There are quite a few good reasons why a brand would become a commercial partner of a sailing team or event, but there are hundreds of reasons why a city would want to host a sailing event.
Volvo Ocean Race S.L.U. has launched a new bid process to identify host cities for the 12th and 13th editions of the Volvo Ocean Race scheduled for 2014-15 and 2017-18.
Some of the drivers motivating cities to bid for sporting events were outlined by Angus Buchanan of the Sports Consultancy at the World Yacht Racing Forum in December. Some of the trends might give an insight into the kinds of places that the race may sail into.
The following are some of the points made in Angus’s presentation:
While emerging markets offer great potential, they are still relatively small when compared to a market like the United States or Europe as a whole.
It is worth noting that there are a lot of events fighting for attention and not just in sailing. In December there were over 1000 sporting events globally, when you include some of the larger regional events.
In 2012, there are around 30 major sailing events taking place who are competing against each other and against other sports like football, motorsport, golf etc whereas not long ago there were just a handful of big sailing events.
There is a growing sophistication amongst cities who are eager to use sporting events to promote themselves. There is increased competitiona and an increased level of professionalism in the way cities compete to host sporting events. Cities are increasingly developing agencies to not only win the right to host events, but also to make sure that such events are leveraged for the best return.
Organisations like the Victorian Major Events company have innovated to become very good at working out a market price for the rights they are purchasing and how best to use an event to deliver their goals.
So what are some of the reasons that cities bid for major sporting events?
Hosting a sporting event has always been a very useful political tool, with the most recent visible example being the Beijing Olympics. The country spend $40 billion on infrastructure alone as a ‘coming out party’, a statement of arrival.
Politics are so important, that when we are looking at projects, one of the first things we do is check on the timing of regional, city and national elections and compare them to the major milestones and deadlines of the bidding process. If you need funding support, then you need to know political affiliations of the various bodies.
Another driver for hosting sporting events is the environment. It’s at the more subtle end of the spectrum, but it is something that the sport of sailing can benefit from and certainly events like the Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup and MOD70 are making a point of linking the sport to ocean health and other environmental messaging.
An interesting example is London’s hosting of a leg of the Tour de France cycling – that was part of the Mayor’s cycling campaign. The idea was to give people confidence about cycling in the city and hosting such an event is a very visible way to do that. The result was an increase in the propensity of people to cycle in London.
Other motivations for cities to host sporting events include Social Benefit and Development planning. These feature prominantly in the London 2012 Olympic bid. Sailing also scores highly for these dirvers.
Sailing also does well at another key consideration for host cities – the ability to showcase infrastructure. On this measure, the Winter Olympics might deliver more value that the summer Olympics. When you think about the Winter Olympics, golf or sailing, they directly showcase the tourism benefit that the country is trying to promote in a way that Soccer (inside a stadium) doesn’t. Showcasing facilities leads directly to more hotel room bookings and specific sporting tourism.
Volvo Ocean Race Host City Bid Process
The Sports Consultancy will once again manage the search for host cities for the Volvo Ocean Race’s next two editsions. The pricess will begin with requests for Expression of Interest by March 14, 2012. Interested parties will receive a formal Bid Application that must be submitted by May 11, 2012.
The successful host cities will be announced at the end of 2012 and the race route for the 12th and 13th editions of the 39-year-old race confirmed.
Knut Frostad, Chief Executive of Volvo Ocean Race said:
“The Volvo Ocean Race continues to show strong growth across all media platforms and race village footfall that delivers significant benefit to the ports we visit. We are delighted to be working again with The Sports Consultancy in managing this process to secure prospective host cities from which the board of Volvo Ocean Race will select a route.”
The Volvo Ocean Race route is no longer predictable. The race has exposed millons to destinations like St Petersberg, Abu Dhabi and Sanya – so who knows where it will stop next time.
