Cities & Events Show: “Mass Events Are Great Platforms For Promoting Change”

Mass participation events are hugely powerful platform for cities to highlight important community issues and help drive change, and the business of putting on these events is increasingly a partnership with the host cities.

In the latest edition of iSportconnect’s Cities & Events Show, two experts from the mass events sector share their insights on the latest trends and developments with host Iain Edmondson, Director of the International Association of Event Hosts.

Nick Rusling, CEO of Human Race, which organises the likes of the Manchester Marathon and the Winter Run in London, with 15,000 to 25,000 participants, said that cities are increasing willing to give over their roads to such events because they see them as a partnership.

“These big events cause a lot of disruption and in return we know that we have to put something back into the community,” he said. Not being experts in what the cities need, companies like Human Race, which is owned by ASO, the parent of the Tour de France, work closely with the city to focus on where they can help on issues like homelessness and the environment.

Enlisting companies as sponsors  can be a challenge for mass participation events, according to James Robinson, Chief Commercial Officer of Limelight Sports, which recently acquired three big events from IMG, the London Triathlon, Blenheim Palace Triathlon and the Etape Caledonia.

Sponsors recognise the value of the events, with more people taking part than ever before, but there are also loads of events and that means competition. This can be difficult for events in the “squeezed middle” between giant events like London Marathon and smaller niche events.

The biggest challenge is getting non-endemic brands on board, he said.

Enjoy the show!