SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Cities 2016 shortlist unveiled

The final 10 contenders for the crown of SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City 2016 have been unveiled.

The contenders were whittled down from a shortlist of 30 following an assessment after cities uploaded detailed questionnaires using a cloud-based evaluation system developed by PerforMind. Speaking about the final 10, head judge Rachael Church stated "we normally announce the final five contenders at this stage of the process but as the scores are so close between several of the cities, we had to expand it to 10.”

The 10 cities that remain in the process to be considered the overall SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City of 2016, a biennial award are, in alphabetical order: Auckland; Calgary, Canada; Copenhagen, Denmark; Glasgow, Scotland; London, United Kingdom; Los Angeles, USA; Manchester, United Kingdom; Melbourne; New York, USA and Tokyo, Japan. The list includes previous overall winner Melbourne (which triumphed in 2006, 2008 and 2010) and the incumbent Ultimate Sports City of London (winner in 2012 and 2014).

The top five contenders in each of the SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Cities 2016 Award categories were also announced in categories including Best Hosting, Best Venues, Best Transport and Infrastructure, Best Accommodation, Best Event Strategy, Best Legacy, Best Quality of Life/Economic Impact, Best Public Support/Tourism, Best Security and Best Marketing/Branding.

In addition, the top five cities were revealed for the coveted SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City at 10 Anniversary Award, which will celebrate the city with the greatest impact over the 10 years that the awards have been in existence. The contenders are Berlin, Germany; London; Melbourne; New York and Sydney.

The cities that have made the category shortlists will now be evaluated by a team of independent external judges who are all experts in their respective fields.

The ‘SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Cities Awards’ are the internationally recognised and longest established rankings of the world’s top sports hosts and have been held every two years since 2006.

30 cities out of an original list of 150 made the cut to be considered the SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City of 2016. Representing all the continents in the world, the list of 30 cities included many candidates that have featured in the five previous editions between 2006 and 2014, as well as some interesting new entrants.

The final results will be announced at SportAccord Convention in Lausanne, Switzerland in April 2016, where the prize of Ultimate Sports City 2016 will be presented to the winning city alongside awards for individual winners across the scoring categories as well as by size of city.

Shortlists for SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Awards 2016

Overall Ultimate Sports City 2016: Auckland, Calgary, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, New York and Tokyo.

Anniversary Award, Ultimate Sports City at 10: Berlin, Germany; London; Melbourne; New York and Sydney

Best Hosting: Auckland, London, Melbourne, New York and Tokyo

Best Venues: Glasgow, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne and New York

Best Transportation: Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris, Manchester and New York

Best Accommodation: Berlin, London, Melbourne, New York and Tokyo

Best Event Strategy: Auckland, Copenhagen, London, Melbourne and New York

Best Legacy: Calgary, Glasgow, London, Los Angeles and Manchester

Best Quality of Life/Economic Impact: Calgary; Melbourne; New York; Tokyo and Vancouver, Canada

Best Public Support/Tourism: Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne and New York

Best Security: Auckland; Calgary; Doha, Qatar; Singapore and Tokyo

Best Marketing/Branding: Copenhagen, Glasgow, London, Melbourne and New York

Best Newcomer: Cardiff, Wales: Durban, South Africa; Gold Coast; Los Angeles and Stockholm, Sweden

Best Home-Grown Event: Auckland; Copenhagen; Dubai, UAE; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Paris

The overall winner and category winners will be announced at the SportAccord Convention in Switzerland in April. 

Click here for details of the SportAccord Convention in Australasian Leisure Management industry Calendar.

Images: Eden Park from the air (top) and Melbourne's Albert Park (below).

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