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If there is still a community here on GB Forums, I wouldn't mind having a centralized discussion here on what the future, if there will be one, of the Commonwealth Games. Clearly we have seen since at least 2014, a disinterest in hosting what is now considered an anachronism from another time. Cost verses benefits seems to be what causes local politics to shy away without the help of provincial/state or central governments whom are usually luke-warm to dishing out money for what is little more than a 14 day sports extravaganza of countries that only have British colonization...in most cases...not entirely peaceful, as a distant connection. The big elephant is expense...We have seen what can go wrong when it gets out of hand, especially when "developing" countries try to host...The mismanagement and corruption of 2010 being a letdown after decades of India wanting to host and the heartbreak of South Africa not willing to back it's host city, Durban, in providing funding. Both countries considered wealthy enough but unable to justify the pointless over reaching costs. And now we have the shattered World of the "Post Covid Era" beginning to emerge from hibernation. Sports around the world now having to rebuild momentum lost. Even the Olympics are struggling to host a delayed games as I write this in 2021. If the Games are to survive, what needs to be done? Points to ponder: Commonwealth relevance: Are we still a unified Commonwealth? Countries are beginning to retreat into regional trade and cultural blocs of relevance. Demise of Queen Elizabeth II: The aura surrounding QEII is as astounding as it will ever be. She has always been considered the glue that holds the Commonwealth together but we need to realize that her reign is almost over, every chance she will be around for 2022, thankfully another home games for her, but 2026 suddenly doesn't look realistic anymore after she lost her "rock" this year. Quite a few countries may consider it an opportune time to call it a day when she passes. City hosts v Regional hosts: We all know that money is the central issue here. This multisport event has to contend with others as well as singular events that can unify a nation rather than focusing on a sole city. Could it be more prudent for the CWGs to become a nationwide event just to spread out the costs? This was an idea that New Zealand proposed some time back...mainly to hold back apathy from regional centres who rightfully want to know why their taxes should be used. Regular guaranteed hosting circuit: Even if it's just for 12 to 16 years. Could the CGF follow the IOC in awarding multi-host regulars...currently the only countries that take interest are Australia and the UK. Nothing wrong in having pre-prepared facilities to use. (See below) Make use of what you got: Nothing wrong in refurbishing facilities rather than building bigger and better only to find that you are left with a ghost town costing locals for years after. Temporary facilities are considered a normal thing nowadays, and not considered a cheap cop out. The IOC is finally realizing this. We have seen good examples in 1994, 2014 and even 2018 (those games considered one of the best). 2002 was seen as another example of a city using what it had and used a pre planned built stadium (Man City's) as it's focus that worked well...which leads to: Sustainability: What of the legacy? The classic is always the "got to have" purpose built Athlete's village. Long gone are the days of the local university's student dorms or military base barracks being used. Today we build neighborhoods in multi stack form...This is the crux of a hosting as most cities need new housing estates and nowhere in the world can they be built fast enough...2014 was one of the best examples and this is what could tilt a games in a city's favour. It's a great excuse to give it a go...Something Auckland has tried to push in it's plans. Regional and Global Security: Clearly we have seen a dangerous paradigm shift in global politics, more so in the last decade, as the world becomes a more unstable place. Covid has only inflamed this. We have gone from one Superpower in the last 25 years to the birth of a new one and return of another. We have seen the rise of Left and Right extremisms, UK leaving Europe causing instability, and a surge in military spending. Countries are moving to secure their positions in this new world and want a new outlook.... Yes there will still be a Commonwealth of sorts, but it will keep fading into the either and, although there may be a couple of hosting's left for them, I cant see the Commonwealth Games making it out of, let alone, into the 2030s unless a whole new iteration for the is made. My thoughts...What are yours?

Looks like there's a chance this may start to gain traction. A couple of weeks ago, there were rumblings that at least 1 US city was showing interest in the Winter Olympics. Now it appears the USOC is willing to entertain the thought.. USOC expects to discuss possible Winter Olympic bid So let's see where this goes, but clearly this is beyond the purely hypothetical stage where the highest ranking members from the USOC have publicly acknowledged the possibility.

