you’re going to compare it with Abu Dhabi, with Monaco or Monza or Silverstone or Austin, Texas. There are very important cities that actually are hosting these Formula One circuits, and for us I think the Grand Prix is going to be for sure the most important event

country in the world for the NFL in terms of spectators and fans is Mexico. And we’re trying to have negotiations as well with the NHL, and lots of things.â€? Buoyed by World Archery’s experiences, Dielen believes “the potential is thereâ€? for Mexico City to return as a contender to host the Olympic Games, not least if December’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) reforms deliver on their promise of JUHDWHU Ă H[LELOLW\ ,I WKH FDSLWDO FDQ EXLOG on its recent successes, he suggests that “at a certain moment it will be obvious that they should be bidding for the Games in the futureâ€?. But de la Vega is less convinced. “I think once the IOC and the leaders of ZRUOG VSRUW FDQ DFWXDOO\ Ă€JXUH RXW KRZ to bring down these investments that are needed to host these events, then we can have a discussion about whether Mexico City has a chance to make this happen,â€? he says. “Not as it’s going right now.â€?

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Fernando Alonso shows off the track layout

that we’re going to have in 2015 – and potentially through the years because WKH FRQWUDFW ZH VLJQHG LV IRU Ă€YH \HDUV from ’15 through to ’19.â€? The Mexican Grand Prix will be back in November at the circuit which held the last edition of the race just under 23 years ago. The infamously bumpy track at the AutĂłdromo Hermanos RodrĂ­guez has not lain dormant in the years since Formula One last juddered out of town, hosting races in the Nascar, the A1 Grand Prix and other series in the last decade. It is, however, being comprehensively revamped, with pit and spectator facilities brought up to Formula One standards and the circuit layout made safer for modern racing. “It’s huge work,â€? de la Vega admits, “but actually the governor appointed De la Vega makes the comparison between the requirements for a megaevent like the Olympics and the local version run for young Mexicans. “We have 22,000 athletes competing at each event,â€? he reveals, “and it costs probably US$1 million or US$2 million at most.â€? It is clear for the moment that those smaller, targeted investments are a better match for his priorities. “In terms of these problems like obesity and sedentarism, one of the things that I would be very happy to accomplish is that you can change a little bit of the slope,â€? he says of any potential legacy he might have in his role. “Right now, it’s going crazy and we’re investing a lot of money and in the future – in ten years or 15 years, not just right now – it’s going to be worse. So this is going to be one of the most important parts. On the other side, I think we want to invest the money to improve the form of the facilities, make sure the people feel safe to use them.â€?

me as a spokesperson and I’m trying to make the linkage between the federal government and all the different providers. You have a deadline: on 1st August we have to deliver the project to the FIA and to Formula One, we need to get it to comply.â€? Within the sport, there is guarded optimism about Mexico City’s reappearance. Recent additions to the Formula One calendar have had mixed results: Singapore and Abu Dhabi have provided memorable settings but events at venues like Shanghai and, in particular, the Korea International Circuit in unheralded Yeongam have proved more anodyne. The AutĂłdromo Hermanos RodrĂ­guez is in an enviable downtown location, a short drive from the airport at the heart of the city’s sporting redevelopment project. All being well, all parties will be hoping to make the most of the opportunity. “Formula One is more of a sports tourism approach,â€? explains de la Vega. “We’re pretty focused on that part as well because we’re trying to generate jobs and have a positive economic impact with these kind of big events.â€? Mexico is a country on the verge, forever poised between a chaotic past and a potential future as a global force. For Barnard, creating a sporting culture could KHOS WR Ă€QDOO\ LQVSLUH D EUHDNWKURXJK “There’s no reward for success or for being the best,â€? he says. “Sometimes, we don’t have that competitive spirit in a positive way, in the same way. It sounds hard but it’s the truth. That’s why we always get fourth place, you know, that fourthplace mentality – a mediocre mentality. It’s changing with this new generation but it’s something culturally that you can sense in many other realms, not only sports. “It’s like we’re still suffering from this mentality that was forged after the Spanish conquests. It sounds stupid but it’s part of who we are. It’s part of who we are, so we need to break this mould that we’ve made of how we look at ourselves as Mexicans and look into the future. “I think that’s the next step. That’s what we’re trying to do.â€?

Jade Jones, GB Taekwondo, Olympic Champion Women’s 57kg Shot taken at Albert Hall Manchester

World-class venues for sport and culture, and an incredible sporting history.

To bring your event to Manchester, contact sportsevents@manchester.gov.uk

PUBLIC SPORT POLICIES: HORACIO DE LA VEGA’S VIEW

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exico City is a great sporting capital strengthened by the fact that it hosted the 1968 Olympic Games. It is ranked as one of the best destinations in the world and continues to invest in building the necessary infrastructure to welcome major international events. There is also a strong partnership between the public and the private sectors. In the current administration the public sports policy is based upon four strategies: Social Sport, Infrastructure, Sport Events and High Performance Sports. Social Sport: Mexico City accounts for a population of nine million residents and nine million people commuting every day from the metropolitan area. There are two main problems affecting its inhabitants: obesity and sedentarism. Thus, we need to GLUHFW GLIIHUHQW VWUDWHJLHV WKDW ZLOO EHQHÀW everyone: children, youngsters, senior citizens, people with disabilities, etc. We must implement programmes and physical activities around the city on a daily basis, in order to respond to the public demand. For example we have yoga classes every Sunday for more than 10,000 people, while bike riders stroll through the city’s most iconic avenues – an average of 80,000 bicycle riders of all age groups. More than 600 urban gyms are also being set in different sites, a number which will reach 1,800 in 2018. High Performance: We are shaping a team comprised of the best athletes, highly competitive and geared with state of the art equipment, allowing them to compete in national and international

HYHQWV :H DUH ZRUNLQJ KDUG WR DWWDLQ ÀUVW places within the national rankings. Infrastructure: My standpoint is to recover and improve sport facilities. The government of the city has undergone an unprecedented modernisation scheme by renovating public sporting spaces to enable its population to have the possibility of practicing different disciplines. One of the priorities is to rebuild the “Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhiuca”, which covers more than 220 hectares. It is the largest sports facility in the country. Ciudad Deportiva, outstanding as it is, will be the venue of Formula One in November this year. Also, soon there will be a baseball stadium for the professional team Diablos Rojos de México. More is to come in the near future. These ventures represent the beginning of one of the most relevant sports projects, intended to create a world class sport site for the general public. Sport Events: A great deal of time, effort and expenses are set in the promotion of nearly 380 sports events that take place in Mexico City annually, most of them in association with the private sector. These ZLOO DFFRPSOLVK HIÀFLHQF\ DQG TXDOLW\ Additionally, agreements have been signed with the NFL, NBA, MLB, CMB, UFC, WBC, World Archery, Paralympic Committee, the Mexican Soccer Federation and others to convey the best sports entertainment events. 0H[LFR &LW\ KDV D À[HG FDOHQGDU of international events. Amongst the highlights is the Mexico City Marathon,

