The projected cost of the Games is calculated at approximately £114 million, devised by a team of experienced major event budgeting professionals using benchmarked costings. In addition to this we have budgeted a very prudent contingency.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) have made £100 million available to fund the core budget, with the balance sourced from commercial revenues such as ticket sales, broadcast rights, commercial sponsorship and merchandise.

There is also additional funding from the CGF to:

  • Invest in capital upgrades
  • Deliver activities during the Games to generate excitement and engagement outside the sporting venues

The vast majority of the funding, therefore, is secured and in place.

There are several controls in place to ensure the event is delivered on budget:

  • A contingency is included in the Games budget
  • Scope to adjust service levels to reduce costs where required
  • Potential upside to increase revenues due to conservative targets

It is worth noting that the last three Commonwealth Games events were delivered under budget.

The proposed budget is comparable to events of a similar size that have been hosted in Glasgow and similar cities in recent years.

The UCI World Cycling Championships, held in Glasgow in 2023, delivered a greater number of sport disciplines (13 v 10), with a similar number of athletes, for less than half the budget for the 2026 Games.

We have also benchmarked the cost for world championship events of the different sports being considered on the sport programme, and the vast majority deliver their flagship event for less than £5 million each.

Those examples provide further assurance that we can deliver events of a similar scale and quality given the budget proposed.