After extensive consultation with several senior figures in the business of major events, cities and sports, HOST CITY has identified a demand for a forum that addresses three major concerns:

• Cities are often on the fringes of the debate about bidding for and hosting major events
• There is a pressing need to create a dialogue between cities and rights holders 
• The rights holders of sports, business and cultural events don’t have enough opportunities to meet with cities and each other

HOST CITY: BID TO WIN, which takes place in London on 28th October 2014, with a reception on 27th, will satisfy this demand. 

Confirmed speakers include: Sir Craig Reedie, Vice-President, IOC; Hasan Arat, Executive Board Member, European Olympic Committee (EOC); Dimitri Kerkentzes, Counsellor and Chief of Staff, BIE, David Grevemberg, CEO designate, Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Mike Lee, Chairman, VERO; Peter Tindemans, Secretary-General, EuroScience; Janez Kocijančič, Vice President, International Ski Federation and Robert Datnow, Managing Director of The Sports Consultancy.

“Often, the subject of creating and maintaining long-term relationships between the federations and their public sector hosts is not fully explored,” Robert Datnow told HOST CITY.

“So, I am interested to see a conference which focuses equally on the perspective of host cities and rights holders which will I think create an invaluable dialogue on the relationship between the two, outside the context of any particular bid, which spans cultural, entertainment and business events as well as sport, where there are similar themes and much cross-industry best practice to share."

Topics to be discussed include: Olympic Agenda 2020; evaluating bidding & hosting, insights into successful bids, infrastructure, transport & security strategies; campaigning to win, and winning for the future.

“As a speaker, I am hoping to be able share insights from working with some of the world’s most major events and rights holders, particularly on bid structures, themes and components which rights holders specifically look for from bids,” said Datnow.

“Cities, along with regional and national governments, are often not given the voice they deserve at the major conferences, and often cities do not speak with one voice about the issues of common interest and concern.

“Governments have much to say to rights holders on the subject of bidding for major sporting, cultural and entertainment events, as one of the greatest investors in events and as one of the most major long-term beneficiaries. They also have much in common. Rights holders too have much to learn from serial bidders and hosts of the world’s most major events."

HOST CITY: BID TO WIN takes place in central London on 28th October, with a networking dinner on 27th October. Visit www.bidtowin-hostcity.net to register

A survey commissioned by the IOC has found that the awareness and appeal of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Winter Games was higher than any other sports or entertainment events surveyed.

The research, conducted by Kantar Media after Sochi 2014, took on board the views of 36,000 people in 16 countries. 

Announcing the results, the IOC said in a statement that Sochi 2014 reached a broadcast audience of 2.1 billion people, up 13 per cent since Vancouver 2010. The individual broadcasters at Sochi totalled 250, more than twice as many than at Vancouver.

The proliferation of digital media has boosted the reach of the Winter Games, with the number of broadcasting hours doubling to 114,000 at 2014 as compared to 2010. Digital video views reached 1.4 billion, up 334 per cent from 2010.

Athletes and spectators surveyed at the Games in Sochi rated their enjoyment of the Games very highly, citing the standard of the sports competition, the quality of the venues and the atmosphere as factors contributing to their enjoyment.

The Olympic symbol remains the most widely recognised of brands surveyed, with 93 per cent of respondents showing awareness. This brand recognition showed little variation across regions, gender and age. 

The values that people surveyed associated with the Olympic rings included global, inspirational, friendship, diversity, peace and excellence. In a further boost to brand integrity, the IOC was seen to be strong and strict on doping. 

The survey also showed “widespread recognition that hosting an Olympic Games brings benefits to the host country” – a welcome finding as the IOC conducts its Agenda 2020 review into the appeal of the Olympic Games.

Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland’s NOCs have submitted a paper to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) entitled “Olympic Agenda 2020: The Bid Experience", which proposes a revolutionary change to the process of selecting host cities of the Olympic Games. 

The paper briefly explains why all four nations have retracted bids to host Olympic Games in recent years, and sets out what could be done to make the prospect of bidding again more appealing.

