Commonwealth Games in Adelaide

[metro]

Adelaide shouldn't just bid the 2030 C/Wealth games but also the 2032/2036 Olympics.

[crawf]

Considering that it will be at least 20 years before Adelaide has the chance of scoring the Commonwealth Games. How about we look at hosting a smaller international event, like the FINA swimming championships or the youth olympic games.

Or maybe let's punch above our own weight and go for the World Expo. That would put Adelaide and South Australia on the map.

[dsriggs]

Or maybe let's punch above our own weight and go for the World Expo. That would put Adelaide and South Australia on the map.

There is actually a World Expo going on right now!

Without looking at this link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_2012), which City & Nation is this year's Expo located in?

[rev]

Gerard confirms Adelaide bid for 2030 Commonwealth Games

Amber Halliday
July 08, 2012 10:35AM

INFLUENTIAL South Australian businessman and sports supremo Rob Gerard has officially confirmed his audacious plan to bring a Commonwealth Games to Adelaide.

Speaking at the Premier's Olympic Games Appeal dinner at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday night, Mr Gerard - owner of Adelaide United and a patron of the Crows - said a successful bid for the 2030 games would leave a legacy of world-class sporting facilities for future generations.

"Sydney's had one, Melbourne's had one, Brisbane has had one, Perth's had one," he said, talking about how Adelaide is the only mainland state capital to never have hosted an Olympic or Commonwealth Games. "It's time to do it. Previous governments didn't do it but with (Premier) Jay (Weatherill), we are going to do it."

Last month the Sunday Mail revealed that Mr Gerard and key players in South Australian sport were putting together a committee to build the case for Adelaide to host the 2030 event.

On Friday Mr Gerard said a 2030 bid would be the next chance an Australian city will have to host the event.

Labelling the bid as "absolutely essential for our city", Mr Gerard did not mention any specific details such as the site for an athlete's village or the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies.

"Let's do it for our grandchildren. Let's do it for the future of our city. Let's get moving," he said.

Mr Gerard said he had been inspired by the way SACA, the SANFL and the State Government had worked together to deliver the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval.

Adelaide was beaten by Kuala Lumpur to stage the 1998 Games, and in 2008 the Rann government withdrew from the pool of contenders for the 2018 event, with then-treasurer Kevin Foley calling the Games "a B-grade event".

Mr Weatherill was not at the appeal dinner - he was on leave - but he has previously backed Mr Gerard's push, saying: "It is a bold idea but I think it is the sort of ambition we should have for South Australia."

On Friday a well-placed Government source confirmed the Weatherill Government would "probably" support the bid but the Government was conscious that, for a 2030 bid, they would be long gone from office.

And some of Adelaide's facilities may also be outdated by 2030, according to the source. The Marion Swimming Centre is one of only a handful of FINA compliant pools in the world now, but it may not be the case in 22 years' time.

Mr Gerard is chairman of the Quarter Club, which aims to raise $250,000 every year to support Olympic athletes.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 6420187019

[[Shuz]]

Two things:

1. Melbourne 2006, Gold Coast 2018, Adelaide 2030. That twelve years apart for a consecutive Commonwealth Games in Australia, giving only 2 other cities a chance to host in between before it comes back to Australia. Personally I think this would be unfair to the other candidates and we (Australia) should take a bit of a break.

2. Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and the Gold Coast will have all hosted a Commonwealth Games. I get the feeling that this 'bid' is only to justify the case that we haven't hosted one, we should? which is a bit pathetic. So what if we haven't? Let's be exceptionally bold and go one step further and lodge a bid for the 2032 Olympics. Only Melbourne and Sydney have hosted it. it could be quite a unique opportunity to present Adelaide as a candidate city that can host such an event safely.

[Hooligan]

A country like Australia shouldn't be so greedy to expect to host the Commonwealth games so often, let one of the smaller countries enjoy the benefits of hosting the games.

[Aidan]

A country like Australia shouldn't be so greedy to expect to host the Commonwealth games so often, let one of the smaller countries enjoy the benefits of hosting the games.

Whether we should bid for 2030 depends on who else is in the running. Only once have the Commonwealth Games been held in a Caribbean country, and they've never yet been held in Africa. Nor have they ever been held in Ireland, and considering the uncertainty over Northern Ireland's long term future, they may bid with an urgency nobody else can match.

