The days of minor nations hosting big sport events could be over, if Victoria's decision to ditch the 2026 Commonwealth Games is anything to judge by. They just cost too much.
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General view during the Closing Ceremony of the XXII Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, 2022 Photo: Photosport
Victoria's Commonwealth Games bombshell has thrown not just the 2026 event into doubt, but the entire future of the 'friendly games'.
The Games were already struggling under the uncomfortable cloak of being an event rooted in an Empire that colonised half the world.
Now it's become obvious that in times when money is tight, the political willingness to spend it on providing accommodation for visiting athletes, and sprucing up stadiums, is subsiding.
Australia and New Zealand are already hosting a wealth of major international single-sport events over the next decade.
Maybe we don't need another one.
"It ends up being a millstone that's hard to get rid of," says NewstalkZB Sport's Andrew Alderson.
"Taxpayers, ratepayers end up copping it, all for what is effectively two weeks of fun, frivolity and enjoyment of sports etcetera – which is great – but is it worth it, in that cost benefit analysis? People are watching their pennies on every level ... it does make you realise that there's more to life than sport."
From a life-long sports journalist, that might seem a surprising take. Alderson talks to The Detail about why, in spite of having covered and enjoyed many such events, he's come to this conclusion.
One of the issues is infrastructure. In earlier times when cities were smaller and still developing it was easier to build athlete accommodation, for example, and repurpose it for housing afterwards.
Then there are costly stadium upgrades, hosting fees, and other spending to make sure the host shines in the international spotlight.
Alderson fears the Victoria Games decision is a sign of things to come.
"They struggled enough to get cities to bid as it is ... I just think that outside of Great Britain, potentially Canada and Australia, you're going to struggle to find anyone else to put their hands up. And if Australia can't do it, especially the wider state of Victoria, that doesn't bode well.
"For sports fans it's a dreadful precedent, but I can fully understand the situation, rather than digging an even deeper hole and finding themselves paying it off forever."
There has been some interest expressed by the Gold Coast in possibly stepping in – Athletics Australia has backed the mayor's proposal – but the Queensland government has said no, and that that cost can't be justified.
Just hours after the Games announcement last week, New Zealand Hockey announced that for cost reasons it was pulling the Vantage Black Sticks women out of the Pro League tournament of the world's top eight teams – effectively demoting itself down the world rankings.
The Detail also speaks to NZ Hockey CEO Anthony Crummy about the financial pressures facing high performance sporting teams, especially those who travel widely to make sure they can qualify for the next World Cup or Olympics.
New Zealand was a founding nation of the Pro League four years ago, but Covid and other reasons have changed its format from a home-and-away style event to a series of mini-tournaments, which for the Black Sticks would all have been in India and Europe in season five.
The teams' most recent tournament in Belgium would, before these inflationary times, have cost around $350,000 – but Crummy says this one cost them over $600,000.
"We just don't have massive amounts of reserves to be able to keep sustaining something like this in the current climate.
"The players are pretty gutted – and we'd expect them to be," says Crummy. "It's really challenging for them, but it's just the reality of international sport at the moment."
Listen to the full episode for a better idea of the in-roads money pressures are making on sporting events.
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