Benefits of a London Olympics to the
UK
Sporting Benefits
Pre-Games Preparation Camps
More than 200 nations will compete in the 2012 Olympic Games,
and around 150 nations in the Paralympic games. Some could use the
UK as a base for presentation camps in the months leading up to the
Games.
The British Olympic Association (BOA) has for many years
established multi sport holding camps to prepare their athletes for
the Games. Team GB, for example, based itself in Queensland before
the Sydney Games delivering up to A$6M to the local economy.
The Australian experience shows that around 125 teams from 39
countries undertook pre-games training in locations across New
South Wales. This training is estimated to have injected some A$70
million into the States economy (PWC, 2002). This activity
commenced as early as 1997 when the Belgian athletics team trained
at Narrabeen.
In addition to attracting investment to the towns where
visiting teams choose to train, the prospect of hosting teams for
many months before the Games could act as a catalyst for developing
and refurbishing existing UK sports facilities.
Hosting Elite Sports Events
An Olympic host nation is obliged by the IOC to stage various
large scale "test events" such as world championships 6-18 months
prior to them staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In
addition, International Sports Federations are keen to hold world
and European championships and other major events in the Olympic
host country to enable their athletes to acclimatise and become
familiar with that country.
Such events are likely to be held several years before the
Games and can deliver several million pounds to the relevant
town/host city. For example Birmingham City Council concluded that
its hosting the World Indoor Athletics Championships and World
Badminton Championships in 2003 had a positive economic impact of
£3.5M and £2.5M respectively.
UK-wide football competition
Our plan is to play the preliminary rounds of the football
competition at stadiums across the UK with clear economic benefits
for those areas.
Enhanced Sporting Performance
Hosting the Games is likely to improve the performance of
domestic athletes. For example:
- Korea won 12 golds in Seoul 1988; compared with 6 in LA
1984
- Spain won 13 golds in Barcelona 1992; compared to just 1 in
Seoul 1988.
- Australia won 16 golds in Sydney 2000: compared with 9 in
Atlanta 1996.
Increased Sports Funding
Based on the experiences of former host Olympic countries, it
is possible that funding for the development of elite athletes in
the years running up to the Games will increase. Also, a UK hosted
Games is likely to generate unprecedented levels of interest from
business and local authorities that could, in turn, open up further
channels of funding for sport at all levels.
Boosting participation in sport/physical activity
Hosting the worlds greatest sporting event given the passion,
excitement and interest likely to be generated could act as a key
catalyst in helping the Government achieve its target to get more
of the UK population physically active by 2020.
Non-Sporting Benefits
Procurement Opportunities for UK Companies
Thousands of UK companies could be involved in meeting the
needs of the Games, i.e. construction, manufacturing, catering,
merchandise, services etc. The experience from Sydney showed that
New South Wales business won over A$1Billion in contracts for the
Games (PWC report), over A$300M from regional companies with 55,000
people receiving employment related training.
Boost to UK tourism
Tourism will receive a significant boost, not just for the 4
weeks of the Olympic & Paralympics but for months, indeed
years, before and after. PWC concluded that the Sydney Games
generated A$6.1 Billion worth of international publicity for Brand
Australia and over A$6 billion in spending by an additional 1.6M
visitors between 1997-2001. During 1993-96, after Sydney was named
host of the 2000 Games, Sydneys convention & exhibition sector
grew significantly international visitors grew by 78%.
UK-wide Olympic Torch Relay & Cultural programmes
The Olympic Torch tour in 2012 possibly lasting several months
is likely to involve every major city and town in the UK. In
addition cultural programmes will take place for several years in
advance of the Games right across the UK.
Volunteers drawn from across the UK
L2012 estimates that up to 70,000 volunteers would be required
to help run the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. This would
require the biggest volunteer recruitment drive in UK peacetime,
providing a unique boost both to sport specific, and general,
volunteering in the UK.