British Basketball mulls 2015 European Championship bid

November 29, 2010

British Basketball has appointed Capita Symonds Sport & Leisure Consulting to undertake a feasibility study into the potential of hosting the men’s European Championship Finals.
Share Capita Symonds is a division of the Capita Group and employs 4,500 people in over 60 offices across the UK. The Sport & Leisure Consulting team has completed a number of similar studies in recent years, including for the World Athletics Championships, 2014 European Swimming Championships and 2015 Rugby World Cup (for Scotland). The team will be supported by The Sport & Leisure Consultancy.
The study, which is jointly funded by British Basketball and UK Sport, will explore potential venues and logistics of such a major sporting event as EuroBasket being hosted in the UK. If the findings of the study prove positive, and it is given the go ahead by British Basketball and the home nations, a formal expression of interest could be required in early 2011.
At this stage hosting both 2015 and 2017 will be considered by Capita Symonds and such iconic indoor venues as the O2, Olympic Arena 3, Liverpool Echo Arena, Manchester MEN Arena and the new Glasgow Commonwealth Games arena could form part of a future British bid.
The feasibility study into hosting the men’s European Championship Finals is a further strand in British Basketball’s Towards 2016 and beyond (T16) strategy, which aims to provide a lasting legacy for basketball in the UK after the London Olympic games in 2012.
Chris Spice, British Basketball Performance Director, who is leading the study said: “If we do want to be a regular player on the largest basketball stage in Europe and if we are serious about creating a lasting legacy from our participation in the London Olympics in 2012, then we have to host such events as the EuroBasket finals. We are grateful that our vision is being supported by UK Sport and we thank them for their assistance in supporting this feasibility study. Capita Symonds made an impressive bid and we are looking forward to working with them over the coming months to see if this is feasible. We hope the entire basketball community in the UK will be excited by the prospect of hosting a major sporting event on this scale and look forward to their involvement.”
Although British Basketball is playing a leading role into the feasibility study, any formal bid would also need the full backing of the UK basketball home nations.
Keith Mair, CEO from England Basketball commented: “England Basketball strongly supports the initiative taken by British Basketball to obtain UK Sport funding to assess the feasibility of staging the highly ranked men’s EuroBasket tournament in 2015 or 2017. Along with the World Championships and Olympic Games this event ranks as one of the Big Three of international basketball and would attract a great many visitors along with vastly increasing the profile of the sport in Britain.”
Basketball Scotland is also in full support of the work being undertaken, CEO Kevin Pringle stating: “This is another example of the home nations working together for the good of the sport. We all recognise that the potential of hosting either the 2015 or 2017 can only have a positive impact on the sport.”
Will Jones, President of Basketball Wales, commented: “It is important for the long term growth that we are continually looking to unearth opportunities for the sport in the UK. As one of the home basketball nations, it is imperative that we offer our full support and backing to the prospect of hosting a European Championship. We shall continue to work together to ensure a comprehensive feasibility study is compiled.”