Australia & Canada dropped out of hosting the Commonwealth Games

These are photos from Prince William and Kate’s appearance at the Commonwealth Games last summer, almost a year ago exactly. In 2022, the games were held in Birmingham, England. Will and Kate brought Princess Charlotte out for one day to enjoy the swimming and the gymnastics. The Commonwealth Games are sort of like the Olympic Games, except that at CG, only athletes from “British commonwealth countries” participate. And even then, most elite athletes (if they happen to be from Commonwealth countries) avoid it, preserving their bodies for the World Championships, their regional or national competitions or the Olympics. All in all, the Commonwealth Games absolutely lack a certain buzz. Following QEII’s passing, it looks like no country even wants to host the Commonwealth Games anymore.

The government of Alberta has pulled its support for a bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games due to rising costs. Tourism and Sport Minister Joseph Schow said the bill was estimated at C$2.7bn (£1.5bn; $2bn) – a burden “too high for the province to bear”.

The organiser of the Games has said it is “sorry to hear that Alberta is no longer developing its bid proposal”.

Last month Australia pulled out of hosting the 2026 Games in Victoria due to budget blowouts.

Alberta’s withdrawal means there are currently no other firm bids to host the 2030 Games. In a statement, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) thanked all of those who worked on the application and said it believed the Canadian province “could be a fantastic host” for the Commonwealth Games in the future.

Alberta’s initial plan was to host the games over 11 days in August 2030 with competitions and events spread between Calgary and Edmonton, as well as the Tsuut’ina Nation and Enoch Cree Nation. The CGF said dialogue with other potential hosts was “on-going”. In a statement on Alberta’s withdrawal, Mr Schow suggested the corporate sponsorship model and limited broadcast revenues would have put 93% of costs and risks on taxpayers.

He insisted the authorities wanted to be transparent about funding and demonstrating a return on investment. “That is why we have made the decision not to continue pursuing the bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games.”

[From BBC]

Ouch. The 2026 games aren’t completely canceled – there’s talk that the games might be hosted in London, or maybe even Scotland. There’s no talk about what will happen with the 2030 games though, as in, what country would take over. It doesn’t sound like any country is eager to bid for the games. Which is funny because haven’t there been multiple bids every year to host the Invictus Games? Wasn’t New Zealand trying like hell to host the games in multiple years? LOL. Anyway, most people aren’t even that aware of the Commonwealth Games, honestly – they do not have an international reputation, IMO. I wonder if they’ll just do away with the games altogether in the next few years, especially now that the British Commonwealth is at death’s door.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.