Arena Seating

How do you transform a beautiful-but-remote Scottish golf course into a world-class venue that caters for 200,000 fans and looks great on TV? As Kevin Roberts found out, a lot of high-spec temporary structures.

Countries and cities have various reasons for bidding to host an event beyond financial gain. Legacies can include improving the image of the city or country, putting it on the map in terms of attracting future events, creating a positive economic impact from increased tourism (the subject of a later report in this series), building venues and facilities that will enhance the health of a nation and help develop new sports stars, and improved infrastructure in areas from transport to telecoms and beyond.

Auckland was ranked first in the 2014 Ultimate Sports Cities rankings in the category of Legacy. Each major event supported by Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development (ATEED), the body responsible for such events in the city, must have a plan that sets out the legacy that the event organiser will work towards.

London was ranked second in the 2014 Ultimate Sports Cities rankings in the category of Legacy. The London 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were a huge global marketing showcase for London. The city is delivering the legacy of 2012 by maintaining the momentum and enthusiasm for major sporting events, and using its infrastructure, logistics and expertise to host more events.

At the end of May, London’s Wembley Stadium transformed from the host of an international football match to the setting for a world title boxing match in a matter of hours. Elisha Chauhan finds out exactly how it was done.