The most bold suggestion is that the IOC Evaluation Commission’s findings should count directly towards the election of the host city. Currently, the host city is elected entirely by secret ballot by IOC members, after they have read the Evaluation Commission’s report, but this report does not directly count - only the votes do.

“The IOC could split the election into two equally weighted parts, one representing the technical evaluation with a ranking of all bid cities, and one representing the vote of the IOC members,” the NOCs’ paper states.

The IOC is currently undergoing a deep and wide review into all areas of its activities, with a major focus on bidding procedure. The findings of the “Agenda 2020” review will not be made public until November 2014 but the early appeal from these influential NOCs is a highly significant move.

All four committees have backed out of Olympic bids in recent years. The Austrian Olympic Committee was considering a bid of Vienna for the 2028 Olympic Games while the German, the Swedish and the Swiss Olympic Committees were looking into the possibility of bidding for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

“The striking element welding all four committees together is the fact that all above mentioned bids were not lost in the official bid process, but due to a lack in national or at least regional public or political support,” the paper states.

The NOCs of these established European nations spell out the concerns they have about bidding for the Olympic Games.

“Public and politics seemingly fear the high costs of bidding for and hosting the Games, especially in the aftermath of the increase of costs that was witnessed in Sochi as well as concerns relating to human rights and sustainability,” the NOCs said. “The situation is aggravated by the media picturing mistrust in the IOC.”

Another suggestion from NOCs is that the IOC’s role in financing the Olympic Games should be communicated more clearly to the public, pointing out that “the budget structure is quite confusing for uninvolved citizens.”

The letter is signed by: Dr. Peter Mennel, Secretary General, Austrian Olympic Committee; Dr. Michael Vesper, Director General, German Olympic Sports Confederation; Stefan Lindeberg, President, Swedish Olympic Committee; and Jörg Schild , President, Swiss Olympic Association. 

The concerns of the paper are being addressed by the IOC’s Agenda 2020 Working Group on Bidding Procedure, of which Hasan Arat is a member. To find out more, register for HOST CITY: BID TO WIN conference and hear experts including Arat debating this hot topic on 28th October.

As part of the Olympic Agenda 2020, a “strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement”, the summit addressed a raft of potential reforms which are set for further deliberation at the Extraordinary IOC Session in December.

A reform to the Olympic Games bidding procedure was one of the proposals discussed at the summit. The alterations, which were broadly supported by the summit, place a new emphasis on the legacy aspects of host city bids and how that can be brought to the population of the city as well as the surrounding area.

Potential hosts would have to exhibit how the Games would be a part of the long-term development plan not only for the city, but for the whole region and would include scrutiny into the social and environmental aspects of the developments. The summit also supported the need for Olympic Movement stakeholders to remain open to adaptation on these issues.

According to the Agenda 2020 proposal the new bidding procedure would also give more flexibility to bid cities but there would be greater emphasis on what the bid process, and the resulting Games, would bring to the host and its citizens from the very beginning of the bid procedure. These reforms reflect a growing trend in the standards set for host city candidates to provide more sustainable and legacy driven bids that take into account the wider ramifications of their event.

Convened by IOC President Thomas Bach, the summit centred on the three major themes of sustainability, credibility and youth, as well as 14 other sub-themes.

As well as proposed changes to the bidding procedures the summit focused on a new methodology to the Olympic Programme. This alternative approach would provide an event-based, rather than a sport-based, composition to the programme, which could lead to a greater range of events than seen previously while continuing to restrict the number of athletes involved.

The establishment of an Olympics Television Channel was also considered, with the notion of promoting the Olympics and its values in between Games, as well as new measures to ensure the protection of clean athletes in conjunction with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

To find out more, register for HOST CITY: BID TO WIN conference on 28th October and get the inside track on Agenda 2020 reforms.

Following the unexpected resignation of PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Organising Committee chief Jin-sun, the committee have appointed one of their six vice-presidents, Jung-haeng, to take charge in the interim. Jung-haeng will be briefed on the progress of the Games preparations on Thursday and will head the organisation until a permanent replacement can be found.

Kim Jin-sun left his post on Monday citing the need for new leadership. It was revealed yesterday that this had followed an investigation by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection into the financing and management of the Games, leading to speculation in the South Korean media that Jim-sun’s departure was not voluntary.