But if NZ are our main rivals, 2030 is probably not too soon.

[dsriggs]

Even if we bid, it doesn't mean we're a lock to get it.

(see, Kuala Lumpur)

[Ho Really]

The Commonwealth Games would be a waste of money today and even more in future. As for the Olympic Games Shuz, that's better kept as a dream. Of course things could change overnight if we struck it rich with a mining boom, then we could throw money at anything.

Why did I say it is a waste of money? Because the Commonwealth is becoming more irrelevant to Australia as time goes by. If we want REAL publicity from a sporting event we would need to include the major world players. One such player is China. The rest are South East Asia, Korea, Japan, India, the Gulf states, Europe, North America, Brazil and Chile. Some of these countries are influential because they are emerging economies, others have population bases, and others just love their sports. But on the whole they are the richer countries.

Adelaide doesn't need the Commonwealth Games for self confidence. We don't need it to attract people here either. We are already on the right road with the many events we have, whether they are sporting events (such as the Tour Down Under), artistic and cultural events, tourism related events, etc. What we need is more of them spread out over a period of time. Constant media coverage and good marketing attracts people here. Even the latest announcement from Emirates to fly here is a boost. Qatar Airways, a rival to Emirates, had it first flight touchdown in Perth a few days ago...and guess what? Their advertising campaign for flights to Perth was already splashed onto the UK's Telegraph newspaper's website! That's the kind of thing we need and then back it up on a constant basis.

Unfortunately SA has made some errors in the past, we lost the F1 GP, the Australian Men's Hardcourt Championships (one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world) and the Jacob's Creek Open (SA Golf Open). Getting the F1 event back is virtually impossible, now that Bernie Ecclestone has tightened the screws, but the tennis and the golf are still attainable. The tennis requires a covered stadium. We lost it because Tennis Australia wanted to combine the men's tournament with the women's (up in the Gold Coast) in Brisbane's gleaming new covered stadium! The golf was lost because Jacobs Creek sponsorship dried out! Neither were fault of bad patronage, neither was the loss of the F1 GP. The point I'm trying to make is that we don't need huge sporting events like the Commonwealth Games that last a week or so and cost a lot to organise and run to attract people and attention to SA. What we need is more international events that include those nations mentioned. Spread them over time and give them good media coverage. To that add good marketing and start the tourism ball rolling.

Cheers

[Wayno]

+1 Ho Really, good post.

[rev]

If we theoretically won the Com. Games..why couldn't we strike up a broadcasting deal with China for it?

But anyway, China is not a major world player when it comes to sport, let alone south east Asia. What major, significant achievements in sport do any have? None.

On the other hand, their large populations are a bonus. Especially for broadcasting. Which brings me back to my earlier point, if a broadcasting deal can be struck, at least for the more popular sports...


Personally I'm not actually too interested in all this commonwealth games stuff. If we get it, great, if not, mehh.

What I'd like to see is Adelaide hosting code specific events of national and International relevance.
Like you said, the Com. games are a one off event for a couple weeks.
Whereas these other events are throughout the year, meaning more continued exposure of Adelaide and SA.

[Ho Really]

If we theoretically won the Com. Games..why couldn't we strike up a broadcasting deal with China for it?

Firstly China is not part of the Commonwealth, secondly it doesn't participate in it, thirdly there are sports in the Commonwealth Games that are not played in China.

But anyway, China is not a major world player when it comes to sport, let alone south east Asia. What major, significant achievements in sport do any have? None.

If you organised an international sporting event that included China and its neighbours, such as a Pan-Pac, they'd be interested. Adelaide would then get publicity in those countries. Maybe we should organise sanctioned events (meaning: with the blessing of the appropriate world governing bodies) with these countries in mind.

One sport that is much loved in China is table tennis. How about a World Championship event? They also love soccer, swimming, volleyball, gymnastics and several other Olympic sports. Maybe even badminton which is played a lot in SE Asia! Take your pick.

On the other hand, their large populations are a bonus. Especially for broadcasting. Which brings me back to my earlier point, if a broadcasting deal can be struck, at least for the more popular sports...

Exactly...with the right sporting events of course.

Personally I'm not actually too interested in all this commonwealth games stuff. If we get it, great, if not, mehh.

Spot on...if we ever get it is more for self gratification, but no for worldwide exposure.

