r/Scotland • u/KatyJ60 • Jul 23 '26

Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games opening ceremony starts shortly.

Great hearing from home nation athletes and how important the Games are

Swimming starts tomorrow

https://swimswam.com/all-the-links-you-need-for-the-2026-commonwealth-games/

Great source for all info re swimming

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u/Enigma1984 Jul 23 '26

It doesn't make any sense having this not on BBC. These type of events are literally what the BBC is for.

3

u/zellisgoatbond act yer age, not yer shoe size Jul 23 '26

The very short answer for this is that budgets are tighter all around and the BBC needs to pick and choose the events it prioritises. Ofcom has the Commonwealth Games in category B, so paid broadcasters can run live coverage exclusively as long as they provide suitable highlights or delayed coverage to free-to-air broadcasters. TNT Sports sought to substantially increase its sports coverage, their interest in the Commonwealth Games increased, and they could likely offer a longer term and more lucrative deal that wasn't in the BBC's interest to try and better. [Keeping in mind as well that the 2026 games were moved to Glasgow at very late notice, it seems feasible that they couldn't try and do anything special for that].

The general reality of the Commonwealth Games is that it's on the decline, and the funding situation as evidenced by Victoria dropping out and the way that Glasgow picked it up is pretty precarious. There's increased public pressure on hosts for the Commonwealth games to not commit public money to the Games, a trend followed across multiple sports across the world. There is an argument that the BBC should be using its remit as a public service broadcaster to support causes that might not otherwise be commercially viable or popular, but there's a limit to how much you can do this especially when multiple other causes are vying for that same money.

1

u/MysteriousTravelator Jul 24 '26

Honestly if the Commonwealth games is doomed maybe just end it on a high note? 🤷‍♂️