Cost increase: Licence for World Cycling Championships costs over 10 million euros

The next Cycling World Championships will take place in 2026 in Montreal took place. The city had to pay 8 million Swiss francs for the licence. In future, it will be even more expensive: 10 million Swiss francs, i.e. around 10.7 million euros, will then be due. This is according to the so-called Bid Guide published by the UCI. If you want to bring the rainbow jerseys to your home country in 2032, you will have to transfer money to the UCI when you apply: 30,000 francs is the fee that must be included with every World Championship application. The UCI must receive the letter of application and the transfer in January, a contract is signed in June and the UCI Management Committee votes on the awarding of the World Cycling Championships in September.

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World Cycling Championships lure with TV presence

The UCI attracts bidders with the large global TV presence and the associated advertising impact. For example, 250 million viewers worldwide would see TV images of the World Cycling Championships. In 100 countries, according to the UCI, there is a Reporting. On the basis of the 2021 World Cycling Championships in Flanders, the UCI is also promising major economic revenue from the World Championships. At the time, visitors spent 36 million euros - 18.4 million euros for overnight stays alone. Understandably, the UCI does not mention the increased costs for the organisation. High revenues are guaranteed for the World Cup organiser - but past experience shows that the high costs sometimes result in a deficit.

World Cup 2024 with a large deficit

One example of high losses was the UCI Cycling World Championships in the Switzerland The UCI Cycling and Para-Cycling Road World Championships Zurich 2024 reported a deficit of 4.5 million Swiss francs (approx. 4.7 million euros). Although the organisation of the World Championships from 21 to 29 September 2024 generated income of around 19 million Swiss francs, the expenses of 23.5 million Swiss francs were significantly higher than expected. In particular, the costs for securing the course were higher than planned. The organising association had to apply to the competent court for a provisional debt-restructuring moratorium. The organisation had applied for financial support from the public sector in order to restructure and settle outstanding claims from creditors.