Expert comment: beyond the World Cup: can Glasgow’s stripped-back Commonwealth Games deliver?

As Scotland prepares to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, questions remain about the event's impact and viability.

Dr Stuart Wigham examines whether this stripped-back, low-risk approach offers genuine benefits, or if it will struggle in a crowded sporting calendar.

1. What does Scotland stand to gain from hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2026?

Glasgow and Scotland have been offered a relatively low-risk and low-cost opportunity to host the 2026 Games. The majority of the total £150m funding for the event is covered by the £100m from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), derived from the penalty clause paid by Victoria, Australia, for withdrawing from its planned hosting duties. This allows Scotland and Glasgow to adopt the position of a ‘white knight’ by stepping in to sustain the Commonwealth Games movement by acting as a ‘host of last resort’, while gaining the potential economic and reputational benefits from hosting the 2026 Games.

2. Will those benefits outweigh the costs?

The benefits for Glasgow and Scotland are likely to outweigh the costs to the public purse, given that there is very little in the way of taxpayer money being allocated to the hosting costs or underwriting the event. This is a rare opportunity to host a major international sporting event, with almost all funding already secured in advance, reducing costs for the host nation or city. The opposite is normally true! That being said, there is always a risk of a spiralling budget or unforeseen circumstances.

3. At a time when public finances are under pressure, why should taxpayers support Scotland hosting the Commonwealth Games?

There was some initial concern expressed in the Scottish Parliament from across the political spectrum about the wisdom of taking on the event. There were worries that there could still have been a high cost to the public purse, which might not have been covered by the CGF's funding if costs ended up spiralling. This was despite the stripped-back nature of the 2026 Games in Glasgow in terms of the sports programme, facilities, infrastructure and status. However, now the delivery remains on budget, Scottish taxpayers can feel reassured that such risks have not come to pass. The potential benefits of hosting the 2026 Games in Glasgow can be realised over the coming months and years.  

If the 2026 Games are being scaled back to keep costs down, can they still deliver a lasting benefit for Glasgow and Scotland?

Most scholarship on hosting international sporting events shows that the rhetoric of the ‘legacy’ claims made when bidding for such events is rarely realised over the medium or long term. In this light, scaling back the costs and the ‘legacy’ plans for the 2026 Games is a pragmatic and sensible approach for the Scottish Government and the CGF alike.

Given that many people will be focused on the FIFA World Cup just days earlier, how confident are you that the Commonwealth Games will bring the attention and economic boost Scotland hopes for?

The 2026 Commonwealth Games are significantly in the shadow of the expanded 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup which ends only four days before the 2026 Games start.  The attention of the global sports media is on the World Cup as a global 'sporting mega-event'. The Commonwealth Games is a second- or third-order sporting event, with diminishing international appeal in a saturated global sporting events market.


There is also controversy about the 2026 Games being shown on subscription-only TNT Sports, rather than the free BBC where they have always been aired in the past. This has been leveraged politically by the SNP-led Scottish Government as an example of the lack of priority given to a Scottish event by the Westminster Government, and is framed as an example of Scottish concerns being ignored by Westminster.
The attention and economic boost for Scotland from the 2026 Games will be significantly lower than the previous 2014 Games in Glasgow, but this is also reflected in the diminished budget of the 2026 Games as a reflection of these lower ‘legacy’ returns.

Dr Stuart Wigham is a Senior Lecturer in Sport, Coaching and Physical Education.