The Commonwealth Games are happening this year in Glasgow, but don’t feel bad if you didn’t even know it. This edition is already facing a huge uphill battle, reeling from the Australian state of Victoria’s damning verdict that the event was a “waste of taxpayer money” after costs spiraled out of control. Talk about a gut punch. Coming right after the World Cup, Wimbledon, and The Open, this low-key cousin to the major tournaments is getting almost no fanfare. It’s getting shuffled from host to host, totally stripped back, and increasingly anachronistic. Could this seriously be the end for the Commonwealth Games?
Hosts Are Bailing and the Bills Are Piling Up
This is the second consecutive Games where a host has pulled out, forcing another city to step in at the last minute. For 2026, Victoria flat out decided it was too much of a financial burden as costs got insane, with their own auditor general calling it a “waste of taxpayer money.” Ouch. Thankfully, Glasgow, remembering a successful 2014 event, swooped in to keep the Games on life support for at least one more go. But it’s a terrible sign when cities go through the whole bid process, get confirmed, and then back out when the money gets too crazy.
It’s not a new problem either. Back in 2022, Durban got stripped of hosting rights because they couldn’t meet governance and funding obligations. Birmingham came to the rescue then. And looking ahead to 2030, the Canadian province of Alberta desperately tried to bail on hosting, citing those same rising costs. Ahmedabad is now expected to step in for Edmonton and Calgary. The trend is clear: these events are getting too expensive, especially one that doesn’t have the Olympic or World Cup prestige, or the massive tourism and revenue boost that comes with them. Major sporting events these days are often given to autocratic petrostates with deep pockets, and none of those are in the Commonwealth. So, you guessed it, the Games are running on shoestring budgets.
Scaled Back and Shunning Athletes
What does a shoestring budget mean for the actual event? Well, it’s getting super scaled back. The 2022 Games in Birmingham had 17 sports, but this edition in Glasgow? It’s down to just 10. Think about that, almost half the sports cut! There won’t be any hockey, which is wild considering Glasgow actually has a National Hockey Centre. No racquet sports either. Even the athletics events, usually a massive draw, are going to be crammed into Scotstoun Stadium, which only holds 11,000 people, instead of nearby Hampden Park, which could fit 52,000. Corners had to be cut, for sure, but squeezing events into tiny venues risks the whole thing becoming a total damp squib with barely any spectators there to experience it.
And it’s not just the fans missing out. A lot of athletes are just straight up shunning the event altogether. The Games lack the allure of a World or even European Championships. Plus, they’re in an awkward spot on the calendar, just two weeks before athletics’ Europeans. It makes it super tough for athletes to compete in both. Sure, some British athletes like new men’s mile world record holder Josh Kerr feel that pull of competing at home. But others, like Keely Hodgkinson and Dina Asher-Smith, are notably absent. For some, like Rhys McClenaghan from Northern Ireland, it’s still a rare chance to compete for his home country. But how long will that be enough?
It begs the question: how many countries can actually afford to host a sprawling tournament like this anymore? And is the cost really worth it when it lacks the prestige and financial upside of the big-name events? The future is looking bleak.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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