which has 30,000 runners for the 2015 edition. A huge increase in the amount of runners is expected for forthcoming editions - up to 40,000 - with the prospect of being among the top 10 major marathons of the world. In 2014, Mexico City hosted more than 30 major sports events. And for this year, there are more on the way, like the 2015 Archery World Cup Final, featuring the ÀQHVW DUFKHU\ DWKOHWHV RI WKH ZRUOG WKH :RUOG $UFKHU\ &KDPSLRQVKLSV 7DH .ZRQ 'R *UDQG 3UL[ )LQDO 3RZHUOLIWLQJ 3DUDO\PSLF &KDPSLRQVKLS and, after more than two decades, Formula One is returning to Mexico City. Without question, Formula One VLJQLÀFDQWO\ ERRVWV 0H[LFR &LW\·V project of hosting the highest level of sports events. It is expected to create 18,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly, and generate revenues of US$398 million per year. It will reach more than 520 million TV viewers. As a result, Mexico City is one of the most prestigious destinations in the world, alongside Barcelona, Montreal, Monaco, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. I think that harnessing innovation in public sports policies, is the key to success. Innovation is not only about mere technology, it is about seeking the means to change paradigms with imagination and to repeat best practices to propel the potential of sport and recreation among the general population: real innovation relies on devising public SROLFLHV WR WKH EHQHÀW RI DOO Horacio de la Vega Flores MBA, Mexico City Sports Institute, General Director.

The Destinations Report 2015 | 73

Destinations Report 2015 North America

NORTH AMERICA

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hile the Pan-American Games and Women’s World Cup undoubtedly make this a standout major event year for Canada, the next mega-event which could be staged in North America will not be for at least nine years. By 2024, it will have been 14 years since Vancouver hosted the winter Olympic Games and fully 28 since the summer Olympics were last staged in the United States of America. The United States Olympic Committee has worked tirelessly to repair relations with the global Olympic movement, following the wake-up call of failed bids to stage the summer Games from New York and Chicago. It has worked itself into a position where it feels a bid could be at

worst competitive and at best a winner, VHOHFWLQJ %RVWRQ LQ -DQXDU\ IURP D ÀHOG of four domestic bidders. Boston’s plan, which includes a proposal for 28 of 33 Olympic venues to be located within a 10km radius split over two clusters, waterfront and university, saw off challenges from Los Angeles, Washington DC and San Francisco. Richard Davey, a former secretary of transportation for Massachusetts, has been hired to lead Boston’s bid, which will see it pitched into competition with Rome, either Hamburg or Berlin, and other possible bidders including Paris, Doha and Baku. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has adopted a new invitation phase to its bidding process, will not decide where the

Games will be staged until 2017. “We couldn’t be more excited about the partnership we’ve established with the leadership team in Boston,â€? said USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun, who, along with chairman Larry Probst, has been working the Olympic corridors of power to make a US bid viable once again. “This bid uniquely combines an exciting, athlete-focused concept for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games with Boston’s existing long-term vision.â€? &RQĂ€UPDWLRQ RI %RVWRQ¡V FDQGLGDF\ however, swiftly mobilised opponents of the bid. A group called No Boston Olympics indicated late in January that it would be calling for a city or state-wide referendum, citing the likely costs involved in bidding for and staging the Games.

The Sports Consultancy: an expanded offering

“

2014 was our most successful year, in all parts of the business,â€? reports Robert Datnow, comanaging director of The Sports Consultancy, the London-based company which delivers business solutions in sport to brands, host cities, rights-holders and venues. “We continue our growth trajectory, which has always remained at 30 to 40 per cent per annum. We have taken on major new clients, we have won repeat work from existing clients, broadened our work with existing clients, and expanded our offering.â€? Datnow adds: “We’ve won new work for Volvo Ocean Race in terms of the next cycles of bidding, we’ve taken forward our work with the Isle of Man and FIBA and we’ve been working with the FEI [world equestrian’s governing body] on a number of major projects. We have also been developing and selling RXU RZQ HYHQWV IRU WKH Ă€UVW WLPH Âľ In February, The Sports Consultancy appointed Marc Hope to head up a new sponsorship division, which will be built up around him in the coming months. “It complements other areas

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Robert Datnow and Angus Buchanan, co-founders and co-managing directors of The Sports Consultancy, which has expanded its offering and continued its strong growth

of the business, particularly our rightsholder business,� says Datnow. “We are excited to have started to work strategically on sponsorship offerings for our rights-holder and

federation clients using our established research, return on investment and insight-led approach. We are growing our consulting offering, our integrated legal offering and our city consultancy.�

WHAT TO WATCH FOR? -

Boston 2024 and the USOC’s relationship with the wider Olympic world

-

Toronto’s staging of the 2015 PanAmerican Games

-

Women’s World Cup, coming to Canada this summer

MARKETS TO WATCH? Boston

The Destinations Report 2015 | 75

Destinations Report 2015 North America

SILICON VALLEY’S LATEST START-UP By Ian McPherson. Photographs by Tom Kubik originally published in the December/January 2015 edition of SportsPro The San Francisco 49ers’ new home in Santa Clara is one of the most technologically advanced sporting facilities in the world, but its opening months have been plagued by a series of teething problems. Chief operating officer Al Guido explains how he plans to rectify those early hiccups and why Levi’s Stadium has already proved to be a goldmine.

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W

hen you boil it down to its constituent parts, football is a numbers game: yards, WDFNOHV Ă€UVW GRZQV DQG touchdowns. So too is the business of IRRWEDOO DQG ZKHQ LW FRPHV WR RII Ă€HOG numbers, the San Francisco 49ers have Ă€QDOO\ PDGH LW WR WKH ELJ OHDJXHV 7KHLU new US$1.3 billion Levi’s Stadium in 6DQWD &ODUD ZKLFK ZDV RIĂ€FLDOO\ RSHQHG by National Football League’s (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell in July 2014, is the younger, more attractive replacement for their outdated former home, Candlestick Park. And making the move south has done wonders for the WHDP¡V Ă€JXUHV

Levi’s Stadium’s 176 suites, for instance, have already guaranteed the team over US$400 million in revenue, while sponsorship sales, including jeans manufacturer Levi’s US$220 million naming rights deal, have generated closer to US$500 million. Meanwhile, the stadium builder’s licence (SBL) campaign, which applies to every seat in the 68,500-capacity arena and gives the owner the right to buy a season ticket, has raised some US$530 million. All in all, the 49ers’ sales staff have come up trumps and, XQVXUSULVLQJO\ FKLHI RSHUDWLQJ RIĂ€FHU $O Guido is feeling good. “We were in the bottom tier of revenues in the NFL at Candlestick Park,â€?

says Guido during an interview at Levi’s Stadium in early October, sitting on a red Ă LS GRZQ VHDW LQ WKH ORZHU ERZO ´$ ORW of that was due to the venue. Our team ZDV SHUIRUPLQJ SUHWW\ ZHOO RQ WKH Ă€HOG ZH¡YH ZRQ Ă€YH 6XSHU %RZO WURSKLHV 6R when I’d tell that to people they used to be surprised. “But when you’re playing in the oldest non-renovated stadium in the NFL that was built for baseball it didn’t lend itself to a fantastic experience in the seats. We didn’t have any club spaces, we only had 80 suites, some of them were pretty small, the sponsorship opportunities were limited based off the footprint and the OD\RXW RI WKH VWDGLXP 7KLV REYLRXVO\