What I'd like to see is Adelaide hosting code specific events of national and International relevance.
Like you said, the Com. games are a one off event for a couple weeks.
Whereas these other events are throughout the year, meaning more continued exposure of Adelaide and SA.

Let's hope there's someone out there now thinking hard what our next world event will be.

Cheers

[rev]

I know they aren't in the Commonwealth and don't participate in it, which is why I said specific events(such as swimming for example), could be broadcast there.

If I'm not mistaken, Australia is hosting the next Asian Cup in football in 2015. Adelaide should and needs to make a big push to get games played here.
International friendlies leading up to the tournament as well. Australia - China, Australia - Japan, for example..

However, I still think making an all out bid for the F1 prior to the Melbourne contract running out, guaranteeing a night time race like Bernie wants, is one of the best opportunities that we will get.
But I'll leave it at that because we are going off topic

[Ho Really]

I know they aren't in the Commonwealth and don't participate in it, which is why I said specific events(such as swimming for example), could be broadcast there.

If I'm not mistaken, Australia is hosting the next Asian Cup in football in 2015. Adelaide should and needs to make a big push to get games played here.
International friendlies leading up to the tournament as well. Australia - China, Australia - Japan, for example..

However, I still think making an all out bid for the F1 prior to the Melbourne contract running out, guaranteeing a night time race like Bernie wants, is one of the best opportunities that we will get.
But I'll leave it at that because we are going off topic

The Chinese watch the TV news and read newspapers, etc., like we do. So of course they'll see snippets of events that interest them if there was something newsworthy, but it wouldn't be the same coverage as if they were actually participating here and had supporters follow them. That's why an Asian Cup (as you mentioned) and similar events with those countries spoken about will give us better value for money and exposure. And when these sporting events are run we should tie them up with some good marketing and business deals. Mr Gerard would know this well having had experience with Clipsal and now as patron of Adelaide United.

The Formula One GP would be great for Adelaide (as it was in the past), but maybe even more now that we have a Middle east carrier (Emirates) coming here. They would probably sponsor it!! The biggest obstacle with the GP is still the prohibitive (ongoing) costs. If there wasn't a Bernie Ecclestone, who has been driving hard bargains since the 70s, it would be much easier. Unfortunately nothing in Formula One gets done without him having a say and getting his cut! As suggested more chat about this will be in the appropriate forum

Cheers

[Shahkar]

South Australian Government sizing up Commonwealth Games bid

THE State Government is seriously considering backing a bid for Adelaide to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games.

Premier Jay Weatherill tonight announced the establishment of a feasibility committee to consider an Adelaide bid.

It follows revelations in the Sunday Mail last year that prominent businessman Robert Gerard was spearheading a group of sporting powerbrokers building a case for a games bid.

Speaking at the Premier's Games Appeal Dinner, which raises funds for Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic teams, Mr Weatherill said the committee would evaluate the possibility of South Australia submitting a bid to the Australian Commonwealth Games Committee.

It will examine the financial issues, the feasibility and the economic impact of a potential bid, as well as undertake a comprehensive audit of South Australian sports infrastructure and venues.

"The opportunity to pursue the Games is something worth considering," Mr Weatherill said.

"I've asked the committee to explore all issues relevant to South Australia potentially submitting a bid to Australian Commonwealth Games Committee.

"That will include making sure any bid would be financially viable and would help economic growth in the State.

"As one of the most livable and safest cities in the world, which already has some of the infrastructure foundations in place like the new Adelaide Oval, Adelaide would be a strong applicant to host the Games. But first we need to ask the right questions and make sure we are satisfied with the answers."

SA is the only mainland state yet to host a Commonwealth Games. Adelaide was beaten by Kuala Lumpur to stage the 1998 Games, and in 2008 the Rann Labor Government withdrew from the race for the 2018 event, citing budget pressures.

At the time then-Treasurer Kevin Foley branded the Commonwealth Games a "B-grade event".

Mr Weatherill said the work of the Commonwealth Games Feasibility Committee would lay the groundwork for a larger conversation about South Australia hosting the event.

The State Government has contacted the Australian Commonwealth Games Association advising it of the formation of the committee.

The committee will be chaired by Tourism, Recreation and Sport Minister Leon Bignell and will include Mr Gerard, the chairman of the South Australian Games Appeal Committee.