LONDON: London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants the city to bid to host the 2040 Olympics as part of an ambitious plan to make London the world’s foremost sporting capital.
The mayor’s office was publishing a report on Monday that says the staging of six events last year, including the Champions League final at Wembley and the London Diamond League meet, generated 230 million pounds ($306.84 million) and attracted almost 500,000 sports fans to the city.
“I’m somebody who loves sport, and I see the benefit of watching it,” Khan told The Times newspaper. “But what I thought we’d do is commission a report to work out the economic impact sport has.
“My ambition has always been for London to be the sporting capital of the world, and then to consolidate our position. Whether it’s boxing, the NFL, Major League Baseball; we’re talking to the NBA about bringing basketball to London. I think it’s so important. But what this report does is quantify the economic dividend we receive.”
The mayor has already joined forces with UK Sport and Athletic Ventures (a joint venture between UK Athletics, Great Run Company and London Marathon Events) announced on Sunday they hoped to bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships.
A formal expression of interest will be submitted to World Athletics in September, contingent on securing 45 million pounds ($59.91 million) in government support.
London will host the Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham this year. England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are co-hosting football’s Euro 2028 and are bidding to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup.
London has proven successful in staging lucrative American sports as well, generating “estimated spectator spend of over 600 million”, according to the 2024 Major Sports Events Impact Report for London created by Think Beyond, with more than three million fans attending since the first NFL London games in 2007.
If successful in securing the 2040 Olympics, London would become the first city to host the summer Games four times, having previously hosted in 1908, 1948 and 2012.
“I would like to see London become the first city to host the Games four times,” Khan said. “And if we have the World Championships in 2029, it means in the lead-up there’s energy, enthusiasm and investment in track and field, which means you will have the future Mo Farahs, the future Paula Radcliffes.
“Globally, everyone loves coming to London. And we’ve managed to stage a good event every year in the London Diamond League.”
Khan, who has been mayor since 2016 and is in his third mandate, said he was impressed by the show put on by Paris last year but claimed there would be no contest between who was the better host.
He highlighted how the eastern part of London has retained several of the stadia used in 2012, including the main stadium which is now home to Premier League side West Ham.
“I was in Paris last summer and I saw the transformation of their city,” he said, “But we could knock it out of the park in relation to the Olympics, using the assets we already have in the aquatics centre, the stadium, the velodrome.
“We could have some events outside of London too. London could be a hub. The greenest Games ever.”
Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2025
