The North of England Olympics – what legal issues would hosting the event create for the region?
12th February, 2026
On Saturday 6th February 2026, a letter was submitted to Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport calling for work to start on a bid to host the Olympic Games in the North of England.
The letter was submitted by ‘The Great North‘, a partnership representing the region, including all eight Metro Mayors in the North of England, as well as the Chair of the Lancashire Combined County Authority and representatives for the soon to be established Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority and Cumbria Combined Authority. In this article, Alexander Rose and Matthew Brady explore the Great North’s request and the legal issues which can be expected to flow from such a bid.
The first steps towards securing the Great North Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is the world’s leading sporting event. The Summer Olympics are held every four years, with the Winter Olympics being held between.
Originating in ancient Greece and revived in 1896, the modern Olympics unites thousands of athletes and a gold medal is seen as the pinnacle of achievement in almost all sports. Around 5 billion people watched the Paris 2024 Olympics, nearly 85% of the potential global audience. The event is also regarded to be an economic and regeneration success story – for example, the London 2012 Olympics are estimated to have attracted £4bn of investment, created an additional 70,000 jobs and helped secure the regeneration of 560 acres of East London.
Therefore, it is perhaps unsurprising that The Great North is making the case for the next UK bid to be promoting the North of England. After all, the North of England has already proved it can host many of the most high profile sporting events including the Commonwealth Games, the Great North Run, the Rugby League World Cup, the Open, the Ashes, the Grand National, the World Snooker Championships, the opening game of the Women’s Rugby World Cup and parts of the Tour de France.
Securing the Olympics is not only ambitious, but also difficult. The Great North leaders have a sensible two stage plan, which is to position themselves as the UK’s favoured option at this time and then direct resources to prepare a credible bid.
Based upon this, the signatories of the letter[1] have called for:
- agreement in principle from the government that a future UK Olympic and Paralympic bid is anchored in the North of England.
- the government to support feasibility and preparatory work, including working with Northern Mayors and Leaders as strategic partners; and
- early alignment on the legacy objectives of any bid, ensuring long-term benefit for Northern communities, including sport, culture, skills and connectivity.
What this means in practice is that the government is being lobbied to confirm that it will back the North of England to prepare for an Olympic bid in the coming years and to work to ensure that this delivers the maximum long term regeneration benefits.
What legal issues arise from this letter?
If the government gives agreement in principle to a Great North Olympics bid, then it will be expected to direct resources to support the development of a credible bid. That will give rise to procurement issues, in light of the goods, services and works that will be needed as experts are brought in to work on building up such a case and, to the extent funding is directed towards economic activity, then subsidy control compliance will need to be considered. As a compelling case is developed a bid company may well be set up and sponsorship may need to be secured, giving rise to wider corporate and commercial issues.
What legal issues arise for an Olympic host city?
In the event that a bid to hold the Olympics is successful, the host cities will be expected to invest in infrastructure improvements, not only to deliver each of the events, but also to support the large number of visitors coming to watch them.
In this situation, it seems highly likely that to deliver such infrastructure, the relevant Mayors would look to establish Mayoral Development Corporations.
A MDC is a vehicle for the regeneration of an identified site (the Mayoral Development Area) which can be established through a process set out in secondary legislation and involving the Secretary of State. As a body corporate, the MDC can take on property but also has powers to drive forward the regeneration of the area, including taking on the role of planning authority, building infrastructure and to delivering development (directly or through partners).
Mayoral Development Corporations have been established (or are in the process of being established) to accelerate the development and deliver regeneration benefits around the planned Manchester United Stadium, Everton’s new stadium and Birmingham City’s proposed new stadium. Establishing a MDC involves running detailed consultation processes but also will involve commercial law advice in regard to agreements and appointments, whilst subsidy control, procurement, planning and real estate advice is often required in respect of particular capital projects (naturally in this regard works to stadia will attract the most publicity, but there will also be extensive investment in transport and housing, especially if there is to be a long term regeneration legacy).
Away from the MDC there will be detailed commercial agreements entered into by the host cities. This will cover issues such as security arrangements, but also the use of IP relating to the games, how the host approaches commercial opportunities and sponsorship arrangements.
At the end of the games the infrastructure will still be there, so decisions need to be made as to how this can continue to support the area’s regeneration goals. For example, following the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the City of Manchester Stadium was converted for use by Manchester City Football Club. This can give rise to additional subsidy control considerations, where the infrastructure is in the control of one or more public authorities.
Conclusion
Much will need to happen before we seek Olympic events in the North of England, but this weekend’s letter is an important first step. It seems likely that the proposal will get the backing of Lisa Nandy starting the process of preparing a bid. There are multiple legal issues which that gives rise to, but each can be managed through careful preparation and bringing in appropriate expertise.
Ward Hadaway has market-leading lawyers who can provide expert advice on the issues that arise in major projects, including sporting events.
[1] Kim McGuinness, David Skaith, Tracy Brabin, Luke Campbell MBE, Oliver Coppard, Andy Burnham, Steve Rotheram, Ben Houchen, Cllr Stephen Atkinson, Cllr Jonathan Brook, Cllr Mark Fryer and Cllr Louise Gittins
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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