UK Sport, the organization that oversees funding for marquee sporting events across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, has released a list of aspirational hosting targets for European and worldwide sporting events over the next several years that “reflects a shift in approach to explore increasingly innovative event propositions which engage as broad a range of sports fans as possible.”
“With the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley in June and the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, we’re building on our world leading reputation for hosting major sporting events,” said Sports Minister Stuart Andrew. “We are working closely with UK Sport and partners to fulfill our shared ambition to deliver up to seventy major events across thirty different sports to the UK in the years ahead.”
The events UK Sport plans to bid for include part of the Tour de France in 2027, the World Athletics Championships in 2029 or 2031 and the Rugby World Cup in 2035 or 2039. The list also includes both existing and new event properties such as the Skateboarding World Championships, the IOC’s new Olympic Qualifying Series for urban sports and the Climbing World Championships, alongside new concepts in esports. All events on the list are subject to a feasibility process.
The list of 70 targeted events over the next close to a decade is accompanied by a new major event strategic framework for the UK. The framework includes a set of principles going forward including reach and resonance, collaboration to work to win the world’s biggest events in and create new event concepts, insight, inspiration and resilience by advocating for the sector across government partners to aid the hosting of mega events and conduct feasibility on the introduction of a new central delivery body for major events.
“Internationally, our biggest event hosting rivals have caught up and are hosting multi-sport games and securing the rights to the biggest mega events that currently exist,” the report reads in part. “This, coupled with how sport fans are changing how they watch sport and what sports they consider relevant, means that we need to keep adapting.”
Beyond this year, the United Kingdom will host the 2025 Rugby Women’s World Cup, 2026 ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup and Euro 2028 among other events.
“Live sport is a fundamental part of this country’s social fabric,” said Simon Morton, deputy chief executive officer and director of events at UK Sport. “No other country buys more tickets per head to major sporting events than we do in the UK. In the years ahead, we want to host a program of live sport that resonates with the British public and makes a difference to millions of people’s lives. That program has to be more accessible to people and communities across the country ensuring sport reaches as many fans as possible.”
The Guardian report on Tuesday said “there is no Olympics Games, men’s World Cup or Commonwealth Games on its list of targets for the next two decades.” The story added “UK Sport also downplayed the possibility of hosting the Olympics until at least 2044, given that the U.S. and Australia both waited 32 years between Games.”
The chance of England bidding to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup is in flux until later this year when FIFA is scheduled to May to select the host for 2027. There are bids from Brazil, a Belgium/Germany/Netherlands joint bid and a bid from the United States and Mexico to host one year after the FIFA Men’s World Cup comes to North America.
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