According to Glasgow 2014, 96% of tickets for the Games were sold and a 91% satisfaction rate was recorded from Games spectators who watched on as 142 Commonwealth records and nine world records were broken over 261 events in 18 sports.
Organisers also released figures demonstrating the social media buzz around the event with 3.5million public mentions of the Games, 500,000 social media followers and 450,000 downloads of the Games app.
A number of the athletes who took part in the Games have also praised the event. Talking to HOST CITY at Ibrox stadium, Trinidad and Tobago rugby sevens star David Gokool said: “Glasgow is like my home now, I’m comfortable, everything is fine and I love the people. Everything is comfortable, I can’t complain at all.”
Gokool also praised the high turnout at the rugby sevens tournament and the atmosphere inside Ibrox stadium, saying: “I’m very happy to be playing in front of such a loud crowd, it’s a big thing for me. I love the crowd, they make me feel energised.”
Commonwealth Games Scotland Chairman, Michael Cavanagh, praised the way in which the Organising Committee was able to fill every venue whilst Glasgow 2014 Chief Executive, David Grevemberg, said: “The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games has made history as the best Commonwealth Games ever, setting a new Gold Standard for the Commonwealth sports movement, new benchmarks for event delivery and receiving universal accolades for a proud Host City and its people for the joyous enthusiasm with which they embraced athletes and visitors during Scotland’s biggest-ever sporting and cultural festival.”
Now the Games has come to close organisers will be focusing on the legacy of the Games. “The Games may be over, but the story of the Games most certainly is not,” said Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games and Sport Shona. “We must continue to work to ensure that a lasting legacy is created from the Games and is something all of Scotland benefits from.”
Category: Event Management
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Glasgow looks ahead after “best ever” Games
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Applications flood in for Rugby World Cup volunteer scheme
Organisers of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England have revealed that 20,000 applications have been received for 6,000 volunteer positions for the rugby union tournament.
With the application deadline having closed, organisers will sift through the contenders by holding a series of selection events between now and December.
About 4,500 volunteers will be recruited from English and Welsh rugby clubs with the remaining 1,500 places to be given to members of the public.
The host cities for the tournament are now in the process of staging the try-outs, with the successful applicants to join the volunteer team, which will be known as ‘the pack’.
The host cities are Birmingham (Villa Park), Brighton (Brighton Community Stadium), Cardiff (Millennium Stadium), Exeter (Sandy Park), Gloucester (Kingsholm), Leeds (Elland Road), Leicester (Leicester City Stadium), London (Twickenham, Wembley Stadium and Olympic Stadium), Manchester (Manchester City Stadium), Milton Keynes (StadiumMK) and Newcastle (St James’ Park).
“The pack will be made up of 6,000 volunteers so we had approximately 20,000 applications and we are going to interview 10,000 of those. That will break down into 6,000 that will make up the volunteers,” try-out team manager Mary Cahill said.
The volunteers will perform various roles during the six-week tournament, including working in transport and accreditation services.
The UK public’s appetite for major sporting events has been whetted by the recent 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London, England.
More than 50,000 people applied for 15,000 volunteer positions for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, while more than 240,000 applications were received for the 70,000-strong volunteer programme at London 2012.
The 2015 Rugby World Cup will run from September 18 to October 31.
The 2019 edition of the event will take place in Japan, with the host of the 2013 Rugby World Cup yet to be decided. -
Ryder Cup fans to benefit from innovative technology
The 2014 Ryder Cup will break new ground for technological innovation after organisers announced that high-tech wristbands will be offered to fans at the Gleneagles golf course.
The wristbands, which will be handed out with course tickets at the Perthshire venue in Scotland, will utilise Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to allow spectators to access information, share experiences through social media and tap into fan-focused activities provided by the event’s commercial partners.
The RFID technology, embedded in the wristbands, will contain information about the wearer that can be uploaded to the tournament’s website when they register via a tablet or smartphone.
Ryder Cup Europe, which is operating the tournament, is also working with the Scottish government and mobile phone providers to provide ultra-fast 4G wireless connections across Gleneagles for the tournament between two teams representing the USA and Europe.
“Ryder Cup Europe and the key stakeholders wanted to deliver the best possible spectator experience,” Antonia Beggs, operations director for the 2014 Ryder Cup, said.
“As social media, smartphones and mobile internet have become a part of everyday life, the RFID technology seemed a natural choice to lift the event beyond the standard set previously.”Serge Grimaux of Intellitix, the company behind the wristband technology, added: “Our RFID wristbands will mark the 2014 Ryder Cup out as something completely different to what has gone before in terms of interaction with spectators, media and indeed anyone visiting the course.