San Francisco 49ers chief operating ofďŹ cer Al Guido, pictured on the halfway line at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Friday 10th October

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Naming rights sponsor Levi’s has extensive branding throughout the stadium; fans can enjoy a loftier view from the venue’s open rooftop suite

gave us the opportunity to change the game from a revenue perspective. We have 9,000 club seats in this stadium. It’s just a different ballgame. We feel really good about our revenues, we’ll be in the top tier of NFL teams now in the three big buckets: sponsorships, suites and tickets.â€? Sales and marketing are Guido’s bread and butter having spent a large chunk of his career selling suites and seats in major league football, basketball and ice hockey. He joined the 49ers’ executive team as part of an early 2014 front RIĂ€FH UHVKXIĂ H ZKLFK VDZ IRUPHU FKLHI RSHUDWLQJ RIĂ€FHU 3DUDDJ 0DUDWKH VWHS up to replace the outgoing Gideon Yu as president. Guido had, however, already spent four years working closely with the 49ers, their chief executive Jed York and the Santa Clara Stadium Authority in his former role as senior vice president of global sales for New York-headquartered sports, entertainment and media company Legends. He admits the whole process has been a whirlwind, especially given the fact his remit is now far wider than it once was. Among the numerous ‘key business initiatives’ which now fall under his jurisdiction, Guido is charged with overseeing the fan experience at the venue – and for anyone who has followed the stadium’s early history, that has been a contentious issue. ´7KHUH KDYH FHUWDLQO\ EHHQ VRPH bumps along the way that I think we knew we were going to have,â€? admits *XLGR ´7UDIĂ€F DQG SDUNLQJ KDV SUREDEO\ been the biggest concern that we’ve had

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IURP IDQV 7KDW LV MXVW D OHDUQLQJ FXUYH We have moved 49 miles south of where we were before, we have infrastructure that’s very different from what we had at Candlestick Park. We’re mainly dealing with city streets as opposed to being off the beaten path. We have the City of Santa Clara which has never really run a major event, unlike the city of San Francisco which has the Giants, the PXVHXPV WKH WKHDWUHV GRZQ WKHUH 7KH\ were very used to large scale events and the City of Santa Clara didn’t have that.â€? 7UDIĂ€F RQ VXUURXQGLQJ URDGV DQG congestion in parking lots has certainly EHHQ RQH RI WKH PRVW VLJQLĂ€FDQW allegations on the stadium’s rap sheet so far. Horror stories emerged after events such as the friendly soccer game between Mexico and Chile in September of fans having to wait two hours to just get out RI WKH VWDGLXP JURXQGV 7KDW *XLGR says, was cause for concern at the time, but the 49ers have been working tirelessly to right those wrongs. “It’s one thing when you’re out there talking about a new building with new infrastructure, everyone gets really excited about the things that are going to change,â€? he says. “Ultimately if you HQFRXQWHU WUDIĂ€F DQG WUDQVSRUWDWLRQ [problems] it’s almost as if sometimes the expectations of the folks was, ‘I’m not JRLQJ WR KDYH DQ\ WUDIĂ€F¡ :HOO WKHUH DUH still 70,000 people coming. I think a lot of it is managing folks’ expectations. “We have 25,000 parking stalls compared to 18,000 at Candlestick Park. We have two forms of public transit compared to zero at Candlestick. We felt

fantastic about the infrastructure itself. What we needed to work on was the operational plan. You can write down plans on a piece of paper, you can draw it all out on a blueprint, but until you see the fan behaviour of 70,000 people it’s very hard to get right. I think what you’ve seen us do is make quick changes, to the SRLQW ZKHUH RXU Ă€UVW JDPH DJDLQVW WKH Chicago Bears we had a parking lot that exited in over two hours. We averaged PLQXWHV DW RXU ODVW JDPH 7KDW¡V D massive jump within a short period of WLPH 7KDW¡V MXVW DOO XV OHDUQLQJ RXU IDQ behaviour; what our fan interaction with the place is going to be.â€? $VLGH IURP WKH WUDIĂ€F FRQFHUQV WKHUH was also early trouble with the turf at the stadium, which Guido admits nobody VDZ FRPLQJ ´$V IDU DV WKH Ă€HOG LWVHOI that’s not something that we didn’t focus on per se, it was just a hiccup in the fact that the sand-soil base mix on the bottom MXVW GLGQ¡W WDNH 7KHUH¡V QR TXHVWLRQ WKH grass situation was something we didn’t think we were going to encounter. Did we think we were going to encounter WUDIĂ€F" <HV 'LG ZH WKLQN ZH ZHUH JRLQJ WR KDYH OHDUQLQJ FXUYHV DURXQG WKDW" <HV Did we think we were going to encounter folks still learning the building and all the UXOHV" :H NQHZ WKDW (YHU\ QHZ YHQXH has that.â€? 7KHUH KDYH DOVR EHHQ LQVWDQFHV RI IDQV enduring excessive heat during games, particularly if their seats were in direct sunlight. In fact during some afternoon games in August, September and October large numbers of fans visibly opted to seek shade on the concourses rather

Top-end hospitality in rooms like the Yahoo Fantasy Football Lounge is blended with environmental features, such as the 27,000 square foot ‘Green Roof’

than watch the game, leaving substantial EORFNV RI VHDWV HPSW\ 7KDW DJDLQ LV VRPHWKLQJ WKH HUV¡ IURQW RIĂ€FH are looking to remedy. “We knew the South Bay was going to be warmer than Candlestick Park and I think our fans knew that, too. Ultimately we had a very warm day in October that you probably don’t anticipate but we had 90,000 water bottles on site, Pepsi donated 15,000 water bottles that we were giving out at the gates. We’ve looked into things in the future such as misters and the like if it starts to get that hot. “We need to partner with the people at the stadium, we need to partner

with the city to make sure people are hydrated, make sure people are wearing appropriate attire, we need to make sure the concourses stay nice and shady so \RX FDQ JHW RXW RI WKDW ZHDWKHU 7KHUH¡V just a good education piece. But we’re not going to put a roof on the stadium, it’s not going to be a dome facility. We have fantastic weather in the Bay Area but we do anticipate those games early in the season to be a little bit warm. “What I would ask people is to be a little bit patient. We’re going to make mistakes. We’ve been planning this for Ă€YH \HDUV WKLQJV DUH JRLQJ WR KDSSHQ WKDW aren’t going to be perfect. Did we know

The 68,500-seater Levi’s Stadium is a better ďŹ t for football than the 49ers’ old home, Candlestick Park

DERXW KHDW" <HV 'R ZH IHHO OLNH ZH¡YH built areas that are very shady and did ZH KDYH ZDWHU RQ KDQG" <HV ZH GLG %XW there’s no question that we’ve got to do a better job.â€? Although there have been complications along the way, the stadium remains a remarkable feat of 21st Century engineering. And once the shortterm teething problems have faded and operations start running smoothly, 49ers fans are set to enjoy one of the most sophisticated game day experiences in the NFL. Unprecedented mobile technology inside the stadium will give fans constant access to information and game replays, plus they will be able to order food and beverages direct to their seat. It is just another example of a team striving to improve their in-stadium experience to ensure fans resist the temptation to stay at home and watch the game on television. When asked how exactly the 49ers convince their fans to leave the comfort of their ‘man caves’ and buy tickets, Guido is direct: “It’s the biggest challenge in professional sports, there’s no question. I think what we do here is we really attack the at-home television experience. We didn’t shy away from it, we didn’t try to create things that were totally 180. We said, ‘What are the EHVW SDUWV RI EHLQJ DW KRPH"¡ ,W¡V WKH convenience of sitting on your couch and getting as many replays and as much content as you possibly can. It’s the convenience of being able to deliver a pizza to your house or get up and walk to your fridge. It’s the convenience of