Jin-sun resigned in a speech to POCOG, saying: “PyeongChang 2018 is at a turning point for the latter half of its Games preparation, which requires more detailed planning and execution. At this critical juncture, I believe that PyeongChang 2018 needs new leadership and a stronger system that will effectively carry out various Games-related projects. And this is why I decided to resign as President of POCOG.”

Jin-sun was head of PyeongChang's bidding committee on two failed bids for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics and his position as chief of the 2018 Games was not meant to expire until October 2015

This all follows a troubled few months for the PyeongChang Games which have faced a slew of construction and sponsorship problems as well as the resignation of vice president and secretary general of the organising committee, Moon Dong-hoo, due to health concerns.

In May the IOC urged PyeongChang to focus on venue construction, test events, marketing and Games services due to tight timeframes. Gunilla Lindberg, chair of the IOC coordination commission, said: “The 2018 Games are on the right track but it is clear that much work remains.”

Following the resignation of Kim Jin-sun the IOC released a statement saying: "We have full confidence that these activities will be delivered by the POCOG team in a timely manner and using their existing processes. We continue to work closely with them on their preparations for the Games."

Cho Yang-ho, chairman and CEO of South Korean conglomerate Hanjin Group and airline Korean Air, led PyeongChang’s bid for the 2018 Games and will be appointed as chief organiser at a general congress of the organising committee in the coming days.

POCOG appointed their vice-president Kim Jung-haeng as an interim leader following Jin-sun’s unexpected departure but have quickly found a new successor.

Yang-ho is the current president of the Korea Table Tennis Association and vice president of the Asian Table Tennis Union but his appointment has been criticised by some because of his lack of experience in sports administration.

Yang-ho said in a statement: “Now that I've agreed to take on the job as the chief organizer, I will dedicate myself to ensure a successful Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, relying on my experience as the top bid official."

"Many people in and outside Korea recommended that I take this position and I also wanted to keep the promise I'd made with the International Olympic Committee to work for a successful Olympics here."

Yang-ho will come into the job at a troubled point for the Games with results from an investigation by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection into the financing and management of the Games still pending. 

The organising committee has informed the IOC of possible revisions to the locations of some of the Games venues and organisers are considering moving certain venues into locations in the Greater Tokyo area, some as far as an hour’s drive from the city centre.

The original Tokyo bid promised a compact Games with the majority of the venues located within a five mile radius of the Olympic village, far more condensed than many recent Games. Only the shooting, modern pentathlon and football events were originally planned to be held outside of the five mile Olympic village zone.

The new plans could see some venues being moved out as far away as the city of Saitama which could result in some considerable transportation headaches. However, organisers have insisted that the revised plans would be made possible with improved transport infrastructure whilst still cutting costs. The IOC has previously praised Tokyo's venue layout and have been impressed by the city's progress.

The cost of the Games has been a cause of contention amongst Tokyo’s citizens with protests being held against the new 80,000 seated stadium which will replace the current National Stadium.

Tokyo governor Yoichi Masuzoe has had to defend the new plans and told a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that he has a responsibility to Tokyo taxpayers.

“How can I persuade the taxpayers to pay this kind of money? We are working with the IOC and the various sports federations to make the Games sustainable. Legacy is very important. If you abolish everything after the Games who can accept that?” said Masuzoe. 

Samsung has been a part of IOC Worldwide TOP Programme since the 1998 Nagano Winter Games and the extension means the South Korean firm will now feature as a supporter of the Rio de Janeiro, PyeongChang and Tokyo Games as well as the Youth Olympic Games through to 2020.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “We are delighted to be able to continue our partnership with Samsung. The funding generated by the TOP Programme directly supports the staging of every Olympic Games, as well as every one of the National Olympic Committees, enabling athletes from all over the world to prepare for and compete at each Games.

Samsung will be the official Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communication Equipment and Computing Equipment category and has previously provided the Olympic Games with its wireless communications platform and mobile phones, most recently at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.

The expanded product category includes smartphones, tablets, laptops, personal computers and other computing equipment as well as desktop printers.

