West Mids would 'make £150m' from World Cup
The West Midlands stands to gain £150m if England is chosen to host the 2018 World Cup today, Insider has been told. As a candidate city to host the tournament, Birmingham has spent an estimated £15m on the bid and would rake in ten times that investment if the city is successful as a host region, according to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.
The team behind the World Cup bid will discover today whether it has been successful. England has been shortlisted alongside Russia, Portugal and Spain and Holland and Belgium to host the 2018 tournament.
Fifteen stadiums across the country have been shortlisted as possible host venues.
John Lamb, spokesman for the chamber, told Insider the bid was costing each candidate city £15m – investment that the government has guaranteed will be returned to the city regardless of the country’s bidding success.
Lamb said that a winning bid from England, and Birmingham as a host city, would mean “thousands more visitors to the city needing to be fed and watered, which will inevitably mean a tourism boost for the region”.
“Businesses in the region must take advantage of that,” he said.
Aston Villa’s ground, Villa Park, is the only stadium in the West Midlands to have been shortlisted as a hosting venue.
The spokesman said: “Birmingham is already very well placed to host a global tournament – it has already staged big sporting, entertainment and political events, and the NEC is one of the best conference centres in the world. It has been confirmed that the city will host a major athletics tournament and pre-Wimbledon matches next summer.
“Winning the World Cup bid would be the icing on the cake.”
FIFA officials will announce the successful host country at 3pm today.