“The technology is totally secure and has been proven at a number of large scale events across the world.”
Some of the options available through the wristband include a ‘Walk the Course’ initiative, with prizes offered to spectators who check in at points around the course, and a simulated team competition with live scoreboards around the venue.
The wristbands, which will serve as a method of cashless payment at certain areas of the course, will also enable fans to show support for their team, offering a virtual ‘high five’ for the Europe or USA team.
The 2014 Ryder Cup, which will be supported by global power and temperature control specialist Aggreko, will take place from September 26-28. -
Indian Super League to be launched in Manchester
Plans for the eagerly anticipated Indian Super League (ISL) and the 2017 U17 FIFA World Cup will be officially presented to the global football industry at the Soccerex Global Convention, held in Manchester on 6-10 September, after the confirmation that a senior Indian delegation will be attending.
The session will begin with Kushal Das, General Secretary of the All India Football Federation, delivering a standalone keynote speech, outlining the explosion of the game in India.
The panel, moderated by Sukhvinder Singh, will see I-League CEO Sunando Dhar, STAR Sports India President Nitin Kukreja, Delhi Dynamos Owner Sameer Manchanda, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Director Rajpal Singh and DSK Group Executive Director Shirish Kulkarni presenting the latest developments behind the two projects and the multiple business opportunities associated within Indian football, culminating in the release of the combined FICCI-AIFF-Libero Sports knowledge report.
Managed by IMG-Reliance, the ISL has attracted investment from India’s biggest companies and celebrities, with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, DEN Network, PVP, John Abraham and Ranbir Kapoor becoming team owners, as well as partnerships with leading European giants such as Atlético Madrid and AFC Fiorentina.
The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be the first global football tournament hosted by “football’s sleeping giant” and will play a crucial role in developing youth football in India. With FIFA earmarking a potential US$38m investment for the tournament, there are numerous business opportunities for suppliers from across the football spectrum, to engage with the key decision makers from the AIFF to learn about the multiple commercial opportunities the tournament will create.
Das and the Indian delegation join a growing list of international industry leaders who will be speaking at the Global Convention including FIFA President Joseph Blatter, four-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson, MLS Commissioner Don Garber, FIFA Vice-President Jim Boyce, La Liga President Javier Tebas, RFU CEO Ian Ritchie and England and Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton.
The Convention kicks off with the Football Festival on 6-7 September, with the Conference starting on Monday 8 September. A major international exhibition and a programme of networking and social events complete the schedule for this world leading football business event.
Source: Soccerex. For more information about Soccerex please visit http://www.soccerex.com/global // call +44 (0)20 8987 5522 // email enquiry@soccerex.com
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NFL asks musicians to pay for Super Bowl spot
American football’s NFL has proposed that musicians should have to pay to perform at the coveted Super Bowl Halftime Show.
The proposal received a “chilly reception” from Coldplay, Katy Perry and Rihanna, the three musicians under consideration for the 2015 show, according to the Wall Street Journal newspaper.
Traditionally the NFL has not paid a performance fee to the stars of the show, although it does cover expenses for the act and the entourage.
The Halftime Show, which takes place on the pitch in the break between the second and third quarters in the NFL’s showpiece game, always attracts one of the largest global television audiences of the year.
A record audience of 115.3 million viewers tuned in for the 2014 Halftime Show on February 2 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bruno Mars taking to the stage.
According to data measurement company Nielsen, musicians who perform at the Halftime Show regularly experience a significant spike in album sales and paid digital downloads due to the exposure of the performance. Several acts have used the Halftime Show as a platform to launch a new album.
It has been reported that the NFL has proposed a revenue-sharing arrangement whereby the league would receive a portion of additional album sales income as an alternative to a flat fee from the performers.
NFL spokeswoman Joanna Hunter said that the league’s priority was to “put on the best possible show” for fans.
“When we have something to announce, we’ll announce it,” she added.
In June, Variety magazine reported that the NBC network is asking advertisers to pay $4.5m for a 30-second spot during the 2015 Super Bowl – a record figure and a 12.5-per-cent increase on the Fox network’s advertising rate card for the 2014 game.
The Super Bowl Halftime Show has attracted the biggest names in the music business over the years, with performers including The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, The Rolling Stones, U2, Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Paul McCartney, Madonna and Michael Jackson.
