Now in its third year of rapid expansion, Host City is the largest meeting of cities and sports, business and entertainment events. More than 350 delegates from cross-sector events, cities and suppliers are set to attend and exhibit at Host City 2016.

The Host City 2016 agenda is now published on the new www.hostcity.com website, with an impressive and rapidly growing initial list of speakers participating. The owners, organisers, hosts and enablers of the greatest events will address the critical issues and opportunities they face.

Confirmed speakers so far include:

Sir Craig Reedie CBE, Vice President, IOC and President, WADA 
Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events, Visit Scotland
Sarah Lewis, Secretary General, FIS and AIOWF (Association of Winter Olympic Sports Federations)
Dimitri Kerkentzes, Deputy Secretary General, BIE (World Expos)
Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Deputy CEO, Messe Munich
Adriaan Visser, Vice Mayor of Rotterdam
Prof Dr Ugur Erdener, President, NOC of Turkey; Executive Board Member, IOC and WADA 
Carine Saloff-Coste, Head of Economic Development, City of Paris 
John Langford, Director of Live Entertainment, SSE Hydro & SECC
Michael Nagy, Director, Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau
Kulveer Ranger, Vice-President, Public Affairs and Strategic Communications, Atos UK
Sooad Islam, Associate, Populous
David de Behr, Head of Global Events, Aggreko
Ignacio Packer, Secretary General, Terre des Hommes International Federation

Session topics include “Has Sport Lost Its Integrity and How Can It Win Confidence Back?”; “How Hosts can be Safe and Secure”; “Creating Entertaining Experiences for Visitors”; “Harnessing Disruptive Innovation and Digital Transformation”; and “Business Events and Economic Development”.

Host City is the world’s largest international forum where global decision makers for event destinations, international federations, event owners, rights holders and suppliers can connect, create new business opportunities, generate media attention and foster new working partnerships across sporting, cultural, entertainment and business event sectors.

Please note that the date of Host City has changed from 16-17th to 21st-22nd November, through dialogue with ANOC and WADA to maximise synergy with their activities. 

Cavendish Group looks forward to welcoming you to Host City 2016 at the whiskey tasting reception on 20th November, 2016.

For more information and to register visit www.hostcity.com

For speaking opportunities please contact Ben Avison on +44 (0) 7876 682072 or ben.avison@hostcity.net

Host City: We are very much looking forward to your participation in Host City 2016. What do you think is most interesting about the conference agenda?
John Langford: I think it’s a much needed conversation piece, realising the economic impact that big events can deliver. In particular I think there’s a growing focus on cultural events. 

Host City: Are we seeing a greater convergence of sport and entertainment?
John Langford: Yes we are definitely seeing more of that and I think there are two reasons. The first is that the lines between sport and non-sport entertainment are becoming blurred. We are expecting it to be integrated: whether it’s a Super Bowl half time show or an opening or closing ceremony of Formula 1 Rocks, it’s becoming expected. 
The second reason is that it adds value to sponsors and consumers. It brings in additional people and additional money. My wife will come with me to sport events if she knows there is going to be some kind of entertainment that she is going to be interested in. That brings in more eyeballs and more sponsors. 

Host City: In relation to your experiences as a promoter and venue manager, what do you think are the critical issues for customer experiences?
John Langford: The first thing is truly understanding what the customer experience is. In our case, the customer experience begins the moment the person starts looking for tickets, not when they arrive at the venue. 
And if you take that to a city context, it’s the whole experience that someone has. If they are a music tourist, it’s not just seeing Coldplay at the arena or the stadium; it’s the whole experience that leads up to that: the travel, the hotel, the food, the whole lot.
Secondly, we are all striving to exceed expectation and for me that’s a measure of great customer experience – we need to truly understand what the customer is expecting and then exceed that. 
Thirdly, this really means that all the players need to work in a synchronised approached and that is a real challenge for cities – how do we work better with transport hosts, airports, hotels etc. to deliver a city-wide customer experience?

