All the top five cities have made the cut again based on major sports events hosted or awarded between 2004-2012. Cities were also selected from each region of the globe.
“The list is extremely interesting this time,” says Ultimate Sports City author Rachael Church-Sanders, a consultant at SportBusiness, “with some nations such as Australia, Canada, China, India and Spain having more than one representative within their regions, thus highlighting competition within countries for hosting major sporting events.”
Now the shortlist has been determined, each city will be analysed and graded according to a number of criteria in addition to numbers and importance of sports events including facilities, transport, accommodation, government support, marketing, weather, legacy, public sports interest, cost of living and quality of life.
The 25 cities vying for the title of Ultimate Sports City 2008 are as follows (in alphabetical order):
Athens (new candidate)
Beijing (ranked 8th in 2006)
Berlin (ranked 4th in 2006)
Bridgetown (new candidate)
Budapest (new candidate)
Cape Town (ranked 10th in 2006)
Doha (new candidate)
Hong Kong (new candidate)
Istanbul (ranked 12th in 2006)
Kuala Lumpur (ranked 18th in 2006)
London (ranked 5th in 2006)
Los Angeles (new candidate)
Madrid (ranked 6th in 2006)
Melbourne (ranked 1st in 2006)
Montreal (new candidate)
Moscow (ranked 19th in 2006)
Mumbai (new candidate)
New Delhi (new candidate)
Paris (ranked 2nd in 2006)
Sao Paulo (new candidate)
Shanghai (new candidate)
Sydney (ranked 2nd in 2006)
Tokyo (ranked 9th in 2006)
Valencia (new candidate)
Vancouver (ranked 11th in 2006)
Readers or City representatives wishing to comment on the shortlist or contribute to the report can contact the author at rchurch@sportbusiness.com.
