Ten-year deal to make Birmingham the home of indoor athletics

Birmingham is set to become the permanent home of Britain's top indoor athletics events, under a proposed ten-year deal between the city council and UK Athletics.

The agreement, which will be discussed by the council's cabinet on 7 September, would see the city host the Indoor Grand Prix and the British Indoor Championships on consecutive weekends every year from February 2022 to February 2032.

No more sharing with Glasgow

Until now, Birmingham has shared indoor hosting duties with Glasgow, taking the events in alternate years.

The partnership would also commit the council and UK Athletics to develop an athletics strategy for the city, exploring the chance to bring outdoor events such as Diamond League meetings back from 2023 onwards, along with other major events at the redeveloped Alexander Stadium.

UK Athletics will keep its headquarters at the Alexander Stadium, and at the end of the ten years Birmingham will have first option on renewing the deal.

A boost for the economy

The two indoor events have in the past brought more than 7,000 people to the city, with almost 1,000 hotel nights booked by those attending. The 2019 Indoor Grand Prix alone drew people from 112 different postcode areas, and 97 per cent of those surveyed said they would come back for a future athletics event.

The deal fits with the council's newly approved Major Events Strategy, which found that major sporting events brought more than £75 million of economic benefit to the city in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

"The home of athletics"

Council leader Ian Ward said: "This is a significant deal which underlines our undoubted status as the home of athletics in the UK."

"Our recent commitment as a council to purchase a new indoor track for use at Arena Birmingham showed how serious we are about sport and the positive impact of major events in the city."

"This partnership also supports jobs because it will provide a much-needed boost to our events and hospitality sector in a post-pandemic Birmingham and is another element of the Commonwealth Games legacy, as we will now have the clear support of UKA when seeking to secure Diamond League and other major events for the city."

A long tradition

Birmingham has a long association with athletics. The arena has staged the world's leading indoor meeting for many years, and hosted the World Indoor Championships in both 2003 and 2018. The Alexander Stadium, home of Birchfield Harriers, has staged national championships and Diamond League meetings.

The council agreed earlier this year to invest £1.2 million in a new indoor track for the arena, which will be needed if the city is to keep hosting top-level events.

With the Commonwealth Games less than a year away, and athletics at the heart of the programme at a rebuilt Alexander Stadium, the deal would give the sport in Birmingham a secure future long after the Games are over. UK Athletics and the council will also work with UK Sport and Sport England to attract more investment into athletics events in the city.