Host City: How does SECC work with the city of Glasgow to achieve this?
John Langford: Fortunately, the city of Glasgow is quite progressive in the way it approaches big events, more so than most other cities around the world. It’s always had a big drive to lead on hosting events, whether that’s conferences – they’ve got a very successful conference team at the city marketing bureau – or the major events team, who we worked with very closely on events like the MTV European Music Awards and Radio 1’s Big Weekend. We’ve got the MOBO awards coming up at the end of the year – those are driven by the city as opposed to promoters. 
The real benefit of Glasgow is that there is a city strategy to drive cultural tourism. And it works both ways: the city can drive things to us, and if we have an idea we can drive it back to the city. A good example is the Ignition Motoring Festival in August, which is a concept that we came up with and the city bought into it and essentially it’s a whole campus-wide festival of motoring. 

Host City: How do you go about programming content at SECC and SSE?
John Langford: We are quite fortunate in a way in that we don’t have major competition for our size in a good 200 mile radius. And Glasgow audiences are great; they are some of the best audiences in the world and we know from the research we’ve seen that they buy about 50 per cent more tickets that the UK average for live music events. 
Typically anything that comes to the SSE Hydro is booked in the same way that the O2 is booked in London: a big artist like Madonna, U2 or Timberlake will typically book the O2 and the Hydro and then fill in the rest of UK and Europe on the back of that. So we are very fortunate in that we get a lot of proactive bookings; promoters will come to us. 
We do however have challenges outside those busy periods where we try and create our own content and that requires working with promoters and artists and festival organisers to create events. 
We are very cautious not to be promoters. Some venues feel differently but we feel we are not in the business of promoting. We would rather be in the business of coming up with concepts, taking a share of the risk, but we’d rather work with an established promoter to actually deliver the event. 
We work very closely with AEG that owns the O2 in London on a country music festival called Country to Country. We are working on another music festival, the genre of which I can’t share just yet. 

Host City: So you are moving towards “festivalisation” as well?
John Langford: Yes, I think that’s an audience trend. People are expecting bang for their buck. Way Out West in Gothenburg is an example of an urban festival, or the Great Escape in Brighton – those are examples of things that we would certainly like to see more of in Glasgow, not just on our campus. We feel that we are part of the fabric of Glasgow, just as much as Barrowlands or Hampden Park stadium.

Host City: How important is nurturing local talent for cities to develop themselves as cultural hubs?
John Langford: I think it’s all part of the same ecosystem. You need record labels, promoters, managers, recording studios; you need a whole ecosystem that creatively feeds itself. 
Some of the research that I’ve seen on developing music cities is that it’s important to have all of the aspects working together; and ideally that it’s driven by the city and I think that’s probably the biggest challenge for a lot of cities. 
It’s a bit like herding cats, particularly in the creative industries; there are a lot of entrepreneurs and independent thinkers and I think the challenge is creating an environment within which they can work. You need to lead without pushing and I think that’s a real challenge for cities. 

Host City: How important is venue planning in creating entertainment hubs – not just physical venues but also using open spaces?
John Langford: Glasgow has a good range of venues, indoor and outdoor, sports and entertainment. I think it’s key that cities have that. 
Secondly it’s licensing and I think a lot of cities need to work harder on this. You need to get all the city structures working together if the object is to bring more events into the city. Whether its occasional licenses for drinking, food or capacity, everything needs to work together. 
You need a progressive planning regime in the city. In the UK there are a lot of traditional music venues that are being squeezed by pressure from residents. The gentrification of areas is causing a lot of venues to shut down, so there is a big drive, certainly from the music industry, to protect those venues.
But what you’re talking about is going that extra step. It takes a liberal, forward thinking city to recognise that there is going to be a bit of pain sometimes, whether it’s noise or hundreds of thousands of people coming to your city for an event – the progressive cities realise that’s where the economic impact comes from. You need to take a bit of pain sometimes to get the gain.

