City of Sports in a post—applicant state

Andreas Hebbel-Seeger

16th Annual International Conference on Sports: Economic, Management, Marketing & Social Aspects, 9-12 May 2016, Athens, Greece

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In March 2015 Hamburg was nominated by the national Olympic Committee as the German candidate city to apply for the Olympic Summer Games 2024.

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On the political level the application was linked to a formal approval (vote) by the citizens of Hamburg.

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The referendum date had been set early in the application process and the vote was executed on November, 29th in 2015.

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The initially given forecast of relatively high approval (60-75%) couldn’t be confirmed:

The citizens of Hamburg rejected the application by a close vote.

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The potential reasons may vary on different levels.

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The national competition against the „big“ neighbor and the capital Berlin was for many much more emotional and tangible in comparison to the international competition.

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In terms of cost allocation for the application no agreement could be reached between the federal government and the city of Hamburg.

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Scandals in international sports (FIFA, Athletics Federation) forewent the referendum and reinforced the doubts about the transparency and ethical clarity in sports organizations.

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The emigration of refugees from the Middle East to Europe became a key challenge with incalculable social and economic consequences.

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The terrorist attacks in Paris on Nov., 13th - among the targets of which was a stadium during the soccer match between France and Germany, - caused uncertainty and fear affecting other sports events.

A few days later the stadium in Hannover was evacuated shortly before the soccer game between Germany and the Netherlands.

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These are the possible causes - communication is therefore most likely the reason.

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Focus on the ration aspects of public communication as well as numerous public discussions (cost, revenue, urban development, sports facilities, tourism, accessibility, reuse, etc.).

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Nevertheless, it was not possible to activate the sufficient part of the members of Hamburg’s sports organizations.

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Emotional and nonrational aspects of staging the Olympics were not transferred properly:

the orientation towards the biggest sports and cultural festival in the world.

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The power of enthusiasm like it was shown in 2012 during the welcome back from London celebration for the German Olympians.

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Nowadays the situation of sports in Hamburg is a disaster.

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The financial support of athletes is being cut back (even in the Olympic year).

Major sports events are being canceled.

Sponsors are pulling out of the regional sports.

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Sportspeople complain about a lack of appreciation.

Business organizations complain about a lack of perspective.

Sports is barely a topic on the political agenda; lacking ideas with potential for the future.

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There is no „culture of failure“ - even the defeat can teach one a lot.

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The profit of sports events is gained on its emotional level: no soccer fan would ever ask for a refund of a purchased ticket.

But how to turn citizens into fans?

How to make them ambassadors of their own matter?

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Similar approaches can be accomplished successfully as we have witnessed.

This is a good base to build on in a future - that is hopefully not too far away.

But some research needs to be done first...

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International Hamburg Congress on Sports, Economics and Media 12.-13. September 2016

„Sports and urban development“ www.symposium-hamburg.com

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Prof. Dr. Andreas Hebbel-Seeger Local Head of Media School Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, Campus Hamburg Gertrudenstr. 3 | 20095 Hamburg | Germany

eMail: a.hebbel-seeger@macromedia.de

Presentation: www.slideshare.net/ahsHH