Glasgow 2026 chief executive Phil Batty says the Commonwealth Games would not exist today if Glasgow had not stepped in to host the event after Australia's Victoria state cancelled its hosting bid in 2023.
Batty, 35, spoke the day after the closing ceremony, reflecting on a Games organised in just 18 months. Victoria pulled out over spiralling costs, leaving organisers scrambling to find a replacement host for an event that has run since 1930.
"If Glasgow hadn't stepped in, there wouldn't be a Commonwealth Games right now," Batty said. "This was a moment of absolute jeopardy for the movement."
"Their clock was ticking. And if we hadn't gotten to October 2024, quite frankly, I'm not sure whether we'd have reached the Centenary Games (2030), which is a really scary thought."
"I don't think it can be underestimated how important Glasgow 2026 is going to be in the history books, for the long-term sustainability and success of this event. Glasgow took a risk, but it took a risk knowing that the Commonwealth Games was something truly special."
A scaled-back programme funded without public money
Glasgow 2026 delivered a 10-sport programme across four venues, funded by Australia and Commonwealth Sport rather than public money, with little work needed on existing facilities.
"We shouldn't lose sight of the fact the Games were here in 2014," Batty said. "The fact the last Games left such an indelibly positive imprint in the minds and hearts of the people who live here is the thing that gave pause for thought."
"Ultimately, this has been a real team sport, putting these Games on. Over 11 days, we've seen exhilarating sport, a community energised, a city with its shoulders lifted up, a feeling of pride, and a hope for the future of the Games."
Ahmedabad eyes a bigger 2030 Games
The next Commonwealth Games, formally branded Amdavad 2030, will be hosted by Ahmedabad in India, which is already considering a larger format of at least 17 sports.
Batty said that scale was within India's gift given the size of Ahmedabad's population, but should not necessarily become the model for other future hosts. He pointed to recent events such as the World Cup raising questions over the cost of staging global competitions.
"This event was designed for THIS city," Batty said. "It's about looking at a place, talking to a place, working with a place, finding out what its superpowers are, and then co-creating a Commonwealth Games that plays to those strengths."
"Bigger isn't better. Better is better," he added, saying the weaving of para sport through the programme had enriched the Games, and asking whether the event brought depth to competition and felt inclusive across all 74 Commonwealth nations. Across 215 medals and 11 days of sport, he said, it did.
Josh Kerr, Emma Finucane and Archie Goodman among the standout moments
Batty said the athletes were the real stars of Glasgow 2026, citing Scotland's Josh Kerr among the standout gold medallists.
He also pointed to Emma Finucane, who won multiple golds for Team Wales, and Archie Goodman, who competed despite having a brain tumour.
"When you step back and look at these Games, you see sport front and centre as the reason we brought the Commonwealth to Scotland," Batty said.
£160million spent, hundreds of thousands of tickets sold
Batty said around £160million was spent delivering Glasgow 2026, more than £600million less than the cost of the Birmingham 2022 Games. Over 430,000 people attended venues for live sport.
"We wanted to be a greener Games, a more inclusive Games, and a financially responsible Games," Batty said. "It's not just about what we've spent, but how we spent it."
He said organisers invested in more than 270 community projects across Glasgow and, in partnership with the National Lottery, across wider Scotland, including community facilities that will be handed back as a local pool and a local athletics club.
Looking ahead to the Centenary Games
Batty said budgets for the 2030 Centenary Games are likely to increase significantly, but that innovating around each host city's needs should remain a key driver for the Commonwealth movement.
"You might see a twin-nation Games in Asia. You might see a multi-city Games in Africa. You might see a multi-island Games in the Pacific," Batty said. "The fact is that the Commonwealth is 74 nations who are all different, but who can still be united through sport."
"For me personally, great projects are driven by ambition and this one in Glasgow has allowed us to be ambitious and bold and creative, in a way I truly believe only Glasgow could do."