*UK Music report “Wish You Were Here 2016”

John Langford, Director of Live Entertainment at SECC and SSE Hydro, is speaking on 22nd November at Host City 2016 conference and exhibition on the subject of “Creating Entertaining Experiences for Visitors".

Host City: Having experienced Paralympic Games since 1972, both as an athlete and administrator, what major changes have you seen in terms of participation and audience engagement?
Sir Philip Craven: My first Paralympics were in Heidelberg in ‘72. It was a relatively small affair but with an incredible passion for sport that has always been at the centre of the Paralympic movement.
Really the Games that made the biggest difference for me, despite the amazing London Games, was Barcelona in ’92. That was the first time that there were masses of spectators. It took a bit of time for athletes to get used to having packed stadia. That was a major moment. We again had an amazing Games in Sydney and things have just moved on from there. 
What we had to do as an organisation was to develop our organisation so we had sufficient competent and motivated staff that could work with organising committees and ensure that the Games would be of a very good standard and occasionally, when the planets came into total alignment, it would be amazing, like in Beijing and in London. 
When I came in I never used the “D-word”. It’s nothing to do with disability sports – this is international sport. We are an international sports organisation and therefore that’s been the emphasis all along. When you talk about sports, then you all get along far better together. That’s one of the reasons for the major rise, along with our capacity to work with organising committees, but always with athletes at the centre.  
These Games in Rio are going to be the greatest Games ever in terms of athletic performance. It’s amazing what’s been done in all of the sports; the amount of training that goes into being an international player is quite outstanding. 

Host City: Would you say London 2012 was the big step change in terms of public engagement and TV audience?
Sir Philip Craven: Definitely with regard to TV audiences. Channel 4 really got the ball and ran with it two years prior to the Games; there was an amazing transformation and that has been really infectious moving forward from London. They used former athletes as commentators, and they have become a totally integrated employer now.
In Rio there will be over a hundred nations taking a live feed of the Games from Rio around the world. We’ve signed our biggest deal ever with NHK in Japan going forward to the Tokyo Games in 2020 and beyond, to 2024. 
People love the Paralympics and the first place to be is at the Games. The unique sporting spirit there is something that I felt when I was playing wheelchair basketball because I loved the sport; I loved playing for the team. This spirit of the principles of what sport should be about has never been stronger with me. 

Host City: The motto of the Olympic Games is “faster, higher, stronger”; how does that differ to the Paralympics, in terms of the underlying principles of sport?
Sir Philip Craven: Our vision is “to enable Para athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to inspire and excite the world”. “Achieving sporting excellence” for me is at any level – it doesn’t have to be a Paralympic medal. 
And then “to inspire and excite the world”. But what happens before people are inspired and excited? They’re surprised, normally – I don’t know if they were expecting the basketball players to drop the ball – but they are surprised, then they are inspired, then they’re excited. Once that happens we can change the world. 
We know that the Paralympic Games has the greatest effect of any international sports competition in really delivering societal change – realising that we are all members of one planet and one society, and that we can all have a good time. 

Host City: It’s interesting what you say about the big societal impact of the Paralympic Games – we saw that in Beijing and London. But it seems the Olympic Games needs to assert its value now, with some of the big Olympic sports facing wave upon wave of doping allegations. Having recently chaired a panel discussion at the International Anti-Corruption Summit, what’s your view of that?
Sir Philip Craven: On what we have heard about in the media, it’s seen to have been denied by certain international federations. On the one hand I am saddened, on the other hand I am angered – because that is not what sport should be about. 
But I have to say, the IOC – of which I’ve been a member since 2003 – has done a lot of work to root out corruption from their own organisation and that’s going back now 15 or 16 years. And I think they continue to do that good work, taking an enlightened view of keeping samples from the Beijing Games and then retesting them. 
The IOC, IPC and WADA and all international sports federations are working very hard now, with increasing support from national governments and other international bodies. Corruption, as David Cameron said, is a cancer and we have to root it out. And that’s what we will work together to do. The change has to come from the inside of sport, and they have to be supported by people from other walks of life, from governments and it’s something we are going to fight with all our might. 

