Canadians are not yet claiming victory, but they are already chilling the champagne. Barring a reversal of fortune, the 2030 Centennial Commonwealth Games will be held in Hamilton, Ontario. Louis Frapporti, Hamilton’s bid manager, told Reuters that the Canadian project has the support of the federal and provincial governments, and no other city has formally expressed an interest in hosting the multi-sport event. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is expected to award the 2030 edition to Hamilton next year, where the first edition of the sporting event was held 100 years ago. It was then called the British Empire Games and featured only six sports: athletics, boxing, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and wrestling. “Without wishing to jinx ourselves, we are clearly the favourite, if only because we have put a lot of time and energy into developing our proposal,” explained the Canadian. “The only other country we’re hearing about is New Zealand. But what we understand is that we are so far ahead of them in terms of preparing a bid that they are more likely to be interested in 2034 than 2030.” The projected budget for the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Hamilton had been set at C$1.5bn (€1.14bn at today’s prices), but this has been reduced to $1bn, roughly the same cost as the Birmingham 2022 Games. It includes a private sector contribution of $250-500 million. Topping the construction list is the athletes’ village and the renovation of the FirstOntario Centre, an outdoor venue in downtown Hamilton. Both projects would be funded by private partners.
