World Cup Bid debate

Release Date: 13-Nov-2009

Bristol City Council will next week publish a report detailing the likely economic impact on the city and surrounding area of a successful bid to host world cup matches in 2018.

The report is due to be debated, in public, by the council’s Cabinet at 7pm on Tuesday 24th November, ahead of the Football Association’s bid deadline of 26th November. The detailed report also sets out details of how much it will cost to stage the bid, and if successful the matches - and how much investment might be needed to secure this overall economic benefit.

Key economic impacts predicted include:

Spending by international visitors of around £150 million for the region during the period of the tournament (based on report by PricewaterhouseCoopers report for the England Bid team).
Thousands of new job opportunities - 185,000 were created across Germany in 2006 across the 12 host cities.
Generating up to 2 million visitors to the West of England in 2018
Sporting legacy and improved community sports facilities
An opportunity to promote Bristol internationally not just in 2018 but in the years leading up to the event and beyond.

Costs to the city of approximately £17 million include an estimated £8 million to pay for temporary additional stadium seating (to increase seating up to 40,000 for World Cup matches), £2 million for transport costs, £2 million for marketing, and £2 million project management, including legal and financial advice in the lead up to the competition.

Further work now needs to be done to look at other income generating opportunities from hosting World Cup matches. This could include secondary sponsorship, commercial opportunities, events and approaches to government. In addition the council could consider approaches to businesses that are most likely to benefit from the expected visitors.

Although the huge additional spending expected to be generated by cities hosting world cup matches would generate extra tax revenue (from increased income and corporation tax and VAT), none of these extra taxes would return to the council, instead all going to HM Treasury.

Deputy Council Leader Simon Cook said: “The chance to host World Cup football matches is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and the financial and cultural benefits to the city are immense.

“We have though always said that we need to be prudent in considering the costs that would come with bidding for, and if successful hosting such matches. This is all the more true in tough economic times. On the 24th we will debate the benefits, the costs and the risks openly, and in public before deciding whether to submit our bid to the FA two days later.”

Author: James Easey 0117 922 3332

For all media enquiries relating to this press release, please contact Corporate Communications on 0117 922 2650.

To link to this page directly, use the URL
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/redirect?oid=PressRelease-id-32543013

Subscribe to our free email bulletin service and get the latest news and information about consultations and events happening in the city - www.bristol.gov.uk/newsdirect