Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.
Bidding process for host cities was unknown until 1984 during the Los Angeles Olympics. Cities that previously hosted were selected based on their financial capability. It was after this event that organizers realized about the surplus income earned and a calendar of events, which require host cities to bid, has existed. Several international events such as the World Masters games, Badminton Championships, and the UEFA champions league final are some of the highly sought events despite some taking only one day like the UEFA final. We shall try to understand the bidding process for the biggest sports events: the Olympic Games.
The Bidding Process
The bid process begins with the preparation and implementation of a bid to host the event. The process usually requires specialist expertise and project management but it is necessary to check whether it will be feasible for a particular city to host such a big event before the city can submit the bid. The purpose of determining the feasibility is to ensure the effort and the expenditures are not wasted (Masterman, 2009).
If several cities within one country are bidding to host the Olympics Games, the National Olympic Committee can nominate a host city to the International Olympic Committee. For example, the selection of New York City to bid for 2010 Olympic Games or just decide which city will bid to host as it happened in England where London was selected by the British Olympic Committee. Other cities which are limited in resources e.g. Havana in Cuba do not require rigorous processes. It is from this point, that the process for nominated cities becomes clearly understandable.
The interested cities contact their National Olympic Committees and then partake in selection procedures in order to be chosen by the IOC, in other instances, the NOC can inform the IOC of their nominated applicant city. The
Application for fees are usually US$150000 per city The fee entitles a city to use a mark with their city name and also allows them to access the IOC Olympics Games Knowledge Management Program and accreditation for an IOC applicant city Seminar (Masterman, 2009: 163).
After contributing the fund, the candidature acceptance procedure begins. The NOC nominated cities are classified and then given questionnaires, which they fill in writing. The information is then assessed by the IOC administration and experts under the governing IOC executive board. At this stage, there are usually no formal presentations but visits by city experts are allowed.
The IOC executive board then informs the applicant cities which among them have been selected and thus will proceed to the next stage. Generally, the cities are assessed according to their potential of holding a multi sports event, compliance to the Olympic Charter, code of ethics, anti-doping code, and other conditions as the IOC might set. The questionnaire consists of how several themes have been fulfilled and include among others: the motivation concept and public opinion, political support, finance and venues, transport and accommodation (Green, n.d).
Key Bid Components and Criteria
Several factors are critical for city to win a bid and they include: the gaining of stakeholder support, political risk analysis, knowledge of the bidding and evaluation process, recruitment of key management, communications and a thorough bid (Masterman, 2009:172)
The copy presented by each bidding city to the IOC is called the bid book. The Olympic committee requires 20 copies in French and English of what it refers as the candidature file and it is mandated with the power to control the contents of the hard copies from public domain. The files are then distributed also to other recipients including IOC members.
Preparations need to be thorough and list of themes consideration since it is on the basis of how the cities have fulfilled these themes that they are evaluated on. The difference between the hosting cities is usually defined. The differential is the key factor in winning the bidding rights. For example, by Sydney in Australia promising to host green games, it won the rights to host the 2000 Olympics. At that time a city like Beijing, despite fulfilling all the requirements, was dropped due to human rights issues though it bid again and won the rights to host the 2008 games. Experience in bidding is also a major factor, for example for Beijing to hold the 2008 games, experts focused on communication issues emphasizing the social changes within China and making a case for the country as a deserving host.
In other events, there are usually opportunities to gain differential advantage, for example, Phoenix Arizona won the bidding rights due to their newly planned stadium. Even before the secret ballot, several team owners were positive about the Phoenix bid.
Credential for holding successful games is another factor which drives countries and cities in winning hosting rights. For example, hockey Canada has staged world Junior championships several times and they are likely to host even more as the international Ice Hockey Federation president put it that no other country does better in holding the games than Canada even due to the high fans turn out during the event.
Commitment from all events stakeholders is another necessary factor for a city to win hosting rights. It is very important for the community to be behind a bid and most events recognize the importance of this factor by researching their interest and involving them in consultations. The aim is usually to convince the community that there are benefits which come along with hosting the event.
Knowledge of the bidding process is another major factor while other events recognize the presence of key personnel and prior knowledge. In this way, a bid gains professional credibility. It is also vital to understand the decision making process. The knowledge of the owning body and its corporate partners is also very important.
Bid teams also use figures with national and international influence. This has been seen in the case of England using Bobby Charlton a member of 1966 World Cup final team and the likes of Tony Blair and David Beckham for the 2010 London Olympics bid in which the city won.
Reference List
Green, E. (Not Dated). How to Become a Host City for the Olympics. Web.
Masterman, G. (2009). Strategic Sports Event Management: Olympic Edition. 2nd Edition: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.