Host City: How optimistic are you that that this fight will be won?
Sir Philip Craven: I’m an eternal optimist; I can tell you that. It will be won. The key is it’s not just about bringing in rules and regulations that stop the corrupt; it’s bringing in methods where the non-corrupt are elected in the first place. 
If you look at the majority of international federations, you would find that that is the case. But of course when you find difficulties from certain federations, then they can influence the general view of what’s going on in all international sports federations. 
You can’t change cultures overnight, no matter what anybody says, no matter how much money you’ve got. Because normally those cultures have built up over many years so it takes time to change it. But there’s got to be a fundamental clear out and to start again. 

Host City: It strikes me these threats facing sports governance today are the polar opposite of the principles of sport, which should be about team play and rewarding endeavour.
Sir Philip Craven: The principles of what sport are really about are right at the centre of what we do. We’ve just had recent discussions in our governing board about this and we’ve brought in new controls on conflicts of interest, divulging whether you are involved with other organisations other than the International Paralympic Committee etc. – and we are very keen to bring these in. 
Fundamentally we are an absolutely transparent organisation; you can look at our accounts online whenever you wish to. If you are a transparent organisation then those sort of corrupt practices don’t have a chance to get going. 
I would say the high honour of Thomas Bach inviting me to chair the new Olympic Education Commission shows the clear intent of what you put very well when you talked about the principles of sport. It’s an absolute intent that there is a great strengthening of this, and that’s what sport needs. 
In fact that’s what the world needs – principles and common sense regulations – not things that are brought up by overpaid lawyers, but things that come out of how life should be and how people should get on with each other. That’s what I’m about!

HOST CITY: Pierre De Coubertin said Modern Pentathlon “tested a man’s moral qualities as much as his physical resources and skills”. How does Modern Pentathlon achieve this and why is this still important today?
Dr. Klaus Schormann: Modern Pentathlon first appeared on the Olympic programme in Stockholm in 1912 when De Coubertin’s wish was to devise a test suitable only for the “complete athlete”. In pursuit of this aim he created the ultimate test of an athlete’s fitness, courage and skill – a sporting challenge like no other. Modern Pentathlon combines five traditional disciplines in a one-day format and is unique in sport as a complex mental and physical examination.
Today it remains as important as ever in the Olympic Movement. Pierre de Coubertin’s vision has its roots in the Ancient Games of 708 where Lampis of Sparta was the first winner of Pentathlon and received the prestigious status of “Victor Ludorum”. In this time, Pentathlon consisted of discus, long jump, javelin, stadium run and wrestling. The format has changed beyond recognition but the principle remains the same: it is the complete sporting challenge.

HOST CITY: Competition for inclusion in the Olympic programme is strong. What are the key factors that have enabled Modern Pentathlon to retain its place in the programme?
Dr. Klaus Schormann: Modern Pentathlon has been a core sport of the Olympic Games ever since 1912. Although it has had to justify its inclusion in the Olympic programme several times, it has retained a constant presence and this is because of two things: strong Olympic heritage and modern innovation. First we had to shorten the Modern Pentathlon from five days in duration to one day, because it was not compatible with the demands of the mass media, viewers and spectators.
To make it a more compelling spectacle, we introduced several changes and developments. We introduced Laser Pistols at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010. We created a running/shooting Combined Event (like winter biathlon) that made the sport safer for athletes and spectators, allowing them to get closer to the action than ever before. Most recently, in addition to the fencing round robin, pentathletes have the opportunity to win extra points in a new bonus round. In less than an hour, all of the athletes compete on one piste in front of the spectators to win bonus seconds for the Combined Event.
To make our sport more compact and exciting, we had to adapt our format as we are living in a fast changing world with a modern, diverse and digital society. You can inspire others to change, only if you are ready to change yourself. Our new format is compact, media and spectator friendly with entertainment in between. It is not only a competition anymore – it is five sports brought together to create one big event. As De Coubertin wrote in 1918, “the individual who truly deserves that name ‘Olympian’ is the competitor in the modern pentathlon”. We are certain that he would have approved of Modern Pentathlon’s proven ability to move with the times and stay fresh.
 