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Guido was brought in primarily to sell suites and seats but his remit has since expanded considerably

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being able to use your phone to text your friends about the game. “It starts immediately with, ‘Can I use P\ SKRQH"¡ ,Q WKLV GD\ DQG DJH LI \RX tell fans they’re going to be disconnected from the world for six hours, they’re JRLQJ WR VWRS FRPLQJ 7KDW¡V QRW JRLQJ WR FRQWLQXH 7KH FRQYHQLHQFH RI IRRG and beverage: could you get a drink GHOLYHUHG WR \RXU VHDW" :HOO RWKHU WHDPV do it in just their club areas; we said ZK\ FDQ¡W ZH GR LW IRU HYHU\ERG\ HOVH" It’s both a technological challenge and a business operations challenge, and we’re committed to delivering over 400 runners. We delivered food and beverage last game in an average of eight minutes to your seat. Do you get a pizza to your house in HLJKW PLQXWHV"Âľ Food and beverage is nice, but content is king and the 49ers – who are now nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley, perhaps the most forward-thinking technology hub in America – are well DZDUH RI WKDW IDFW 7KH IUDQFKLVH QRZ employs a dedicated content team equipped with 12 cameras which continuously circles the stadium. As such, fans using the in-house application in their seat have access to replays from four GLIIHUHQW DQJOHV ZLWKLQ Ă€YH VHFRQGV DIWHU the play. For Guido, it’s all about leveling WKH SOD\LQJ Ă€HOG ´, RIWHQ VD\ Âś:K\ do the people at home for a National Basketball Association (NBA) game get to watch one of the coaches do an interview at the end of the third quarter but the fans who have paid all their hard earned money to sit in the arena don’t JHW WKDW"¡ 7KDW GRHVQ¡W PDNH DQ\ VHQVH to me. We have the advantage of having access to the team, to the coaches, the fans, and we can deliver that content to people on their phones and have it be somewhat personalised off what they like. It’s changed the game a little bit. I

A 49ers fan welcomes a new era in Santa Clara ahead of September’s game against the Chicago Bears

think we’ve done a good job to date and it’ll only get better.â€? 7KHUH LV D Ă€QH OLQH WR EH GUDZQ however, between engagement and distraction, and the 49ers are keen IRU WKHLU IDQV WR ZDWFK WKH JDPH Ă€UVW and foremost, with the supplementary WHFKQRORJ\ SHUNV FRPLQJ VHFRQG ´7KH way that we look at it is that’s the hero feature,â€? says Guido, pointing to the Ă€HOG ´7KH JX\V RQ WKH Ă€HOG DUH WKH KHUR feature, that’s what people pay their money to come see. Our job is to create DQFLOODU\ EHQHĂ€WV WKDW JR DORQJ ZLWK WKH hero feature. If the football game is only 30 real minutes of action then we have another three and a half hours of time where it’s our job to entertain you. But

during that 30 minutes I want everyone’s eyes on exactly what’s going on on that Ă€HOG , ZDQW WKH VWDGLXP ORXG VR RXU WHDP KDV D KRPHĂ€HOG DGYDQWDJH , GRQ¡W ZDQW to take away from that. “Whenever we create something, whenever we do something on the marketing side or content side we always ask ourselves will it take away from the Ă€HOG ,I WKH DQVZHU LV \HV ZH GRQ¡W GR LW If the answer is no, absolutely it won’t, WKHQ ZH JR DKHDG DQG GR LW 7KDW¡V ZKDW we built our device for; we didn’t want a bunch of people staring at their phones as opposed to watching the game. We did it to enhance the experience.â€? (OVHZKHUH LQ WKH VWDGLXP WKH KRVSLWDOLW\ areas and corporate suites, which cost

KEY DEAL San Francisco 49ers – Levi’s

Levi Strauss & Co sits at the top of a sponsorship structure that also includes ten founding partners. The likes of Anheuser-Busch, Sony, SAP, Brocade, Violin Memory and NRG Energy all pay significant seven-figure sums annually. Levi’s US$11 million annual commitment is some way short of other recent NFL naming rights deals. MetLife pays an annual US$20 million for rights to New York’s Meadowlands Stadium, while Farmers Insurance also committed to US$20 million a year to put its name to an as-yet unbuilt NFL venue in Los Angeles.

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Levi’s Stadium: America’s new hockey, soccer and wrestling arena

B

eyond selling tickets, sponsorships and hospitality suites at their new Levi’s Stadium home, the San Francisco 49ers have also boosted their bottom line by bidding for non-NFL HYHQWV $ Ă€YH \HDU FRQWUDFW ZLWK ORFDO Major League Soccer (MLS) club 6DQ -RVH (DUWKTXDNHV HQVXUHV /HYL¡V Stadium will host not only MLS games but also international soccer matches in WKH FRPLQJ \HDUV ZKLOH WKH IURQW RIĂ€FH team have also secured the rights for Wrestlemania and an outdoor National Hockey League (NHL) game in 2015. 7KH DUHQD ZLOO DOVR EHFRPH WKH FHQWUH of the footballing world in 2016 when Levi’s Stadium hosts Super Bowl L. 7KRVH HYHQWV QRW RQO\ PD[LPLVH WKH YDOXH RI WKH YHQXH EXW WKH\ Ă€OO WKH coffers of the local government. “You don’t build a US$1.3 billion stadium and have it just play ten events; it doesn’t make sense,â€? says Al Guido, the 49ers’ chief operating RIĂ€FHU ´, WKLQN ZKDW WKH &LW\ RI 6DQWD Clara bought into was, ‘does it bring LQWHUQDWLRQDO VSRUWV WR WKLV UHJLRQ"¡ Super Bowl L was a huge ‘get’ for XV 7KHUH KDVQ¡W EHHQ D 6XSHU %RZO in the Bay Area since 1984, that’s because you don’t have a new venue. Wrestlemania was a huge ‘get’ for us,

anywhere between US$150,000 and US$500,000, are a world away from the shabby facilities at Candlestick Park, with partners in particular enjoying PDMRU SULYLOHJHV 7KH OLNHV RI <DKRR for example, the team’s ‘exclusive online sports content, social networking, and photo and video sharing partner’, were allowed creative input into a number of design and development decisions around their title sponsored Yahoo Fantasy Football Lounge. Of course, the stadium also boasts the much-trumpeted 27,000 square foot grass roof, which comes complete with its own hospitality area, and a whole host of energy saving technology, HQDEOLQJ LW WR EHFRPH WKH Ă€UVW 86 VSRUWV VWDGLXP WR DFKLHYH /((' *ROG VWDWXV upon completion. Indeed, the stadium is hugely impressive inside and out, and despite

