Bristol told spend £17m on 2018 World Cup, and get £150m back
The cost of hosting 2018 World Cup football in Bristol could be as much as £17million – but that would be eclipsed almost 10-fold by the return to the local economy.
The cards are finally on the table for the costs and benefits of Bristol's bid to bring the most-watched tournament in the world to the West Country for the first time.
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And the figures are staggering.
It is estimated that visitors will spend more than £150 million in Bristol during the World Cup, according to an independent economic forecast carried out for the Football Association.
More than two million visitors are expected and thousands of jobs will be created if the World Cup comes to town, according to latest numbers released by Bristol City Council.
Tomorrow, the Bristol bid team will make public their full report to the council's decision-makers, stating the case for bringing the stars of world football and the circus that follows them to this city.
The costs may pale into insignificance by comparison to the estimated benefits but they are mostly borne directly by the council, whereas the benefit will be spread far and wide across the region.
The FA was unable to provide a breakdown of how it arrived at a figure of £150 million, which is predicted will flood the local economy if Bristol was to become a host city.
Deputy Council Leader Simon Cook said: "We have though always said that we need to be prudent in considering the costs that would come with bidding for, and if successful, hosting matches. This is all the more true in tough economic times.
"On November 24 we will debate the benefits, the costs and the risks openly, and in public before deciding whether to submit our bid to the FA two days later."
If chosen as a candidate host city on December 16 as part of England's bid, Bristol City Council must pay a non-refundable £250,000 towards the marketing costs of England's campaign. The bid team has confirmed the £17 million figure includes £2 million transport costs, laying on the buses, road signs, stewards, and parking arrangements to ensure fans can get from city centre to the proposed new stadium in Ashton Vale or to and from the fan fest sites in Ashton Court, Eastville Park and Weston-super-Mare.
Marketing requires another £2 million. Project management, including legal and financial advice on the complex contracts with FIFA which are governed by Swiss law due to FIFA's base in Zurich, and all aspects of preparation in the lead up to the tournament will attract another £2million. Fan fests would cost £3million and the additional seating at the Ashton Vale stadium, £8 million, to take the ground up to the required capacity of 44,000
Stephen Wray, who is leading the bid team, told the Evening Post: "There are six days during the 2018 tournament when there will be no matches. We could stage major music events and charge as FIFA regulations on sponsorship etc lapse on those days."
If promoted to the Premier League before 2018, it is possible Bristol City will pay for the additional seating themselves.
To date, the council has spent just under £100,000 preparing the bid.
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by derek, Not in Briz
Monday, November 16 2009, 8:52PM
“I often have to point out to friends of mine visiting UK where Bristol is!When people come for the World Cup,they go home,apart from the football.Having learnt what a great place it is.Roman Bath,the Gorge,the Severn,Cheddar etc,and the wonderful surrounding countryside.They go home and tell everyone about it,this could mean in the future that far more tourists will visit the West Country.Hope Bristol gets the nod!”
by Mitch, Ashton Vale
Monday, November 16 2009, 6:54PM
“Tim, no England has not been guaranteed the World Cup, so where is the money being wasted so far?”
by Tim, Bristol
Monday, November 16 2009, 4:37PM
“Am I missing something here or has England not actually even been guaranteed it will be hosting any world cup games at any time in the foreseeable future?
Stop wasting our money on frivolous speculation that will only benefit those who are already wealthy.”
by Mitch, Ashton Vale
Monday, November 16 2009, 3:29PM
“It costs a Nation on average £430m to set up a World Cup as long as the infrastructure is in place, i.e. stadiums etc/ Wembley already exist and many others are as well. Bristol will be building a new stadium and the council will contribute £8m to expand this.
If we take the last world cup in Germany, they have stated it cost them around that amount to set up plus other contributions from FIFA and Private bodies, total was around £600m. However, they have already stated that since th world cup in 2006, Germany has made a profit of £1.9bn alone in just the world cup itself and since then billions more in business, tourism, trade and manufacturing.
Broken down in short, this was mainly from media and sponsorship, Out of the £1.9bn profit each council recieved around £400m each alone in their own areas. Transport, parking charges, rates etc.... are the main contribution here.
Olympics are different and we shouldn't compare the Olympics financially as there is a gap between Olympics and Football World cup. For example, Sydney spent £6.6bn on their Olympics in 2000 with £2.4bn of it being public money. However, they have already stated that their economy has risen since then and continues to do so.
The UK is popular with tourists and trade/businesses. Germany are one of the countries out of a recession, they state some thanks to their recent world cup hostings.
I think 2012 and 2018/2022 are worth it, even if those against sport are not.”
by Robin, Redfield
Monday, November 16 2009, 1:09PM
“Funny how these global events are always going to make shed-loads of money, but always seem to end up over-budget & the money never materialises.
The London Olympics is already turning into a bottomless money-pit, & of course the world student games in Sheffield (some of you are too young to rmember these...) are still being paid for by the ratepayers up there.
Overseas, Athens, Sydney, Atlanta to name but a few Olympics have ended up being finacial disasters, & world cups are similar as far as I know.
The 1976 Montreal Olymics were predicted to leave no debt. Mayor Jean Drapeau had confidently predicted in 1970 that "the Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby". However the impossible debt ran into billions of $$s & wasn't paid off until Dec 2006 !!
Please can anyone name a global event that has been on-budget, & has made the money 'promised' before hand, & if you can't, why should Bristol escape with a positive balance sheet when history says this isn't going to happen.
Still, we can't be seen as 2nd best to Bath, they wasted millions on the spa, we'll outdo them with the world cup....”