HOST CITY: As a member of the IOC Commission on Culture and Olympic Heritage, do you think modern pentathlon can play a role in helping the IOC to realise its Agenda 2020 aim of further blending sport and culture?
Dr. Klaus Schormann: UIPM can, like all of the International Federations in the Olympic Movement, play a role in helping the IOC to realise this goal. Only together can we implement another of Pierre de Coubertin’s visions: to “blend sport with culture and education” as in the Ancient Games.
Due to the concentration on sport, the influence of the Olympic Movement’s cultural activities has been limited even though many committed institutions and communities like museums, academies, historians, collectors or artists for instance have been established. However, our mission as members of the IOC Commission on Culture and Olympic Heritage is to develop concepts and programmes to further blend sport and culture at each Olympic Games and in the years between. This only goes hand in hand with the whole Olympic Family to create values with culture.
 
HOST CITY: And how can the values of UIPM and Olympism help with the education and personal development of young people worldwide?
Dr. Klaus Schormann: In our fast changing world, education has an important role in society. As Nelson Mandela said “Sport has the power to change the world” and currently we need to change and act against crime, hate and discrimination more than ever before.
Modern Pentathlon is not only a big event but it has remained through 100 years of history very traditional and unique in the Olympic Movement. The Olympic Agenda 2020 clearly demonstrates our decision to live up to our values and principles. The values of “excellence, respect, friendship, dialogue, diversity, non-discrimination, tolerance, fair play, solidarity, development and peace” should be demonstrated through our sport around the world. Our Unity in Diversity is important to make those values and principles remain relevant in society.
Through Modern Pentathlon with the five different skills you have a platform for education, integration of all religions and cultural societies with the message for a more friendly, humanitarian and peaceful world. 

HOST CITY: How do the UIPM’s other events, such as the new Laser Run format, help to engage new athletes and audiences? 
Dr. Klaus Schormann: The Laser-Run is the latest original creation of UIPM, derived from the Combined Event and launched in 2015 as a non-Olympic sub-sport. The simple format of running/shooting helps introduce and engage new athletes and new audiences as athletes of all ages from 8 to 80 can participate and the event can be staged on beaches, in cities and in the countryside. 
The Laser Run is the basis of the UIPM Pyramid and for many is the first step on the way to participating in Modern Pentathlon. The bigger the basis, the more athletes will find their way to the top. Modern Pentathlon keeps the legacy of Pierre de Coubertin as a strong heritage. 

With just two months to go until the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the host city is “on the cusp” of reaping the same legacy benefits enjoyed by London, according to AECOM, the company behind both cities’ Olympic masterplans.
“Despite Brazil’s current economic and political challenges, the guiding principle has always been for the Games to serve Rio and boost its development, improving the quality of life for all its citizens,” said Bill Hanway, Global Sports Leader at AECOM.
Rio is aiming to stage the world’s best value Olympic Games by reducing public cost through partnership with the private sector, and by delivering a simple and sustainable venue plan that applies many of the legacy planning strategies of the London 2012 Games. 
According to the IOC, 75 per cent of capital expenditure relating to London’s preparations for hosting the 2012 Olympic Games was invested in transport and utilities infrastructure, land and water clean-up, public open spaces, new homes, and permanent sports and leisure facilities. 
A similar approach has been adopted in Rio. The Games is boosting the development of public transport, with Linha 4 of the metro to Barra, the site of the Olympic Park, due to be completed just in time for the Games. 
Power and data facilities installed to cater for 20,000 journalists from the international media will make the Olympic Park one of the best connected districts in Rio.
“The Games are a catalyst for changing not only the city, but the aspirations of future generations. As with London, our approach is to take a long-term view that sees the Games as a milestone in the ongoing legacy programme,” said Hanway.
“The Games and the success of the event are the primary focus, but also serve as a driver for the future. It’s an opportunity to invest in underdeveloped areas and significantly upgrade transport and infrastructure. Rio is now on the cusp of reaping the legacy benefits.”

