Sadiq Khan has reiterated that he wants to bring the Olympics back to London as he embarks on a charm offensive to show that the city is “the undisputed sporting capital of the world”.
The Mayor of London spoke to City A.M. on Friday while travelling to Paris, where he will use the current Games to bang the drum for the capital as a host city for major competitions and one-off events.
As well as the Olympics, Khan hopes to secure the return of regular NBA basketball and WWE wrestling shows, and insists London can rival Saudi Arabia for the biggest boxing cards.
“I want to do big events, whether it’s Wrestlemania, whether it’s speaking to the BOA [British Olympic Association] and the new government about a future Olympics, or regular events like NFL [American football], MLB [baseball],” he said.
“Can we have regular basketball games in London as well? Regular big boxing bouts as well – we’ve got a big one in September in [Anthony] Joshua. It’s really important to bring boxing back to London.
“The idea is to spread the word that London is open for business, for sporting events. And the great thing is that the change of government and the way that David Lammy and Keir Starmer have hit the ground running really has been noticed. Keir is going to be here as well. And so it’s really important to talk up London and the UK.”
The NBA stopped staging regular games at the O2 in 2019 but Khan said the sell-out crowds for the US Olympic team’s two warm-up matches in London this summer proved that their return would be welcomed.
“We are speaking to the NBA,” he said. “Some of these things take some time but I think the NBA knows there is huge appetite for basketball in London. We are talking to the NBA to try to get it back to London as soon as we can.”
Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight fight with Daniel Dubois in September will be his first fight at Wembley Stadium for almost four years.
During that time Saudi Arabia has emerged as a major rival for big bouts as part of a wider strategy of investing in staging tennis, golf and other sports.
Khan admits London may not be able to match the economic muscle of Saudi Arabia but insists the capital has other aces up its sleeve.
“We may not be able to compete with some of the money other countries have – what we have is the experience,” he added.
Khan will make his case for London as the sporting capital of the world during a trip to the Paris Olympics
“Joshua will tell you that one of the reasons why he thinks he beat [Wladimir] Klitschko in 2017 was having 90,000 fans supporting him. One of the reasons why the WWE are keen to bring WrestleMania to London is because we’ve got the best fans in the world.
“Every single one of the 32 NFL American football teams have played in London, they’ve all had great experiences. So we may not be able to compete with the money other countries can but the experience is fantastic.”
City Hall says that 6m people will attend sporting events in London this summer and that four of them alone – NFL, MLB, Formula E and Ride London – generated an economic boost of £160m for the city.
London last hosted the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012 and Khan has previously said he hopes to bring the Games back to the capital.
Los Angeles will host in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032. Indonesia, Turkey, India, Chile, and Qatar have said they will bid for 2036, with London expected to wait for future editions.