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Mexico drew 0-0 with Chile in an international soccer friendly at Levi’s Stadium in September

as was the NHL outdoor game, which is going to have 70,000 people in the Bay Area which is a non-traditional hockey market. We had Mexico-Chile which had 70,000 fans, it sold out in two weeks. We had the highest grossing MLS game. We feel the its early “bumps� will no doubt become the envy of many a rival fan. But the challenge facing the 49ers now is a big one: to monitor – or even manage – the development of the surrounding area. As Guido explains, large developments such as this often sprout new local business, but it is a delicate process. “We need to focus on the infrastructure around Levi’s Stadium. In Northern California there’s not a lot of land available so we have a two million square foot facility that literally sits on two million square feet. When you look outside of our facility you have some temporary things that are happening right now; you have a golf course that’s under contract to get developed. We’ve got to make sure that we focus on whatever happens outside of this facility that the 49ers fans and the Levi’s Stadium fans

stadium itself can bring additional events into this area. We feel good about the venue and what it’s able to draw into the Bay Area region because the lion’s share of revenue goes directly to the City of Santa Clara for those third party events.â€? FRPH Ă€UVW :H GRQ¡W ZDQW WR WDNH DZD\ from parking stalls that are going to change the experience in the stadium. We want to make sure the development around the park enhances Levi’s Stadium and the experience of coming down here. “What we’re really focused on now outside of the building is the infrastructure and what that looks OLNH Ă€YH WR WHQ \HDUV IURP QRZ ,I you just look in our region, the San Francisco Giants took a scenario that was underdeveloped and underutilised and have really built that up but it didn’t KDSSHQ ULJKW DZD\ 7KH EDOOSDUN ZDV WKHUH and then it took probably another ten years for all of that infrastructure around the ballpark to happen. So for us in the QH[W Ă€YH WR WHQ \HDUV \RX¡UH JRLQJ WR VHH everything around Levi’s Stadium change quite dramatically.â€?

23:1 933.7M 3.8Bn 138 Average ROI in PR value per team

Unique audience base in global news media

Opportunities to see (OTS)

Countries follow the race

[ Source: Kantar Media, 2014 ]

[ Source: Kantar Media, 2014 ]

[ Source: Kantar Media, 2014 ]

[ Source: www.google.co.uk/analytics ]

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Destinations Report 2015 North America

FALCONS NESTING By Michael Long - originally published in the December/January 2015 edition of SportsPro Atlanta is undergoing a city-wide sports stadium construction boom. Between now and 2017, when the Braves open a new ballpark and the NFL’s Falcons move into a state of the art new facility, more than US$1.822 billion will have been spent on sports venues. According to Falcons president Rich McKay, overseeing the construction of the New Atlanta Stadium, it is a process that is pushing the envelope of both design and fan experience.

I

f stadium construction is as much about making an architectural statement as it is building a building, WKH 1HZ $WODQWD 6WDGLXP FHUWDLQO\ À WV the bill. Currently under construction in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, the US$1.2 billion project has all the hallmarks of a new breed of technologically advanced, strikingly designed, environmentally conscious sports arena. Yet, as the most recent renderings show, it is clear the new home of the Atlanta Falcons National Football League (NFL) franchise will not be like other venues. Though conceived by 360 Architecture, WKH .DQVDV &LW\ EDVHG À UP ZKLFK previously worked on the Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the mastermind behind the New Atlanta

project is Arthur Blank, the billionaire cofounder of Home Depot who purchased the Falcons for a reported US$545 million in 2002. “His vision, very clearly early on, was an iconic building that would be a true attraction,” says Rich McKay, the president and chief executive of the Falcons. “He wanted a worldwide attraction to Atlanta where we could try to impact the fan experience and also create a building that would be a magnet for Atlanta: something that hasn’t been done before and would truly stand the test of time.” Immediately attention-grabbing, Blank’s billion-dollar project has been described as “a piece of metal origami” and “a not-so-aerodynamic spaceship”

A groundbreaking ceremony kicks off the three-year New Atlanta Stadium project in May 2014

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thanks to its focal point: a fully retractable roof comprising eight interlocking panels which rotate to open and close, not unlike a camera shutter. The arrangement of the panels, each made from a clear, polymer material whose opacity can be adjusted to control light, is designed to create a central oculus that will cast a pillar of VXQOLJKW RQWR WKH À HOG LQ WKH IDVKLRQ RI Rome’s Pantheon. Inside the oculus, a 65-foot tall ‘halo’ video board will afford fans in each of the venue’s 65,000 seats a 360 degree view of the game as seen from a sideline perspective. “I don’t think anyone has ever attempted to create the scoreboard that we’re going to create in this venue so that is something that we’re trying to make a signature piece,” adds McKay, who in January 2014 was installed as president of AMB Sports & Entertainment Group, the Falcons’ newly formed stadium management division established to run the building as a tenant of the Georgia World Congress Center

The concept for the New Atlanta Stadium has a fully retractable roof, made up of eight rotating, interlocking panels, as its distinctive centrepiece

Authority (GWCCA), the facility’s owner. Elsewhere, on the northeast side of the facility, the middle concourse and upper bowl have been eliminated to create a ‘city window’ that will provide uninterrupted views of the Atlanta skyline, while additional glass façades on the exterior of the building will open in tandem with the roof for extra ventilation. Underpinning the stadium’s eyecatching design is an equally ambitious event strategy. As well as hosting the Falcons, the venue will be home to an asyet unnamed Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise which Blank purchased in April ahead of a 2017 launch. That acquisition will bring around 17 regular season events to the venue and indeed was already foreseen in the stadium’s design, with a mechanised draping system set to convert the venue into its 30,000-seat MLS FRQĂ€ JXUDWLRQ DW WKH Ă LFN RI D VZLWFK In addition to those two anchor tenants, the New Atlanta Stadium will

also stage a number of ‘legacy events’ presently hosted at the Falcons’ current home, the Georgia Dome. These include college football in the form of the *HRUJLD 6WDWH 3DQWKHUV WKH &KLFN Ă€ O $ Bowl and the Southeastern Conference’s annual championship game, as well as NCAA basketball and other events. All in all, the New Atlanta Stadium will boast a strong calendar of domestic events when it opens in the spring of 2017. However, it is in far bigger spectacles – Super Bowls and Fifa World Cups – that the venue will come into its own. They are, after all, why the stadium was designed to make such a statement. “When you’re going to be a multipurpose venue – it’s going to try to attract worldwide events, it’s going to try to eventually be a World Cup host, it’s going to host a Super Bowl, a [NCAA basketball] Final Four, an NCAA national championship in football – you’ve got to build a venue that can live up to those expectations,â€? says McKay. “When you’re

trying to get on the world stage and play the biggest events in the world in your venue, then I do think you need to change the game with respect to design.� Of those standout events, the Super Bowl is invariably a priority for any NFL team building a new home. No football game showcases a host venue, city or region quite like the league’s annual showpiece and if recent history is anything to go by, the Falcons and Atlanta can reasonably expect to take the coveted spotlight before the decade is out. Indeed, the NFL has grown partial to giving its greatest prize to its newest venues. Earlier this year New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium played host to Super Bowl XLVIII, just four years after opening. In 2016, the San Francisco 49ers’ hi-tech Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara will have its turn at not even two years old, while the under-construction Vikings Stadium in Minnesota has already been awarded the 2018 edition despite having only broken ground in December 2013.