Parallel lines: Games and legacy masterplanning
For the London 2012 Games, AECOM delivered masterplanning, landscape architecture, engineering and sustainability services. Working closely with its partners at Rio’s Municipal Olympic Company (EOM), AECOM has reprised these roles in Rio with additional responsibility for the preliminary design of the Barra Olympic Park’s sports arenas and detailed design of the International Broadcast Centre.
AECOM’s masterplan for Rio covers a 20-year period, with three distinct phases: preparation for the event; a transitional phase; and the long-term legacy. All phases were planned in parallel to smooth the transition between modes. AECOM points to the layout of roads and the capacity of utilities in the Barra Park, which were designed to cater for the planned residential, educational, commercial and sporting legacy.
The deconstruction and repurposing of temporary structures will take between five and seven years to complete after the Games. And in the legacy phase, more than three-quarters of the site will become a new neighbourhood. 
Just under a quarter of the Barra site will be occupied by permanent sports facilities, which in legacy mode will provide elite training facilities for the Brazilian Olympic team as well as a sports high school for future Olympians. 
AECOM delivered preliminary designs for six new sports venues: the new velodrome, Olympic Aquatics Stadium and Tennis Centre, as well as three adjoining Carioca Arenas that will host basketball, judo, taekwondo and wrestling competitions.
The velodrome will remain a cycling venue, the tennis centre will be adapted to host tournaments, and the Carioca Arenas will become a Sports Academy School and multi-sport training facility. The Olympic Aquatics Stadium will be rebuilt as two smaller community pools.
AECOM was also tasked with delivering the strategy for reusable, temporary structures that could be moved and rebuilt as community facilities and schools after the Games.
Venues including the Handball Arena and Olympic Aquatics Stadium employ efficient, highly standardised designs based on modular, stacked and repeated bolted steel structures to ease dismantling and reassembly. This “nomadic architecture” approach will allow the Handball Arena to be transformed after the Games into four new primary schools across the city.
AECOM also provided full architectural services for the International Broadcast Centre, which meets strict environmental and sustainability standards while also fulfilling broadcasters’ needs in terms of power and data connectivity, acoustics and temperature control.
The Olympic Park is designed for more than 150,000 spectators to move safely and freely on peak days during the Games. After the Games, the focus will switch to turning the site into parkland, with AECOM’s landscape design strategy transforming large spectator areas into a new linear park for the community.
 

A new fixture has appeared on the calendar of international multi-sports events. The European Championships, taking place for the first time on 1-12 August 2018, has been described by observers as either a repackaging of existing championships or a serious challenger to the European Games – the continental mega event initiated by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) at Baku in 2015. 

The organisers themselves describe the event as a “coming together of existing championships”. Six sports – aquatics, cycling, golf, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon – will be hosted in Glasgow, with athletics taking place in Berlin from 7-12 August. 

The concept is run by and on behalf of the European Federations: European Athletics; Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN, or European Aquatics); the European Cycling Union (UEC); World Rowing (FISA), the European Triathlon Union (ETU); the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG); and the European Tour and the Ladies European Tour as Golf Europe combined. 

