THE Comeback GAMES

GLASGOW 2026

In 2023, when Victoria withdrew as host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, it cast doubt over the event’s future. Following a successful Games in Glasgow, an independent report suggests the competition has found a sustainable way forward

First held as the British Empire Games 96 years ago, the Commonwealth Games were plunged into crisis in 2023 when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew as host over mounting costs. Having staged the event in 2014, Glasgow stepped in, offering a cost-effective solution based largely on venues and expertise already in place. The scaled-down, 11-day Games featured 10 sports, running from the opening ceremony on 23 July to the final track cycling and Para track cycling events on 2 August. That compared with the 17 sports contested when the city last held the event 12 years earlier.

Size isn’t everything

Despite the smaller programme, Glasgow 2026 still brought together around 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories, competing for 1,168 medals across 215 medal events. More than 630,000 people engaged through competition venues, live sites and the Glasgow 2026 Festival, while 434,000 ticketed spectators attended the sport itself.

More than 4,000 volunteers contributed 156,110 hours, finals sessions sold out and the Games’ social channels generated almost half a billion views. Eight million Australians watched the opening weekend, while organisers said Glasgow 2026 became the most-watched sporting event on HBO Max in the UK since its launch, excluding football.

Those numbers matter because Glasgow was never intended to replicate the scale of either Glasgow 2014 or Birmingham 2022. It was designed to test whether the Games could remain attractive to athletes, spectators, broadcasters and sponsors while becoming cheaper, more flexible and less environmentally demanding.

As the games closed, the views and assessments have been hugely positive. If Glasgow was to be a “make or break” moment for the Commonwealth Games, it is clear that there is a future for the event. Commonwealth Sport President, Dr Donald Rukare, said Glasgow 2026 had “exceeded expectations”, arguing that innovation, sustainability and athlete experience had worked together in a way that could pave the way for the Games.

Glasgow 2026 chief executive Phil Batty said its greatest legacy was “what now feels possible elsewhere”. Commonwealth Sport chief executive Katie Sadleir called it “a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow”.

A proof of concept

That view is reinforced by The Story So Far: Game Changer Glasgow 2026, an independent interim evaluation commissioned by Commonwealth Sport and the Glasgow 2026 Organising Company, working with sustainability consultancy The Bulb and the University of the West of Scotland. The report describes Glasgow as a “proof of concept for the future” and assesses delivery against four principles: creating a greener, more inclusive, more welcoming and financially responsible Games.

Glasgow 2026’s projected privately funded operating spend is £162.6m, compared with £543m for Glasgow 2014 and £680m for Birmingham 2022, with the UK Government separately underwriting safety and security costs. The event was delivered in around 18 months by approximately 400 staff – described in the report as the fastest turnaround in major international sport.

This was not achieved by leaving Glasgow without a facility legacy. Around £4.7m wasinvested in improvements, including a new Mondo athletics track and replacement pitch at Scotstoun Stadium and upgrades at Tollcross International Swimming Centre. Rather than constructing venues whose future use would need to be found later, the money strengthened established community and high-performance assets.

Glasgow staged the largest integrated Para sport programme in Commonwealth Games history, comprising 47 medal events across six sports

The entire competition programme was staged within an eight-mile corridor using existing venues. All competition sites ran on renewable electricity from the Scottish grid, more than 90% of temporary overlay was hired and returned for reuse, and 71% of Games transport was hybrid or electric. The event also achieved ISO 20121 certification for sustainable event management.

Inclusion was another defining feature.

Glasgow staged the largest integrated Para sport programme in Commonwealth Games history, comprising 47 medal events across six sports. The first gold awarded was in Para powerlifting, underlining that Para sport was part of the main event rather than an addition to it. More than 750 organisations joined the All In community programme; 161 festival grants reached all 23 Glasgow wards; and £2.2m of National Lottery funding supported 110 Games-inspired projects across Scotland.

A model, not a template

The most important legacy may be the delivery model itself. Glasgow demonstrated that a host does not necessarily need an extensive construction programme, a fixed number of sports or most of a decade to prepare. Instead, the Games can be shaped around a city’s assets, finances and priorities.

That does not mean every host should reproduce Glasgow’s compact, 10-sport edition. The city benefited from venues developed for 2014, an experienced major-events workforce and an established Games identity. A less mature host may need greater capital investment and longer preparation. There are also consequences to a reduced programme, particularly for excluded sports and athletes. The challenge will be preserving flexibility without weakening the Games’ sporting relevance.

A full evaluation due later in 2026 will include athlete, volunteer and visitor surveys, case studies and an economic impact assessment. Until then, the findings represent strong early evidence rather than a final verdict. Even so, seven nations have expressed interest in staging future editions, indicating that confidence is returning.

Next stop: Amdavad 2030

The baton has now been passed to Amdavad, India, which will stage the centenary Commonwealth Games in 2030. The city was unanimously ratified by the 74 Commonwealth nations and territories in November 2025, making it India’s second host after Delhi 2010.

