LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND, 19 July 2022 – Today, BCW, a leading global communications agency, released its 2022 Ranking of Sports Cities, and for the first time in the 10-year history of the Ranking a city from Asia – Tokyo – has topped the list. Tokyo edged out Paris and London, which rank second and third, respectively. Los Angeles sits at fourth place and last year’s winner, New York, takes fifth. The BCW Ranking of Sports Cities lists the top 50 cities from around the world that are perceived to be most associated with sport.
This year’s Ranking shows that while in the height of the pandemic the event industry was rocked with uncertainty and restrictions, the current trend is that the largest and most prestigious international events are generating significant coverage and subsequently a positive impact on the cities hosting them. Most notably, this can be seen with the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup and the largest international circuit event – the Formula 1.
This is reflected in the fact that Tokyo, the most recent Summer Olympic Games host, jumped to the top of the ranking and upcoming Summer Games hosts, Paris for 2024 and Los Angeles 2028, held on strongly to their second and fourth positions, respectively. In addition, Doha, capital of Qatar, the upcoming FIFA World Cup host, jumped 13 spots on the Ranking this year with a full year to go before the tournament kicks off. Similarly, Formula 1 host cities also rose – most notably newcomer to the Ranking Abu Dhabi, jumping 25 spots, but also other Formula 1 host cities leapt in the rankings, like Budapest, Istanbul and Melbourne.
Find the full 2022 Ranking here.
Lars Haue-Pedersen, Managing Director, BCW Sports, said:
“This year’s ranking once again underscores the positive role hosting major sports events can play in terms of connecting sport to the image of a city. The world has changed as a result of the pandemic, but the impact of the biggest sports events on the perceived image of a host city is still strong – and seems to get even stronger. A lot of work goes into this annual Ranking and we are proud to deliver this piece of work to the industry and contribute to the ongoing debate of how sports events play a big role in improving the global perception of a city.”
About the BCW Ranking of Sports Cities
The annual BCW Ranking of Sports Cities evaluates top 50 sports cities from around the world based on a quantitative digital footprint analysis of the association between sport and a city (weighting 50 percent), combined with the perception-based views of leaders of International Sports Federations (25 percent) and major international sports media (25 percent).
About BCW
BCW is the global communications agency built to move people. BCW partners with clients in the B2B, consumer, corporate, crisis management, healthcare, public affairs, purpose and technology sectors to set strategic direction for all communications and create powerful and unexpected ideas that earn attention. Through an “earned-plus” offer – earned media plus paid media, creative technology, data, AI and an expanding suite of innovative capabilities – BCW moves people with power and precision to move its clients forward. BCW is a part of WPP (NYSE: WPP), a creative transformation company. For more information, visit www.bcw-global.com.
Based on extensive experiences, BCW Sports Practice has launched BCW Eventus™, a tool designed for attracting, activating and assessing sporting events – and therefore supporting cities in moving up to the next level.
Contact:
BCW Sports, Stefany Chatelain-Cardenas, BCW Switzerland
phone: +41 21 313 23 00
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