The 2015 Super Bowl Halftime Show will take place on February 1 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. -
Mauritius to host ‘groundbreaking’ tri-sanctioned golf event
A new golf tournament in Mauritius will become the first tri-sanctioned event to be endorsed by the sport’s European, Asian and Sunshine Tours.
The three Tours, which are all founding members of the International Federation of PGA Tours, have confirmed that the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open will take place at the Heritage Golf Club on the island from May 7-10, 2015.
The 138-man field, comprising at least 40 professionals from each of the participating Tours plus qualifiers and local invitees, will compete in a 72-hole stroke play championship, with the results counting towards the individual Tours’ orders of merit and world ranking points.
The tournament illustrates the improving relationships between various Tours, which have increasingly explored co-operations since the European Tour began co-sanctioning tournaments with the Sunshine Tour – then called the South African PGA Championship – in the mid-1990s.
Next month, the European Tour and PGA of America will co-sanction the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland.
One of the benefits of co-sanctioning events is that such an approach can boost a tournament’s prize fund, and the total €1 million ($1.34 million) purse on offer for the Mauritius Open is likely to attract a string of top golfers.
Selwyn Nathan, executive director of the Sunshine Tour, described the deal as “groundbreaking” while Asian Tour Chief Executive Officer Mike Kerr said that the tournament would represent a “milestone” for the Tours.
European Tour chief operating officer and director of international policy Keith Waters said: “Golf is a major part of Mauritius’ tourism strategy and through the support of the sponsors the tournament will showcase the island to a worldwide television audience as part of the 2015 Race to Dubai.”
The Heritage Golf Club, which will host the event, is operated by Rogers Group, which operates extensively in the local tourism industry and has about 4,000 employees.
AfrAsia Bank has signed up as the title sponsor of the event. -
Rio 2016 appoints Eventim as ticketing provider
The company was selected following an international tender process.
Under its partnership with Rio 2016, Eventim will provide a ticketing platform for Brazilian and international customers. The company has previous Olympic experience having served the 2006 and 2014 winter Games, in Turin, Italy and Sochi, Russia, respectively.
Rio 2016 runs from August 5-21, with the Paralympic Games following from September 7-18. A total of nine million tickets are expected to be issued across the event’s sporting programme.
Eventim said: “In its partnership with Rio 2016, Eventim will continue to contribute to the Olympic and Paralympic movement by providing a robust, state-of-the-art ticketing platform, building on those which have been delivered for Torino 2006 and Sochi 2014 and embracing technological and operational know-how.
“Through their cooperation, Eventim and Rio 2016 shall ensure the delivery of a fair and transparent system for the distribution of tickets for Brazilian and international customers.”
Rio 2016 last month marked the two-year countdown to the opening of the Olympic Games by vowing that the delays and cost overruns which hit preparations for the 2014 Fifa World Cup will not be repeated.
Brazil’s staging of the World Cup was widely judged to be a major success, but the build-up saw significant delays in the delivery of stadia and price increases in preparing the venues.
This led to fears over Rio 2016, but local organising committee chief executive, Sidney Levy, told the Bloomberg news agency: “The time has come for the Brazilian people to deliver something on time, on budget, with full transparency. We can always fail, but that’s what we are willing to do.”
Rio 2016 said construction across the four competition zones stood at 55 per cent completion on August 5.
In advance of his presentation at HOST CITY: Bid to Win, Carlos Nuzman says Rio’s regeneration will outshine that of any previous host city.
For more information about attending HOST CITY: Bid to Win, visit www.bidtowin-hostcity.net -
HOK and Arup secure key roles in Dubai Expo 2020
The companies, which were involved in the UAE’s bid to host the historic exhibition, are currently undertaking site readiness activities, and will advise the Dubai Expo 2020 Higher Preparatory Committee in a number of areas.
The Committee said that the two companies had been appointed due to their “successful involvement” with the original masterplan, their detailed knowledge of the project and experience of working on other major events.
The host location will be a 438-hectare site that stretches from Dubai Trade Centre to Jebel Ali and comprises a 150-hectare Expo area plus hospitality, logistics and accommodation facilities.
HOK and Arup will work on the Expo masterplan comprising the urban design and engineering, landscaping, signage, overlay, sustainability, transportation, logistics, facility management and event operations.
Construction work will begin when the Bureau of International Expositions, the governing body of the World Expo, approves the plan, with a decision expected by November 2015.
The plans will correlate with Dubai’s ‘Smart City’ agenda, with the Expo site being designed to serve as a prototype for information and communications technology innovations, particularly in education and entertainment.
