Hamilton could host the 2026 Commonwealth Games — but does the city want them?

With Hamilton offered "first and sole" consideration for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, the city must now decide whether they want to commit to hosting the massive sporting event four years earlier than anticipated. 

But as the city works around the clock to get COVID-19 under control, Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said it's not an "appropriate time" to make decisions around the Commonwealth Games and that the bid group will likely have a "difficult" time getting city approval.

"We're in no position right now to be dealing with that kind of decision, given the current circumstances that we're dealing with around the crisis and pandemic," Eisenberger told CBC News. 

On March 26, Hamilton was selected as the country's preferred host city for the 2030 games, according to Commonwealth Sport Canada CEO Brian MacPherson. 

That same day, the Hamilton 100 Committee, which assembled the bid, was notified by the Commonwealth Games Federation that they could choose to host the 2026 games, as there were no other potential bidders. 

"It's been a heck of a roller-coaster," said Louis Frapporti, a lead member on the Hamilton 100 Committee." I think (this is) exacerbated, obviously, by the dislocation and disruption everybody's feeling with the pandemic." 

Though Calgary had submitted a bid to represent Canada in the 2026 games, MacPherson said the city was not selected because it didn't secure support from its municipal and provincial governments. 

Hamilton anticipated spending $1.425 billion on the 2030 games, though it's too soon to say what that price-tag will look like should they decide to go after the earlier date.

Eisenberger said he anticipates there will be conversations about the decision, though nothing has been formally organized. 

The mayor added that at this time, he prefers 2030 and is hearing the same from councillors because it offers them a longer timeline. The city isn't planning to make a decision until June or later, though their understanding is that the Commonwealth's international body wants to know by end of May. 

The bid group has until the end of April to express interest in pursuing the 2026 games. Should they choose to move forward, the group will start having discussions with all stakeholders, including the different levels of government, Frapporti said. 

To be officially awarded the gig, the bid group will need to satisfy all requirements and receive multi-party agreement. 

'We need to rebuild'

But, Frapporti told CBC, the COVID-19 pandemic complicates the decision to pursue the games in 2026 — mainly because ending the virus is currently everyone's top priority. 

On the other hand, Frapporti said, it's important to look ahead.

COVID-19 will have "profound economic consequences," he said, and the games might just help stabilize the local economy. 

During a press conference last week, Eisenberger said he didn't know exactly how much money the city was bleeding, but that he believes the figure is in the millions in terms of lost revenue and rising expenses.

He likened it to the Great Depression. 

"This is the first time I've ever experienced anything like this," Eisenberger said, adding that, "It is a bad movie getting worse."

Frapporti said he believes the games could help restore what has been "devastated" by the pandemic, including employment, stimulus spending, the tourism and hospitality industries, among other things. 

"We couldn't have expected the pandemic, but now that it's hit, the tornado has come through, we need to rebuild," he said. "This is a really, really powerful way of doing that much sooner than anybody could have hoped and that's a conversation that we think is important to have at the appropriate moment."

In addition to all this, part of the reason the city had bid for the 2030 games was because it would be the 100th anniversary of the first games, which also took place in Hamilton as the British Empire Games. 

Frapporti acknowledged that a big part of the support they received from the city and stakeholders was because of the significance of the event for Hamilton. 

"In my mind for Canadians and for Hamiltonians, it's the 100th anniversary and that certainly resonates well with me...and to celebrate them again 100 years later, right back to where it started from has a lot of cachet in my mind," Eisenberger said.

"So it would be a pretty big leap for me to to switch from that to go to another date that doesn't have the same kind of commemorative value to it." 

Should the bid group decide not to pursue 2026, they will likely have to compete against international bidders for 2030.