The broadcast partners for the event are the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)’s free to air members.  
“We were very happy to see that Glasgow and Berlin were supporting the idea and particularly that the federations took this major step forward to agree to this concept of having their European championships under one umbrella in the two cities,” says Stefan Kürten, Director of Eurovision Services & Sports Rights at the EBU.

Elevating sports together
“For us, this is a milestone in the development of sports in Europe. This concept will clearly contribute to maintaining European sports on this level where it belongs,” says Kürten.
“We want the public in Europe to focus on the top Olympic sports in Europe. We want to show to the public the top athletes in these sports that are already visible on free to air, and we want to centralise that. 

“By centralising them we are not creating an additional event; it is bundling existing events. We as broadcasters are not interested in more events. There is sometimes the belief that the more you create, the more interest you generate. I can say from a broadcaster’s perspective this is wrong. You have to focus on the top events and make them even more valuable. 

“Therefore we think there will be an increase in audience by these multi-sports events so that will be to the benefit of the sports and of the host cities and clearly also to our benefit.

“On top of that, we think by putting these events together we also want to emphasise the relevance and importance of European sports, because the cradle of the Olympic sports is Europe and we are afraid that if that part falls, gets weaker, that has an impact on world sports and we don’t want that. We think as broadcasters: let’s promote the strongest, push it further, and be creative and innovative. 

“The message that we got back from the members was that the broadcasters were extremely pleased with such a milestone event. We have 23 broadcasters with us already – the top broadcasters – and they will be all the main channels.”

Frank Kowalski, Managing Director of the Berlin 2018 local organising committee says: “Working together with Glasgow, we are really proud to be in the first move of this European project. 

“For the city and for us it wasn’t easy because the situation came after awarding the 2018 European Athletics championships to Berlin. But we are totally convinced that this is the right step for the summer sports to get the power against other sports like football. 
“We all have to learn not to produce what we like to produce, but what our clients like to have. I am convinced that we will have a lot of synergies and will take every opportunity we have for us, for the European Athletics Championships and for the city of Berlin. We have strong partners and we are getting closer and closer through the collaboration – and it makes sense.”

Scheduling around the crown jewels
“In athletics it’s very important that our time schedule is respected,” says European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen. “We have a long tradition in having our biennial Championships in this week and we made very sure from the beginning that our prime time had to be protected. We agreed that with LEN and with our Glasgow friends.

“This is the jewel in the crown for European Athletics and we have to protect that jewel and I think we have achieved this – we’ll soon be ready to give out the timetable.”

Paolo Barelli, President of LEN says: “What we are doing is very easy, it is not so complicated. The first period, the first part of the Championships, is for aquatics. The second part is for track and field, with one day of overlapping.”

“It is a coordinated approach,” says Kürten. “The idea is to have as few overlaps as possible but to have a natural flow of medal ceremonies and heats so we have on-going interest that is well coordinated.”

Colin Hartley, Championships Director of Glasgow 2018 says: “The collaboration to create a schedule that works for as many reasons as possible is already at version one. When we unveil that schedule it will be as good as we can achieve in terms of city, sport and of course for the broadcast viewers.”

The challenge of selling tickets
Tickets go on sale on 22 August 2016 – the day after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games finishes. Berlin has the biggest sales challenge, in filling the 74,475 seat Olympiastadion.

“For us it’s a very big task to fill the Olympic stadium in Berlin,” says Arne Hansen. “But I hope that all the excitement of what’s happening up in Glasgow will carry over to people in Berlin, so people will see next week we are in Berlin to see the athletics.

“We have gone into it with open eyes, even if this contract was signed before my election, which was one year ago. I am fully enthusiastic and behind it.

“We all remember Berlin 2009 and that incredible atmosphere. It was really something, because of one thing; you had the local athletes plus some superstars from Jamaica. But local athletes are what you need. 

“I am sure that the German federation will bring the best out in this Championships. 74,000 is a very big thing to sell, but if somebody can do it in Europe, Berlin can do it. We hope that they will have bigger viewership and more people coming to the stadium than ever.”