“Samsung also supports the operations of each Games by providing leading wireless telecommunications and technology equipment,” said Bach. “In addition, Samsung’s technologies and global marketing reach will engage fans around the world with the Olympic values and the Olympic Movement.”

Samsung said in a statement: “As mobile technologies have become an inseparable part of our daily lives, Samsung believes its continued support will play a significant role in bringing further innovation to the staging of the Olympic Games.”

The new deal means all of the existing Olympic TOP partners have committed to the programme through to 2020. Other companies to sign up to the IOC’s Worldwide TOP Programme include Coca-Cola, Atos and Panasonic who have similar deals, with each covering their own area of expertise. 

Beijing, which staged the 2008 Summer Olympics, is up against the Norwegian city of Oslo and Almaty in Kazakhstan for the right to host the 2022 Games, with the IOC set to select the host city on July 31, 2015.

The second edition of the Summer Youth Olympics will conclude on Thursday, and Bach told the Xinhua news agency that Nanjing’s organisation of the event had been “seamless”, echoing the thoughts of Chinese IOC member Yang Yang, who said that Nanjing’s success would lift Beijing’s hopes of becoming the first city to stage the Summer and Winter Olympics.

“Of course it can help,” Bach said. “Nanjing has shown again the excellent way in which China has been able to organise a big event, as well as the friendliness and hospitality of the Chinese people.

“It is a good showcase for China and will, of course, support Beijing’s bid.

“The organisation here [in Nanjing] is flawless. We haven't had any kinds of problems to solve so we have just been able to enjoy the Games with the athletes, the volunteers and the people of Nanjing.

“It has been a great combination of friendliness and efficiency at the same time. If you have the two together, you are guaranteed to have a successful Games.”

Former IOC President Jacques Rogge said earlier this month that, if Beijing were to be awarded the 2022 Games, he is sure they would “do a very good job”.

Bids for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be among the topics discussed by IOC Vice President Sir Craig Reedie and others at the HOST CITY: BID TO WIN conference, which will take place in London on 28th October. Visit www.bidtowin-hostcity.net for more information.

Under the capital city’s proposals, Berlin would utilise its Olympiastadion – the centrepiece when it last hosted the Games in 1936. Elsewhere, plans focus on the use of land at the still-operational Tegel airport, which will close down when Berlin’s new international airport opens.

Tefel is about a 15-minute drive from the north-west of Berlin city centre, while land at the centrally located and defunct Tempelhof airport would be used alongside a selection of existing sports venues.

Hamburg’s proposal focuses on the Kleiner Grasbrook area, roughly a 10-minute walking distance from the city centre. A newly-built Olympic stadium would be downsized to a 20,000 capacity after the Games and the Athlete’s Village would serve to address Hamburg’s housing shortage.

DOSB president Alfons Hörmann said that the decision to pursue the Olympic Games would have to accommodate any possible bid by the German Football Association (DFB) to host the Uefa Euro 2024 national team championship.

“Following the discussion process we will decide if we apply with Berlin or Hamburg and, where appropriate, at what time for the Olympic Games,” he said. “This will be done in close coordination with our affiliates, for example because of the possible application of the DFB for the European Championship in 2024. It is important to again be aware that we are at the beginning of a long process, whose clear aim is to bring the Olympic Games to Germany. But the crucial prerequisite for this is clear approval of the affected citizens and all social groups.” 

A bid from Germany would join a potentially strong field for the 2024 Olympic Games, with Paris, Rome, Baku, Doha, Dubai and Istanbul primed to enter the race alongside a South African bid. The US Olympic Committee is set to put forward one of Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Washington D.C. from its candidate cities.

Munich hosted Germany’s last summer Olympics in 1972, with Berlin having previously hosted in 1936. Berlin entered a bid for the 2000 Games, but was eliminated in the second round of voting with Sydney eventually awarded the event. Hamburg had put itself forward for the 2012 Games only for Leipzig to be chosen as Germany’s candidate. Leipzig was then defeated as the event went to London.

The DOSB has yet to announce a deadline over a decision on which city to back or if Germany will target the 2024 Games or the next edition in 2028.