How to wow a global audience: experience shows that staging sporting events for economic gain or political purposes rarely works.
Berlin and the 1936 Olympics
In the wake of Germany’s brilliant triumph in the 2014 World Cup, it’s worth casting an eye over my 2006 piece, written on the eve of the World Cup final in Berlin that year. I wrote then that: “The only reliable way to wow a global sports audience is with – wait for it – outstanding sporting achievement”.
The 1936 Olympic Stadium in Berlin
Winning? Or hosting?
Who do we remember most from the 2014 World Cup? Is it Brazil, for hosting the event? All those stadia being built, amidst controversy?
Or do we remember the fact that Germany won the tournament? Indeed, we might also remember the famous Germany-Brazil semi-final. In that match Germany, astonishingly, humbled the most famous team in the world 7:1.
What a night that was.
I took the picture, by the way, in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, built for the 1936 Games and restored for the 2006 World Cup final.
If you would care to read my article about how to wow a global audience at the link, I should add that the sub-editors write the headlines – not the journalists!
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