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The next available edition, then, is 2019, and while McKay says he has “been in the league for too longâ€? to ever feel FRQĂ€GHQW DERXW VHFXULQJ D 6XSHU %RZO he believes Atlanta, which last hosted the game in 2000, “is a natural place to host oneâ€? nonetheless. “Our hope is not that we host a Super Bowl but that we host Super Bowls, multiple Super Bowls,â€? he says. “We’ll be a bidder for the 19 and 20 Super Bowls when they award those – it’s probably a year away – and we’ll certainly make our case.â€? Like McKay, Blank is equally reluctant to predict the outcome of what is perhaps the NFL’s most closely guarded secret. “It’s the only secret ballot that’s done in the NFL so you never know,â€? he says, speaking during a conference call ahead of the Falcons’ NFL International Series defeat to the Detroit Lions in October. “You have a lot of owners that you work closely with and they all want to be supportive but it’s a secret ballot. The last time we were in it and bid for a Super Bowl, I thought I had 31 other votes and LW WXUQHG RXW ZH ORVW DW WKH Ă€IWK EDOORW Âľ The ace up Blank’s sleeve this time round, however, could well be in the terms of the agreement underpinning the New Atlanta Stadium’s construction. When it comes to funding such largescale stadium projects, public-private partnerships are now the norm in the United States but the split of that partnership tends be a key determinant in whether a new venue is awarded the VLJQLĂ€FDQW VRFLR HFRQRPLF Ă€OOLS WKDW LV the Super Bowl. In the case of the New Atlanta Stadium, some US$200 million of the WRWDO FRQVWUXFWLRQ FRVW LV EHLQJ Ă€QDQFHG

through state bonds secured by a portion of the same hotel-motel tax that has been used to pay off debt on the Georgia Dome for the past 20 years. The rest of the money, in excess of US$800 million, is being stumped up through a combination of the NFL’s G-4 loan scheme for funding new stadium builds, which will contribute the full allowance of US$200 million, and the Falcons, who will also take on construction cost overruns as well as operating risks in exchange for capturing ticket, concession, sponsorship and parking revenues derived from the stadium. Blank, through his personal foundation, has also committed to investing US$15 million in regeneration projects across local neighbourhoods. “In this case, the private side of the partnership is going to be a much greater percentage than we would typically see and, as our budget has grown, it has become a bigger percentage because we have all the upside, all the revenue belongs to us,� explains Blank. “For us, obviously it’s a huge investment but given all the activities that will take place in the stadium, we think the investment will make sense over a long period of time. “In this particular case, given the public-private partnership, given the amount of public funding that will be invested in the stadium, given the uniqueness of its location in downtown Atlanta and how important it is to the city and the region, and given that the stadium itself will be very iconic, I’d like to think our partners will look on that and at some point support us with a Super Bowl award. As to what year that’ll be, I’m not sure.�

The increased commitment from the Falcons – whose lease at the Georgia Dome expires in 2020 or when the bonds WKDW Ă€QDQFHG LWV FRQVWUXFWLRQ DUH SDLG off, which is estimated to occur in 2017 ² LV ODUJHO\ GRZQ WR WKH LQĂ H[LELOLW\ RI Blank’s desire to build the new stadium on a site adjacent to the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta. In many of the public-private partnerships agreed in the past 20 years, team owners have, to some extent, held their city to ransom by threatening relocation, but Blank ZDV DOZD\V VHW RQ EXLOGLQJ LQ D VSHFLĂ€F location, giving authorities in Atlanta a somewhat unique position of power in negotiations. “Arthur is a downtown Atlanta person and I think he wanted this project in that location both for the future of downtown Atlanta and to try to impact the community,â€? says McKay. “When you limit your goal that way – don’t create competition amongst counties or even locations, if you ever consider moving a team – it makes it probably harder [to negotiate a deal]. But I think it also creates an opportunity to create a true win-win from the public-private partnership standpoint.â€? Blank’s insistence upon the downtown VLWH PHDQW WKH )DOFRQV KDG WR EH Ă H[LEOH in other areas, particularly in relation to the future of the Georgia Dome which, having only opened as recently as 1992, is an adolescent by global standards. When an extensive renovation of the Dome ZDV FRQVLGHUHG DQG UHMHFWHG RQ Ă€QDQFLDO grounds – “it wasn’t going to affect us on the revenue side very much,â€? says McKay, “so we weren’t certainly willing to invest in thatâ€? – the Falcons proposed

Glass panels on the exterior of the stadium will create a ‘window to the city’, creating views for fans inside and allowing passers-by a glimpse of the interior

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BY THE NUMBERS The New Atlanta Stadium

building an open-air stadium and leaving the Dome to host other major indoor events slated for Atlanta. The GWCCA, however, responded with understandable concerns over creating direct competition between the two venues, and Blank had little choice but to relent. “In the end, Arthur agreed to make a YHU\ ELJ VDFULĂ€FH ZKLFK ZDV WR JR WR D single solution, a new retractable roof stadium that we knew was going to cost us a lot more but was truly in the best interests of the state and the region and the city,â€? says McKay, who led negotiations on Blank’s behalf. “I give him a lot of individual credit for doing that because there aren’t that many owners that I know that would have been willing to do that. When we could have made it a sort of single-source solution for us, the Falcons, and potentially MLS by building an outdoor stadium, I think he looked at the greater good and decided that this was in the best interests of a lot more people – ie the state, the region and the city. But in doing that it made it a very complicated transaction.â€? Having broken ground in May, the three-year New Atlanta project is expected to create more than 4,500 new

jobs and around US$400 million in total economic impact across the state of Georgia. As ever, though, the project has sparked criticism from those who believe public funds would be better spent elsewhere, on health or education. “Whenever there is anything written DERXW D VWDGLXP WKH Ă€UVW OLQH RI consensus by the public is typically QHJDWLYH DQG VR \RX KDYH WR Ă€JKW your way through that and explain the EHQHĂ€WV Âľ VD\V 0F.D\ ´,Q RXU FDVH WKH case that was made in Atlanta by Arthur was: we’ll take the same tax that was given to build the Dome in 1992 – this 39.3 per cent of the hotel-motel tax – we will take that exact same percentage – no growth in it, no change – and we’ll let you contribute that towards the new stadium and we’ll pay the difference. We’ll take all the cost overruns, take whatever else it is, and because their contribution was capped, because the risk was all going to go to us, I think that was an easier sell and it really was a good deal for them. “In this case, our tax is coming from a hotel-motel tax which is a tourism tax that the stadium is necessary to drive the growth of. So I felt like we had a very sound argument and one that, when you

had the opportunity to make it, people understood.â€? McKay himself has unique expertise when it comes to negotiating NFL stadium deals. In his previous role as general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he was the point man in the 1998 construction of Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, and he remains the only current league executive who has led negotiations on two successful stadium deals. Having that prior experience in Tampa has inevitably served him well in Atlanta, even if the two projects might have differed greatly in their ambitions. “In Tampa it was different in that we had new owners that bought the franchise,â€? begins McKay. “They were bidding to JLYH 7DPSD WKH Ă€UVW RSSRUWXQLW\ WR NHHS the team, but if the team couldn’t be kept and a deal couldn’t be reached then the team very well could have relocated. “That was a different negotiation and certainly a different experience than this one where we were trying everything we could to create consensus towards a very narrow goal, which was getting a stadium built in downtown Atlanta. That wasn’t easy to achieve but in Tampa our goal was simple in that we needed a