The exhibition site is designed to accommodate up to 300,000 visitors, with average week-day attendance expected at 153,000.
“Expos have been home to some of the world’s most landmark structures, from the Crystal Palace in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris,” the Committee’s Managing Director, Reem Al Hashimy, said, according to Gulf Business.
“Dubai is committed to building on this tradition and making the entire site an experiential environment that fully embodies the essence of our theme ‘connecting minds, creating the future’.”
Committee Member Helal Almarri added: “The masterplan design and execution is driven by a clear vision for its legacy, integrating sustainable urban development with opportunities to foster economic and social development for the emirate, for the country and for our region.”
Dubai overcame Ekaterinburg (Russia), Izmir (Turkey) and Sao Paulo (Brazil) to secure the hosting rights in November last year.
The exhibition site will be designed to accommodate up to 300,000 visitors, with average weekday attendance at the six-month event, which will run from October 2020 to April 2021, likely to be about 150,000.
Cities around the world are currently expressing their interest in hosting future World Expos, with the hosts of the International Exposition in 2023 and Universal Exposition in 2025 expected to be determined over the next two to three years. -
IRB embraces World Rugby with rebrand
The International Rugby Board, which has governed Rugby Union under that name since 1886, is to be known as World Rugby from 19 November as part of a rebrand that underlines the organisation’s commitment to global inclusivity.
The rebrand is linked to the governing body’s stated mission “to build a stronger connection with fans, players and new audiences worldwide.”
“In a crowded global entertainment and sporting marketplace, the role of the IRB has evolved from Game regulator to Game inspirer,” said IRB Chief Executive Brett Gosper.
“With this we must continue to appeal to those who know and love the sport and its heritage, while attracting, engaging and inspiring those who have no connection with the sport across multiple cultures and languages around the world.
“World Rugby collectively has the ingredients and tools to do just that. Rugby’s global appeal is founded and positioned on its unique character-building values and inclusive ethos and we want everyone to feel connected with the sport and Rugby’s ongoing success story.”
Further details of the new brand, including the new logo, will be revealed at the IRB World Rugby Conference and Exhibition, which takes place in London on November 17-18.
“This move is more than just a name change, it is a mission statement,” said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.
“Rugby continues to thrive, reach out and engage new audiences and participants in record numbers and the IRB has been at the heart of that growth. We are committed to furthering that growth beyond our traditional family and fan base with a public that expects to be entertained, informed and interacted with.”
Worldwide participation in rugby is has tripled to reach 6.6 million players over the past four years. The IRB cites the Rugby World Cup and the inclusion of rugby sevens in the Olympic Games as contributing factors, coupled with development strategies and record investment.
The rebrand also opens the opportunity for launching new event properties. “World Rugby clearly aligns our name with our mission and allows us to organise new and existing consumer facing properties in a way that they will be more impactful and more appealing to the sport’s growing global fan base,” said Lapasset.
The branding and positioning of Rugby World Cup 2015 will remain unchanged.
To read an exclusive interview with IRB / World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper, register to receive the next issue of HOST CITY magazine for free.
To register for the 2014 World Rugby Conference and Exhibition at the Hilton Metropole, London, visit www.irb.com/confex
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Brazil 2014 and Chelsea FC CEOs to address World Football Forum
Two of football’s most influential figures are to speak at the World Football Forum in Moscow on 13th November 2014, with successful event hosting and financial fair play on the agenda
Ricardo Trade, CEO of the local organising committee of Brazil 2014 will tell the World Football Forum audience about his experience of organising the world’s biggest single-sport event.
After playing as goalkeeper of the Brazilian handball team, Ricardo Trade became team trainer and supervisor for the Brazilian Volleyball Federation, participating in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Trade was operations director of the 2007 Rio de Janeiro Pan-American Games and participated in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games’ victorious bid campaign.
Ron Gourlay, Chief Executive of Chelsea Football Club will lead a discussion of UEFA financial fair play (FFP) regulations. Since the introduction of FFP in 2011, clubs that have qualified for UEFA competitions have to prove they do not have overdue payments towards other clubs, their players and social/tax authorities from throughout the season.
Through this initiative, UEFA aims to prevent clubs going into debt, even applying sanctions that include exclusion from European competitions between 2014 and 2015. The World Football Forum 2014 provides the platform for one of the world’s most successful football clubs, Chelsea FC, to explain how they are tackling this current and fundamental issue in European club football, from the commercialisation of the stadium assets to grass root youth development.
The World Football Forum in Moscow, which takes place on 13th November 2014, is a partner event of HOST CITY