ATHLETICS: London’s World Cup may have lost GDP 1 million!

The British newspaper The Daily Mail reported that the 14-15 July World Cup national team event held at London’s Olympic Stadium was a significant money loser:

“[I]nsiders believe it has cost UKA ‘in excess of £1million’ because of scheduling difficulties, poor ticket sales, issues with major sportswear manufacturers, a lack of appearance money and chaos around travel plans for the athletes.

“It threatened to be a disaster from the moment organisers picked that busy July weekend to stage the event at the London Stadium.

“Friction between Adidas and Nike meant the Athletics World Cup could not gain the contractual dispensation major events secure so that Adidas athletes, for instance, can wear Nike kit to compete for their country.

“Adidas-sponsored athletes were told they would not receive bonuses for competing, which had a huge knock-on effect on the quality of athletes taking part.”

The London Olympic Stadium capacity for track & field is about 50,000, but the event drew about 30,000 on Saturday and less on Sunday, when it was competing against the finals of the FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon. More details – and tabloid headlines – are expected when the annual financial report for UK Athletics is made public in the coming days.