Legends Global Sales has been asked to ďŹ ll the venue’s luxury suites; the stadium bowl, dominated by the ‘halo’ video screen, has a soccer-speciďŹ c mode

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Destinations Report 2015 North America

new stadium and we needed it real soon and we were going to use the leverage necessary to get that deal.â€? After many months of back and forth discussions, the Falcons ended up signing a non-relocation agreement to keep them at the New Atlanta Stadium for the entirety of their 30-year lease. And a little over two years ahead of the move, McKay reports that the team is now “pretty far alongâ€? in the process of securing sponsorship for the venue. A number of agreements are already in place but, at the time of writing, none have been formally announced. With respect to a naming rights partner, which is being sought with the help of Premier Partnerships, McKay insists the Falcons are taking their time to ensure they get ´WKH ULJKW SDUWQHU WKDW Ă€ WV WKH YHQXH WKDW Ă€ WV WKH FXOWXUH WKDW LV VHW E\ WKH RZQHU that aligns with what the fans may expect of the buildingâ€?. On the ticketing side, sales are also progressing apace. Legends Global Sales (LGS) has been brought in to oversee all aspects of the sales strategy for luxury suites, as well as for premium club seat and season ticket sales. Like the Vikings to the north, the Falcons have also established a hi-tech sales centre to offer prospective customers the chance to meet one-on-one with team representatives, sit in real-life seats, and take a virtual tour of the new stadium. When sales of personal seat licences (PSLs) are fully ramped up in the coming months, the US$1 million centre will employ around 35 full-time staff.

The Falcons will leave the Georgia Dome in 2017

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Arthur Blank (right) with MLS commissioner Don Garber at the launch of a new Atlanta soccer team

McKay has also been busy making new executive hires as AMB Sports & Entertainment works to ensure the New Atlanta Stadium is an industry leader in terms of technology. Scott Jenkins, an experienced facility manager who spent seven years overseeing operations at Seattle’s Safeco Field, has been brought on board as general manager of the venue, having been attracted by the Falcons’ commitment to innovation and sustainability. Working alongside Jenkins is Jared Miller, who joined AMB in March DV FKLHI WHFKQRORJ\ RIĂ€ FHU 0LNH *RPHV a former Disney executive who has taken up the newly created position of head of IDQ H[SHULHQFH DQG 'HEUD 1DGHUKRII who was appointed in September as the venue’s director of IT infrastructure. “We’re trying to do everything we can to be on the front edge of the fan experience,â€? says McKay. “Technology is D FULWLFDO FRPSRQHQW WKH H[SHFWDWLRQV IRU the fans are very high and Levi’s Stadium has set a really good example of what can be done from a Wi-Fi standpoint. We’ll take the learnings from that and you can be assured that we’re looking to raise the bar. We’re looking to do something that really tries to move the needle as far as fan experience goes.â€? That level of ambition will be welcomed across the length and breadth of Atlanta. For while the 1996 summer 2O\PSLFV PD\ KDYH EURXJKW D Ă HHWLQJ sense of pride to the city of six million, sport lovers in ‘The A’ have had little to cheer about in the years since. 7KH FLW\¡V PLVĂ€ ULQJ EDVNHWEDOO WHDP WKH

Hawks, have not landed an NBA crown since 1958. A second short-lived and, in truth, fruitless affair with ice hockey ended abruptly in 2011 when the NHL’s Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg while the Braves, Atlanta’s three-time World 6HULHV ZLQQLQJ EDVHEDOO RXWĂ€ W KDYH QRW tasted MLB glory since 1995. In football, the middling Falcons are still without a championship title in their 49-year history. There are, however, signs that the Atlanta sports scene is on the verge of a revival. In addition to the Falcon’s New Atlanta Stadium, viewed by many as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of the city’s downtown district, 2017 will also see the opening of a state of the art ballpark in nearby Cobb County. The 41,500-capacity SunTrust Park is being built at a cost of around US$672 million and will replace Turner Field, the Braves’ current home which was only built in 1996, initially to host Olympic track and Ă€ HOG HYHQWV EXW LV QRZ LQ XUJHQW QHHG RI major infrastructure renovations. The arrival of a new MLS franchise the same year has only added to the sense that the Georgia capital could once again become a force on the national and international stage. An impressive 14,000 season tickets have already been sold as the city gears up to welcome regular top-level soccer matches and in the New Atlanta Stadium the team will have one of North America’s most innovative, iconic and eye-catching foundations on which to establish itself. As Blank says: “It’s an exciting time in Atlanta.â€?

THE NEW BUILDS By James Emmett and David Cushnan

As 2014 drew to a close, gleaming new sports stadiums were rising up in all corners of the world, overcoming the economic challenges of the day. Each boasts a distinctive design and carries the hopes of team owners, federations or governments. Some are intended to be national symbols, many have been crafted entirely as revenue-generators, but a common theme is the desire to integrate technology which will enhance the fan experience. From Wi-Fi to acoustics, sightlines to surrounding amenities, architects and contractors have far more to consider than structure and safety when embarking on a modern major sports venue project. SportsPro sought out a diverse collection of current stadium developments, renovations and upgrades as well as new builds, and pinpointed the features which will make them stand out when the building work has been completed and the sport begins.

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Destinations Report 2015 North America

Entertainment and Sports Center (ESC), Sacramento, USA At the core of the plan that saw a Vivek Ranadive-led group buy the NBA’s Sacramento Kings in May 2013, the downtown Sacramento Entertainment and Sports Center got council approval a year later. The multi-purpose indoor arena becomes the new home of the Kings in 2016. City-funded to the tune of US$255 million, the 17,500-capacity ESC is part of a larger,1.5 million square feet retail, residential and hotel development. The arena will be lead architect Aecom’s 12th in the NBA, while Turner Construction, which built Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, broke ground on 29th October 2014.

Planned opening: October 2016 | Construction cost: US$477 million

FFR Grande Stade, Paris, France

Planned opening: 2017 | Estimated construction cost: â‚Ź600 million (US$745 million)

In 2017 the French national rugby team will move into its new custom-built home on a site in Evry-Essonne, 25 kilometres south of Paris and 15 kilometres from Orly airport. The 82,000-seater Grande Stade de Rugby is being funded by the French Rugby Federation (FFR), which currently rents the Stade de France where it is beholden to the vagaries of other events in its scheduling. 7KH QHZ YHQXH ZLOO KRVW ÀYH WR VL[ )UHQFK UXJE\ LQWHUQDWLRQDOV D \HDU PDMRU FOXE ÀQDOV and up to 15 more events. Populous’ design HFKRHV D IRUWLÀHG WRZQ DQG LQFRUSRUDWHV corner suites, multi-level lounges, a SUHVLGHQWLDO ER[ DQG D UHWUDFWDEOH URRI

Production of a tonne of steel generates DOPRVW WZR WRQQHV RI FDUERQ GLR[LGH and around 720 million tonnes of steel are produced in China every year, so lead architect NBBJ and local partner CCDI win points for greatly reducing the amount of steel needed for the Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium. The stadium bowl, which broke ground in 2011, is one element of the wider construction project for China’s largest sports park, covering 400,000 square metres along the Qian Tang riverfront. Such facilities could point the way to future major event bids from Hangzhou, a city of 8.8 million located on China’s east coast.

