I wouldn’t be surprised if we never see another Commonwealth Games ever again. And I couldn’t care less.
They have always been pretty meaningless and insignificant compared to the Olympics.
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Answer to the last question of the media conference “there has been no broadcaster announced for these games.”
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WA premier also says no to Commonwealth Games
Western Australia is also not going to rescue the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The premier, Roger Cook, backed the decision of the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, and totally ruled out a bid for the games by his government.
“I think they made the right decision in relation to that and we won’t be making a bid for the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
Our analysis was consistent with the Victoria government’s analysis that this would cost a significant amount of money and provide very little return on that investment.
He said the state government needed a sustained investment in events, not just a “sugar hit” of a two-week event.
Perth hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1962, and the state took a “close look” at doing so again, but Cook said the government simply couldn’t make the numbers stack up.
“The Commonwealth Games aren’t what they used to be and as a result of that they don’t provide the return on investment,” he said.
They’re highly expensive and while they attract people for the 12-day sporting festival, they don’t provide sustained growth and sustained outcomes in terms of the economy.
New Zealand says no to hosting 2026 Commonwealth Games
New Zealand’s sports minister, Grant Robertson, told reporters at parliament this afternoon that it was “not our plan” to bid to host the 2026 games in Victoria’s place. While New Zealand was considering a bid for the 2034 games, hosting was “a lot of work”, Robertson said, and his country was not in a position to step in early.
NSW will not host 2026 Commonwealth Games
The New South Wales government will not bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games and will decline to host if approached.
The premier, Chris Minns, said he could understand why Sydney might make sense as an alternative location but explained the state’s budgetary pressures were too great to take on such a burden.
He said:
We’re not bidding for the Commonwealth Games and we’re not taking them on.
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But Australians especially love them and they have helped make some of our sporting stars household names. Without the games the sponsorship would be a lot less and it would be harder for athletes to be able to support themselves. Also, they are a great stepping stone to bigger events like the Olympics.
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And yet they don’t wash their face.
That might sound overly capitalistic of me but at some point someone has to wake up and realise they’re a dead duck.
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There’s still other avenues for athletes to prepare competitively for the Olympics, like State, National and World Championships.
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Exactly, this just gives greater meaning to the World championships.
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Kind of surprised that Victoria decided to scrap the Games. But then again, just reading on the bidding wars to host these Games, seems like there was a big lack of interest in hosting them, due to the huge costs.
I do wonder what will come out of the 2026 Games. If it will still go ahead, id have to imagine that it will be last ones to be held.
The term “World Championships” in all sports will give them more importance, outside the Olympics.
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The Victorian / Melbourne media are having an absolute field day with this news. It’s like Covid times all over again 
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I know highly unlikely, but given no broadcaster had yet been announced (prior to today’s announcement) and there’d been some here on MS wondering and even a very suspicious Wikipedia statement suggesting 10 secured rights… Wonder if the networks here had any inkling at all that plans for a termination were on the cards, I mean leaks and tip offs seem to happen here all the time and obviously networks rarely go into any contractuals unless 100% certainty. So with today’s news I was almost cynically not surprised.
The Wikipedia edit was almost certainly some 10 fanboy from here pining for their virtually non-existent sports division.
As for the rights, probably would have not in train yet but wouldn’t have been far off.
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There are elements of this that border on scandalous - it deserves some serious attention. It’s easy to say the correct decision was made at the end of the day, but how they’ve got to this point needs teasing out. Andrews will cop some of this criticism as the Premier (and perhaps a little unfairly), he needs to push for answers, if only to explain how, but it would also be of beneift to show why other major projects are going over budget (and often significantly) with little fanfare.
For a multi-billion project’s estimate to be nearly 300% out after a year is a real worry - there would have been some kind of uplift, but this magnitude of uplift suggests some fairly critical elements have been missed in the estimates. You’ve also got to question how it was going to cost $7b for a games that was allegedly designed to be a more sustainable model.
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I don’t have an issue with it being reported and the Govt being held to account. It’s the tone and the absolute frothing at the mouth by all of the journos and the presenters I think it’s mad.
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It could also be argued why did VIC even bid in the first place and/or how did $2.6 bil become $6-7 bil.
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Didn’t they just agree to it last minute given no one else wanted it?
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That should be part of the question that is asked… if no one else wanted it, why would you? They shouldn’t accept it just out of pity.
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Bidding with a fairly major caveat that the desired operating model is shit and you want an alternative is not going to get you much of a look-in
It’s taken the Olympics and the Comm Games a long time to realise that unless the event can be more economically sustainable, there is little interest.
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I can’t see the Commonwealth Games having much of a future at this point, maybe a ‘last hurrah’ in Canada in 2030 to celebrate 100 years since the first one but think that would be about it.
The Olympics on the other hand will always have a potential home as long as there are autocratic regimes out there looking to engage in a bit of sportswashing.
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Agree, Olympics has more potential in that it’s a truly global event.
I’ve always thought the Commonwealth Games were a bit of a British “wank”.
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