Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games budget nearly double Glasgow 2014 Games
25 June 2019, 17:02 | Updated: 25 June 2019, 17:59
The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will cost the taxpayer nearly twice the amount spent on Glasgow 2014 with a publicly-funded budget of £778million.
The Games, which will see 5,000 athletes from 71 nations compete in 19 sports between July 27 and August 7, will be the biggest sporting and cultural event staged in the West Midlands.
The organising committee expects to sell more than one million tickets and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport believes the global television audience could reach 1.5 billion viewers.
Birmingham beat Liverpool in a truncated all-English race to host the event in December 2017 after original host Durban was stripped of the Games earlier that year after running into financial problems.
The budget, which was confirmed by Conservative peer Lord Ashton in the House of Lords on Tuesday, represents a 75/25 split between central government and Birmingham City Council, with the former providing £594million and the latter contributing £184million.
The total is slightly higher than the initial estimate of £750million because Birmingham 2022 is hoping to add three additional sports: beach volleyball, Para table tennis and women's cricket.
In a statement, Birmingham 2022's chief executive Ian Reid said: "These projects and others, which will receive additional and accelerated funding because of the Games, will benefit the city and the region long after our closing ceremony.
"Having our budget confirmed is a key milestone for us and we can now look forward to delivering a fantastic Games for the people of Birmingham, the West Midlands and the country."
