Track cycling at the 2022 Commonwealth Games "will not take place in the host city but at the London Olympic velodrome," according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. After Birmingham was confirmed as the host city by the Commonwealth Games Federation, CGF CEO David Grevemberg said that using London "would avoid the expense of building a velodrome but denied that taking one of the most popular sports away from Birmingham was a slap in the face for the host city." He said, "We are making sure that we are not building something that is not going to be relevant to the community in the future." With an estimated budget of £750M ($1B), the Games will be the "most expensive sports event" held in the U.K. since the London 2012 Olympics, with 75% of the money coming from national and local government. Organizers will have to give the CGF £20M ($26.7M) and, unlike previous Games, Birmingham "will not be able to sell the sponsorship and TV rights directly." Instead, the CGF will "retain the selling rights," but Grevemberg insisted that would "benefit Birmingham because more income could be made from selling the rights as part of a bundle covering several Games" (LONDON TIMES, 12/22).