In Glasgow, the organisers are looking into possibilities for ticketing across the different sports. 

“On the back of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the appetite for sports is very much there,” says Colin Hartley, Championships Director of Glasgow 2018.

“People going to sports they haven’t seen before is a proven thing that they are interested. So on the back of that, we will definitely bring ticketing together. And we’ll be promoting the events in Berlin as they will in Glasgow. For the spectators, online and social media will be very much a seamless experience.”

A threat to the European Games?
The next European Games is due to take place in 2019, with EOC President Patrick Hickey having stated in November 2015 that Russia would be the preferred host. 

However, Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko is reported to have said that Russia never applied to host the Games and would be too busy to host any other major events until 2020. And with Russia’s participation in athletics at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games under threat from doping revelations, the country’s suitability to host the European Games is also under scrutiny.

Hickey and EOC Vice President Janez Kocijancic both contacted Host City to say the EOC would not be making a statement on this matter “for the moment”. 

Hickey also referred Host City to a letter he sent to the European Federations in which he stated that their contract with the European Championships management company would violate EU competition law, as it seeks to restrict them from "competing in another multi-sport continental event within a year of the conclusion of the 2018 European Sport Championships".

“I haven’t spoken with Patrick Hickey since the latest news about Russian internal things going on there,” said Arne Hansen at SportAccord. “We have an agreement with the EBU; our best athletes will be in Berlin. And if the conditions are right we will also be in the European Games.
“There will not be a European Athletics Championships of any kind in the European Games – no youth, junior, under 23, or senior. But I don’t say it will be low level. Athletics is a big sport; hopefully we can find other interesting things to put in the Games. I am not saying no to new competitions; that would be against my nature.”

It is also uncertain whether the EBU will put its weight behind the European Games. “We have had discussions, we have looked into it,” says Kürten. “It was difficult to follow the European Games on TV, there was not such broad interest in Europe. We think this is a bit of a different event, so for us it was clearly relevant to focus on the top sports.”

Barelli is keen to stress that the European Championships is not a threat to the activities of the European Olympic Committees or the other European Federations. “We are not creating any European Games. I know that someone tried to make some misunderstanding about that. Track and field manages its own championship; I don’t want to interfere with its championship, and track and field is not permitted to interfere with my championship.

“What we are doing is putting together seven sports, with the help of EBU, with the help of the family, with the help of Glasgow, just to have something more to add to the value of each discipline. It was very difficult to create but when someone put their mind to this project is was easy to answer the question why. We think this is going to be a good format for the future.”

Big host city sought for 2022
No additional sports are being considered for the 2018 event, says Kürten. “We didn’t want to overcharge; the idea was to go with specific group of sports that couldn’t clash; it couldn’t be too long. If you have the first edition of such an event it’s good to start with quality and not to overload it.”

If 2018 is successful, the European Championships will take place again in 2022. Arne Hansen says: “We have, together with EBU, together with other partners, set criteria for 2018. I that is fulfilled, we will go along with 2022.”

European Athletics already has 11 countries bidding for their 2022 Championships, in a process that was launched before the possibility of the combined event arose. 

“It is a huge thing that we already have 11 countries in Europe bidding for the 2022 European Athletics Championships. We will go out to them, together with the other sports, to find potential bidders from the 11,” says Arne Hansen. “We have already started a bidding process, so it would be very hard to go outside those 11 countries to find the next organiser for the next European Athletics Championships.”

Kürten says the aim is to award the 2022 European Championships to a major European city. “The interest when looking at host cities is clearly there; in this respect we expect this to materialise in a big city – that’s what we are trying to achieve.

Asked if the next edition will take place in just one city next time, Kürten said “It’s too early to say. That’s open; probably one city”.

This article is Host City's coverage of a European Championships media roundtable at SportAccord Convention, with further input from the EOC.