Amdavad will return to “full-size” and is set to be larger than Glasgow, with between 15 and 17 sports. Athletics, swimming, table tennis, bowls, weightlifting, artistic gymnastics, netball and boxing are already identified as core sports, alongside relevant Para disciplines. Other sports under consideration include badminton, cricket, hockey, rugby sevens, squash, shooting, cycling, judo and 3x3 basketball.

The next host has, nevertheless, embraced Glasgow’s central lessons. Amdavad has promised a compact and connected Games, with clustered venues designed to reduce travel and maximise existing and adaptable infrastructure. India also sees 2030 as an opportunity to demonstrate its ability to stage major events ahead of its ambition to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036.

“We will learn from Glasgow’s excellence,” Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi said as Amdavad took over the hosting role.

That may be Glasgow 2026’s greatest achievement. Three years after Victoria’s withdrawal raised questions over whether the Commonwealth Games remained viable, Glasgow did more than keep the event alive. It offered a credible route forward – smaller where necessary, distinct to each host city, but still capable of delivering world-class sport and bringing the Commonwealth together.

VENUES

Glasgow 2026 used four established venue clusters, all located within an eight-mile corridor. The Glasgow International Arena and Scottish Event Campus each contained more than one competition space

● Tollcross International Swimming Centre

Location: Tollcross – East End. Opened: 1997; substantially redeveloped and reopened in 2013 ahead of Glasgow 2014. Capacity: Up to 4,500 spectators per Glasgow 2026 session. Permanent seating capacity is approximately 2,000. Glasgow 2026 sports: Swimming and Para swimming. Usual role: A public leisure and elite aquatics facility with two 50m pools, including a 10-lane competition pool and six-lane warm-up and training pool. It is used for community swimming, lessons, club training, elite preparation and national and international competitions, alongside gym and fitness provision.

● EDF Scotstoun Stadium

Location: Scotstoun – West End. Opened: 1977. Capacity: Up to 8,500 spectators per Glasgow 2026 session. The stadium has 4,765 permanent seats, with its usual rugby-event capacity increased through temporary seating. Glasgow 2026 sports: Athletics and Para athletics. Usual role: Home ground and training base of Glasgow Warriors rugby union team. The wider Scotstoun Sports Campus includes outdoor and indoor athletics tracks, the National Badminton Centre, squash courts, a swimming pool, gym, sports halls, tennis provision, five-a-side football and indoor padel courts.

● Glasgow International Arena

(Velodrome and indoor arena)

Location: Dalmarnock – East End. Opened: October 2012, purpose-built for Glasgow 2014. Indoor Sports Arena Capacity: Up to 5,000 spectators per Glasgow 2026 session; up to 7,000 in its normal maximum event configuration. Glasgow 2026 sport: Artistic gymnastics. Usual role: A flexible arena incorporating a hydraulically operated 200m athletics track. It hosts athletics, gymnastics, badminton, basketball, netball, tennis, judo, cheerleading and other indoor sports, while also serving as a year-round training venue.

Scottish Event Campus (Hydro and Armadillo)

Location: Finnieston – west of the city centre

l The Hydro

Opened: 2013. Capacity: Approximately 13,000 during Glasgow 2026; the venue’s normal maximum published capacity is 14,300, depending on configuration. Glasgow 2026 use: Netball, plus the opening and closing ceremonies. Usual role: Scotland’s largest purpose-built live entertainment arena, hosting concerts, comedy, family entertainment, conferences and major sporting events.

L sec armadillo

Opened: 1997. Capacity: Up to 3,000 in its standard auditorium configuration. A separate Games-specific figure was not published and would have depended on the weightlifting field-of-play layout. Glasgow 2026 sports: Weightlifting and Para powerlifting. Usual role: Conferences, exhibitions, meetings, graduations, theatre, comedy, concerts and other live events.

L sec centre

Opened: 1985. Capacity: Varied by sport and hall during Glasgow 2026; no single Games capacity was published. Outside the Games, the five interconnected halls have no single fixed spectator capacity, with layouts adapted for exhibitions, conferences, concerts and sport. Glasgow 2026 sports: 3x3 basketball, 3x3 wheelchair basketball, bowls, Para bowls, boxing and judo. Usual role: One of Scotland’s largest exhibition and conference complexes, offering more than 22,000sq m of interconnected hall space for trade shows, conventions, concerts, sporting competitions and corporate events.

l Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome

Capacity: Up to 5,000 spectators per Glasgow 2026 session. In normal operation it accommodates just under 2,000 spectators, with space for around 2,000 additional temporary seats for major events. Glasgow 2026 sports: Track cycling and Para track cycling. Usual role: Scotland’s first indoor velodrome, with a 250m timber track. It hosts elite and community cycling, accreditation programmes, club sessions, Para cycling, youth development, training and major championships.