Glasgow named as one of the top ten sporting cities in the world

Glasgow: The city has been named in the world's top ten list for sport.STV

Glasgow has been named as one of the world’s top ten sporting cities.

The city has moved up two places in the SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City 2012 Awards to number nine and has finished ahead of Olympic cities including Paris, Tokyo, Moscow and Amsterdam.

Number one was awarded to London with Melbourne and Sydney coming in second and third.

Glasgow also retained its position as the number one city in the world in relation to sports marketing and branding.

The results were announced at the SportAccord Convention in Quebec City.

The SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Cities Awards have been held every two years since 2006.

There were 25 cities on the final shortlist based on their history of hosting sporting events.

Cities were selected by an expert judging panel and were ranked using a range of criteria including the number of annual events, events held or won between 2008 and 2016. It also includes the number of federations hosted, the calibre of events currently being bid for, facilities/venues, transport, accommodation, government support, security, legacy, public sports interest, quality of life, marketing and use of social media.

Councillor Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council and chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: "Glasgow’s reputation as a world leader in terms of sport is growing year on year thanks to our world-class events programme and investment in facilities such as the stunning new Commonwealth Arena.

"That will only continue as we build towards the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"To have improved on our 2010 ranking and made the world’s top 10, while retaining our position as the top city in the world when it comes to marketing and branding, is testament to the hard work of our teams across the city and of our national partners.

"We now look forward to continue building Glasgow’s position as one of the best sporting cities in the world.”

Paul Bush OBE, chief operating officer for EventScotland, said: "Glasgow’s placing in the 2012 SportBusiness Ultimate Sport City Awards is testament to the fantastic work going on in the city, and on behalf of EventScotland I would like to congratulate all of our Glasgow partners for this achievement."

Ultimate Sports City 2012 final rankings and points:

  1. London 491
  2. Melbourne 481
  3. Sydney 421
  4. New York 406
  5. Manchester 398
  6. Singapore 393
  7. Berlin 370
  8. Copenhagen 353
  9. Glasgow 344
  10. Paris 337
  11. Tokyo 307
  12. Vancouver 293
  13. Istanbul 258
  14. Dubai 257
  15. Madrid 256
  16. Amsterdam 253
  17. Doha 240
  18. Budapest 214
  19. Moscow 213
  20. Kuala Lumpur 192
  21. PyeongChang 155
  22. Rio de Janeiro 151
  23. Buenos Aires 131
  24. Sochi 121
  25. Durban 105

Best Sports City by category:

• Best Hosting - London • Best Venues - Melbourne • Best Transport - Berlin • Best Accommodation - Istanbul • Best Event Strategy - Melbourne • Best Legacy - Manchester • Best Quality of Life - Paris • Best Public Sports Interest - London • Best Security - Doha • Best Marketing/Branding - Glasgow

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