link main thread >> Pyrenees-Barcelona-Zaragoza 2030 - Page 5 - 2030 Olympic Winter Games Bids - GamesBids.com Forums this thread is evoluated from the main-thread >> PYRENEES-BARCELONA-ZARAGOZA 2030 winter olympic bid from the spanish olympic committee / COE.. meanwhile this main-thread goes forward, the discussions brings/brought us to an inevitable issue, namely; the nordic & sliding events ↔ (in other words) the ski-jump & sliding facilities/venues.. these 2 issues are forming a bottleneck in this desired spanish-winter-bid.. SOURCE >> Claim Barcelona hosting 2030 Winter Olympics could net region €1 billion (insidethegames.biz) critical key-sentences are saying; .. "Bobsleigh has no tradition in Catalonia," .. Instead events could be held in Tignes or Courchevel, both centres used in the Winter Olympic Games when they were staged in Albertville 1992.. Many believe this would offer an historical link between the Summer and Winter hosts of 1992.. The possibility of holding the sliding events at the bob run at Trebevic in Sarajevo 1984 would provide a more emotional link" .. the emotional link with sarajevo comes from the time when the spaniard samaranch-senior was president of the ioc, and its in his presidency he declared sarajevo as wog-host in 1984.. NOW it is samaranch-junior who is in charge/head of the spanish olympic committee/COE whos coaching nowadays the Barcelona-Pyrenees-2030 bid.. FEED enough for the needed narrative and connecting symbolism in this spanish-wog-story the first sentence in the article says as follow >> "It would allow Barcelona to follow in the footsteps of Beijing as a Summer and Winter host city.." im personally in favor an apart concept/reception of an eventual spanish wog-bid that ive also mentioned in the main-thread.. i think that barcelona doesnt need the double olympic ettiquette as beijing did.. it could be a chance to have a 2nd olympic city on spanish-soil.. ZARAGOZA 2030 can be in the epicenter of the games whereby the needed venues for ice sports can be used in barcelona.. but the title of the bid louds as BARCELONA-PYRENEES 2030 as the epicenter and zaragoza as a secundary-city in this bid. But lets have a brain-storm on the sarajevo issue: the COE has to tell on a very CLEAR & SIMPLE manner the idea/romantism for an eventual SARAJEVO-CLUSTER.. we understand that spain doesnt have no bobsleigh tradition and neither do countries have the obligation to participate in every olympic-sport-branch.. but they can begin somewhere and can start a spanish-bobsleigh-program for generations to come.. there is no ski-jump facility in spain, at this link we have a worldlist of these venues >> List of ski jumping hills - Wikipedia this would mean that an eventual barcelona-2030 wog bid can use the ski-jump facility at the MALO-POLJE plateau in IGMAN mountain in Sarajevo.. in the thread-link beneath i did a little-amateur research.. and there are already made RECONSTRUCTION PLANS.. (click link below) NOTE: why do they not build these 2 jump-&-gliding-facilities in their own country to make a start for new spanish-generations to come and for whole the hispano-speaking-world.. why invest in reconstruction/refurbishing those 2 facilities elswhere when you can create a venues legacy on own soil.. thats the question in my mind.. doesnt spain has the money to built those?! >> Pyrenees-Barcelona-Zaragoza 2030 - Page 4 - 2030 Olympic Winter Games Bids - GamesBids.com Forums here we have an article about the COST of an eventual demolition & redevelopment of the 1956 cortina d'ampezzo GLIDING-TRACK: "Plans for the track were presented at a press conference in Venice with officials confirming that the price of demolition and redevelopment would be €61 million (£51 million/$69 million)" .. this will be about the same price to DEMOLISH & REBUILD the gliding-track in TREBEVICE-sarajevo.. it is certainly a target-cost-price.. SOURCE: Plans presented for renovation of Milan Cortina 2026 sliding track (insidethegames.biz) PHOTO: momentum of the sarajevo-track at the 1984-WOG.. WE HAVE TO NOTICE A LITTLE DETAIL ABOUT: - does the COE want to surpass/exceed the GRANADA 2015 WINTER UNIVERSIADE example.. could it be called succes that at those 2015 winter universiade the ski-jumping & nordic-combined leg was organised on slovakian soil in STRBSKE PLESO .. SOURCE >> 2015 Winter Universiade - Wikipedia - important question would be >> winter universiade worked in 2015 on smaller scale.. would it be a succes on larger scale?! the COE goes for this story/narrative?! - 2030 - 1984 = 46 years of samaranch-sarajevo legacy - 2034 - 1984 = 50 years of sarajevo-again (with exellent flora/snow) - meanwhike SARAJEVO has build a lot of better hotels and already-succesfully organised the WINTER EYOF 2019 - eyof-source-1 >> 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival - Wikipedia - eyof-source-2 >> EYOF 2019 Sarajevo and East Sarajevo - Olympic Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina (okbih.ba) // with excellent photos