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Credit: NBBJ

Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium, Hangzhou, China

Planned opening: 2015 | Estimated construction cost: Unknown

Due to host this year’s inaugural European Games, Baku’s 68,000-capacity Olympic Stadium will become Azerbaijan’s national VRFFHU YHQXH DQG VWDJH D TXDUWHU Ă€QDO of the pan-continental Uefa Euro 2020. Heerim is the designer of the venue, which ZLOO LQFOXGH VL[ Ă RRUV DQG VWDQG P KLJK ZLWK 7XUNLVK Ă€UP 7HINHQ &RQVWUXFWLRQ which has worked on other major Azeri infrastructure projects, responsible for the build. The stadium will be owned by the $]HUL VRFFHU IHGHUDWLRQ ZKLOH VWDWH RLO Ă€UP SOCAR is funding construction. 82,000 square metres of ‘green area’ has been earmarked for land immediately outside.

Baku 2015

Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan

Planned opening: February 2015 | Estimated construction cost: US$640 million

Credit: Populous

Casement Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Planned opening: 2015 | Construction cost: UKÂŁ77 million (US$122 million)

After the collapse of a plan to construct a stadium which would cater for Gaelic sport, rugby union and soccer on the site of Belfast’s Old Maze prison in 2012, the Ulster Gaelic Athletic Association decided to push ahead with Heron Buckingham on a major revamp of its Casement Park home instead. The venue, which opened in 1953, is now being upgraded, with capacity set to rise from 32,600 to 40,000 to create Ulster’s largest stadium. The project has been funded by a grant of UK£61.4 million IURP WKH 1RUWKHUQ ,UHODQG ([HFXWLYH DQG D UK£15 million investment from the GAA’s central council.

Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, England The Jockey Club, which owns and operates Cheltenham Racecourse, got the go-ahead on a major development of the venue LQ PLG &RPSOHWLRQ LV H[SHFWHG LQ time for the 2016 Cheltenham Festival. The concept is based around improving facilities for spectators, owners and trainers DQG WKH FRQVWUXFWLRQ RI D QHZ ÀYH à RRU grandstand. Contractor Kier was appointed early in 2014, with the project plotted to allow meetings like the 2015 Festival to take place with minimal disruption. The statues of legendary Cheltenham horses, including Arkle and Best Made, will be returned to the course once the new facilities are in place.

Planned opening: March 2016 | Construction cost: UKÂŁ45 million (US$71 million)

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Destinations Report 2015 North America

Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, USA Host of the Daytona 500, the Daytona Motor Speedway is undergoing a multiyear makeover. Facilities and grandstands along the nearly mile-long front stretch are being revamped, with the creation of IRRWEDOO Ă€HOG VL]HG ÂśQHLJKERXUKRRGV¡ part of a ‘Daytona Rising’ plan to LPSURYH WKH IDQ H[SHULHQFH DQG FUHDWH new sponsorship inventory. Every seat will be replaced – there will be 101,000, potentially rising to 125,000 – with 53 new hospitality suites installed. International Speedway Corporation is privately funding the project. Barton Marlow is the contractor, with Rossetti leading master-planning work.

Planned opening: January 2016 | Construction cost: US$400 million

Estadio de Futbol Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico The 52,000-capacity Estadio de Futbol Monterrey will be the new home of Club de FĂştbol Monterrey, the Liga MX team owned by beverage giant FEMSA. Its distinctive asymmetrical armadillo shape, apparently inspired by the Cerro de la Silla mountain which overlooks it, was the work of HOK Sport (now Populous) and +2. 0H[LFR QRZ 9)2 $UFKLWHFWV EDFN in 2008. The roof will cover 100 per cent of seats and has been designed for the ‘optimum distribution of sound’. According to the club, the stadium will have ‘areas of social interaction, creating a perfect atmosphere of privacy and security’.

Planned opening: June 2015 | Construction cost: US$200 million

Picture by: Nick Potts/EMPICS Sport

Estadio La Peineta, Madrid, Spain

Planned opening: June 2016 | Construction cost: â‚Ź270 million (US$335 million)

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5HDO 0DGULG¡V H[SDQVLRQ RI WKH 6DQWLDJR BernabĂŠu Stadium may have generated more headlines, but another major stadium project is underway in the Spanish capital. Estadio La Peineta, which opened in 1994, is being turned from a 20,000-capacity venue into the 67,500-seater soccerVSHFLĂ€F KRPH RI $WOpWLFR 0DGULG 7KH La Liga champions plan to move in in the summer of 2016. The renovation SURMHFW OHG E\ WKH &UX] \ 2UWL] Ă€UP RI architects, was originally part of Madrid’s unsuccessful bids to host the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. An athletics track has now been removed from the plans.

De Nieuwe Kuip, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Planned opening: 2018 | Construction cost: â‚Ź200 million (US$248 million)

A project nearly a decade in the making ZLOO FRPH WR IUXLWLRQ LQ WKH QH[W FRXSOH of years, as work begins on a major upgrade to Feyenoord’s stadium in 5RWWHUGDP 7KH FOXE FRQĂ€UPHG SODQV WR UHQRYDWH DQG H[SDQG LWV DJHLQJ KRPH ² De Kuip, as the Stadion Feijenoord has long been nicknamed, opened in 1937 – in 2014. Chief among their priorities is to retain to the cauldron-like atmosphere of the current venue in the 70,000-capacity new version, while new training facilities will be built in the vicinity, making Feyenoord’s project one of the most visible in the wider regeneration of south Rotterdam.

New Mosaic Stadium, Regina, Canada New Mosaic Stadium will replace Mosaic Stadium as the home of Canadian Football League team Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2016. Located in the city of Regina, the new facility has been designed by HKS Architects and ZLOO EH Ă H[LEOH DEOH WR KROG DV PDQ\ DV 40,000 spectators but with a standard of 33,000. HKS is part of a consortium, PCL Construction Management, which also includes B+H Architects and TD Securities brought together to bring an open-air design, featuring a translucent spectator roof, to life.

Planned opening: August 2016 | Construction cost: US$244 million

New Vikings Stadium, Minneapolis, USA

Planned opening: 2016 | Construction cost: US$1.024 billion

The NFL’s latest billion-dollar venue opens in 2016. New Vikings Stadium will feature seven seating levels with a working capacity of 65,400. 8,000 seats will be at club level and above, split across seven separate ORXQJHV UHVWURRP Ă€[WXUHV DQG points of sale will enhance the Minnesota 9LNLQJV IDQ H[SHULHQFH ² WKH WHDP XVHG WR play at the similarly sized but ageing Mall of America Field – as will 11 lifts, 33 escalators and 2,500 parking spaces. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority-owned venue was designed by an HKS-led group and is being built by Mortenson Construction. It will host Super Bowl LII in 2018.

The Destinations Report 2015 | 93

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