European Championships - is this the solution for the Olympics?

[yoshi 313]

Although it hasn't got a right lot of attention on here, the European Championships have been taking place in Glasgow & Berlin (they ended yesterday), & it seems that despite some apprehension about the new combined event, it has been a successful start. Now, I've only dipped in & out of the coverage of the event but it's seemed to have been well-received by the athletes themselves, & from what I saw, to have attracted good crowds in both Glasgow & Berlin, as well as the better, wider coverage that comes from using the main EBU broadcasters. But the main thing that struck me is how, despite being held in two cities/nations hundreds of miles apart, the Championships still felt like a seamless - & crucially, single & unified - event. 

So, bearing in mind the well-documented problems that the IOC are having attracting bidders for the Olympics, is the solution to the problem of manageability, both summer & winter, to split them in half, European-style? (Hamburg - who aborted their own Olympic bid - seem keen on the Euros, so it's doing something right) Obviously the cities would need to be relatively close for timezones etc but if a bi-national multi-sport event can work on principle, how big a leap is it to Olympics in, say, Toronto AND Boston or winters in the Swiss Alps and Munich or Milan? Both sharing and spreading the load - is this an avenue worth investigating for the IOC?

[StefanMUC 670]

I think this time the spread Glasgow/Berlin was due to Berlin having been chosen already some time ago as Euro athletics hosts before this new idea came up, but in general they want to bundle it in one city/region indeed.

TV ratings and comments, both in media and from participants, in Germany were very positive (including "that'll bury the European Games for good"), so there would be big interest from a major player to continue (and maybe even host again next time). But even if being in one city/region only, it needs to stay without the "package" the Olympics carry these days, i.e. more flexibility in using existing venues, more relaxed atmosphere and openness in the host city without certain sponsorships dictating over local businesses etc.

Trust the IOC to have a jealous watch over this though ;-)

[Rob. 2034]

It worked well didn't it? The 'smaller' sports got a lot more exposure under the banner of a multi-sport event, athletics somehow felt augmented by it as well. And the 'trick' worked for TV viewers.

The Olympics obviously doesn't have this exposure problem though. Pulling them apart and pretending they're the same is moving in the opposite direction from pushing some previously disparate events together across two cities and pretending it's like a European Games. It's a different problem the Olympics are trying to solve, and I don't know if this is really the solution.

[daveypodmore 520]

I really enjoyed it. I can see it working well as host nations not cities. Then you can use an athletics stadium in say Birmingham but use the velodrome in Manchester. 

[rio2016man 7]

 well done Glasgow and Berlin

[yoshi 313]

Of course the Euros concept could be a threat to the Olympics if the world federations decide to follow the Europeans & create a combined event of their own. The irony being that such a 'World Championships' would probably find it easier to attract bidders due to not having the IOC's arguably politically toxic brand...

[baron-pierreIV 1675]

Enough of these tiny, new countries.  They are ABSOLUTELY ruining the Olympic Games.  I think the world should shrink to just 100 countries.   The IOC should pay to eliminate the new smaller countries (by having them re-merge with their older big sisters), then the Summer Olympics would be manageable again.  

[StefanMUC 670]

FYI: Munich is bidding to host the 2022 edition, mostly using the 1972 legacy. 

Decision some time this year, there may still be other candidates though, but so far no big resistance like with the failed WOG bid for the same year.

[Rob. 2034]

I added in the London legacy thread a story from the Times that we're in talks about hosting the 2026 edition in the Olympic Park. Slightly strange given the fact 2018 was a UK/Germany shared hosting that the next two editions could also be Germany then the UK, but no doubts both cities would put on a good show.

[yoshi 313]

Better than Baku & Minsk  Seriously though, hopefully these Games (that’s what they are) continue to thrive & find themselves - it’s a very worthy experiment, both in having a Games of Europe & as a blank canvas to try new things. 

I hope we get some of the mid-sized cities/countries going for it too (Lisbon, Dublin, Prague etc). I understand why they’re starting with ex-Olympic cities (they’re right) but unless the Olympics gets small enough for them, this is the top multi-sport event they can have. 

[Rob. 2034]

Weirdly then, the (successful) experiment of having the championships spread over two countries but pretending on TV it's a single Games seems to be disappearing. Unless Munich 2022 and/or London 2026 ends up partnering with another place.

 

[StefanMUC 670]

7 hours ago, Rob. said:

Weirdly then, the (successful) experiment of having the championships spread over two countries but pretending on TV it's a single Games seems to be disappearing. Unless Munich 2022 and/or London 2026 ends up partnering with another place.

 

Wasn‘t this just because the Athletics had already been awarded to Berlin before this concept came up?