Play the Games: the value of international sporting events

Article

Hough, P. 2026. Play the Games: the value of international sporting events. The Parliamentarian: Journal of Commonwealth Parliaments. 107 (2), pp. 17-19.
TypeArticle
TitlePlay the Games: the value of international sporting events
AuthorsHough, P.
Abstract

The future of the Commonwealth Games has come to be questioned in the face of recent decisions to relinquish hosting the event on the grounds of their prohibitive cost. Such concerns, though, tend to be based on narrow transactional economic calculations that do not consider the wider benefits of organised international sporting events. These less tangible sporting dividends should be better appreciated in order to counter the growing narrative that the Commonwealth Games are anachronistic, irrelevant and not cost-effective.

KeywordsCommonwealth Games
Sustainable Development Goals3 Good health and well-being
Middlesex University ThemeHealth & Wellbeing
PublisherCommonwealth Parliamentary Association, CPA Headquarters Secretariat
JournalThe Parliamentarian: Journal of Commonwealth Parliaments
ISSN0031-2282
Publication dates
Print22 Jun 2026
Publication process dates
Accepted2026
Deposited29 Jun 2026
Output statusPublished
Publisher's version
File Access Level
Open
Copyright Statement

The published article is made available in the Middlesex University Research Repository with publisher permission.

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LanguageEnglish
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