Grand Sports Ambassador
This past week, the Governor of Ogun State, Dr. Dapo Abiodun, appointed a Grand Sports Ambassador for the State. For all intents and purposes, it was the usual ceremonial title until he explained to journalists the responsibility of the new office – to supervise the establishment of a sports eco-system and environment for Ogun State beyond the National Sports Festival that starts in a week.
It was new music to the ears.
It is the first attempt in Nigeria to deliberately explore and deploy the power of sports to impact society beyond the usual medals and trophies!
For decades, sport has provided pyrrhic unification of Nigerians during major international events. That important aspect of the power of sport is neither sustained nor developed into a national project after the event.
Governments have not understood how to make sport a catalytic tool for socio-economic, cultural and even diplomatic objectives in Nigeria.
This new development in Ogun State will, therefore, be a first deliberate attempt to harness the power of sport beyond sport for which Governor Dapo Abiodun deservedly must take credit.
Amsterdam Arena Experience
Over two decades ago, I visited the Amsterdam Arena. It has now been renamed John Cruijff Arena in honour of the greatest football player out of Holland.
The visit was part of my early lessons in the study of the business of sport. During my participation at the first Soccer Expo in Singapore, the Dutch delegation prescribed a visit to the Amsterdam Arena as the first step towards enlightenment for all those interested in understanding the sports business.
I took the hint and visited.
It was to become a life-changing experience.
I spent two days in Amsterdam. Touring the arena complex was eye-opening, like moving from the pitch darkness of night into the bright sunlight of day.
The General manager’s introductory remarks became the foundation of my new knowledge: the Amsterdam Arena is the home ground of the biggest football club in Holland, AFC Ajax; the club plays its home matches once every fortnight inside the 56,120 capacity football stadium; the entire ‘ceremony’ of the match lasts approximately five hours on that day.
Then an earthquake of revelations that ertilized my imagination and captured my full attention:
1. The football match is the LEAST of the activities that go on in that sprawling environment that is brimming with activities.
2. The Amsterdam Arena never sleeps. It is a perpetual-motion machine, running 24 hours a day, ‘8’ days a week, all year long!
So, what are the activities that make the Arena a cash-cow, one of the most substantial contributors to the GDP of the Amsterdam municipality and of Holland?
The Amsterdam Arena is a magnet for the average visitor and tourist to Holland. It is a magnificent edifice and destination that has hosted some of the biggest business conferences and social events in the world. Its main bowl with a retractable-roof can sit 70,000 fans. It has hosted musical concerts of some of the biggest stars on the planet: Michael Jackson, Celine Dione, Beyoncé etc.
For business, the huge stadium complex has 63 executive suites, casinos, cinemas, studios, conference centres, souvenir shops, shopping malls, radio and television studios, museums, galleries, hotels, beauty clinics and parlors, fashion houses, outdoor and indoor restaurants, bars, night clubs, gyms, betting shops, viewing centres, fan parks, travel and tour agencies, sports shops offering AFC Ajax souvenirs, training grounds for other sports, medical clinics and hospitals, business offices and so on.
The Arena is a bee-hive of activity, day and night, with a little of everything for every patron and visitor that comes to Amsterdam and is pulled to the environment by the power of AFC Ajax. They are lavishly served fun and a full diet of genuine hospitality.
Lessons
In the business of Sport, the first and biggest lesson is that the least activity in the eco-system is the actual physical sport.
It is even more so when a country or State hosts a major sporting event.
Take the World Cup of football, for example.
From bidding to hosting the world’s most important and lucrative sports event is a period between seven and eight years. The least activity during this period for the host country are the football matches that take place at the very end, the one month of the championship.
The most engaging activities are turning the country into a welcoming environment to make the last one month of football matches a unique experience and greatest advertisement opportunity for the best aspects of a country.
The consequence is an embarkation on a gigantic project that becomes the biggest and fastest development program for the country.
For seven or eight years the entire country becomes a construction site involving modernisation of the sports facilities and infrastructure, and rapid development of all other sectors including transport, security, hospitality, trade and commerce, medical, science technology, telecommunications, broadcasting and the media, immigration, culture, environment, security, entertainment, business, climate change, and so on.
All of these are impacted in preparation to warmly welcome and to lavishly fete the over one million traveling army of fans and tourists from all over the world that follow the World Cup, providing them with the best experience the country can offer.
That’s why the process of selecting a host country (countries) for major international sports events in the world has become laden with deep politics and allegations of deep corruption.
The Gateway Games and Ogun State
Since the inception of the National Sports Festival in 1973, there has never been a deliberate action by hosting States to develop an economy around it beyond the Games.
Ogun State is setting a new target by naming a grand ambassador to oversee the take-off point of a sports economy for the State beyond the festival.
It will start with the careful establishment of a night-economy for the host towns, and how to sustain it after the festival.
The Ogun State government has put in place some important sports and other facilities that can be deployed to kick-start the program. It is an absolutely daunting challenge, but one that can be achieved with the divine favour of the elements.
The refurbished MKO Abiola International Sports City Complex in Abeokuta will be the epicentre of this revolution.
