Glasgow 2026: How do the figures add up for the Commonwealth Games?

That depends how you count it. The outlay in 2014 was £530m in capital spend and £473m spent by the organising committee.

Four years after the 2014 Games, the Scottish government published an assessment which calculated that they generated £740m of economic benefit, of which £490m was to the benefit of Glasgow’s economy. An average of 2,100 jobs were involved in preparing and delivering the Games, peaking in 2014.

This was reckoned to be similar to the impact that could be expected from spending the same amount of government money without the Games.

But there are intangible benefits in reputation and tourism appeal, as well as skills gained, with linked employability projects aimed particularly at young people.

The assessment suggested there’s a risk of overspinning the business prospects in advance. However, spin-offs for Scottish business included not only three-quarters of the £669m of principal contracts awarded for the 2014 Games, but the experience that helped some companies win contracts in other sporting events, in Scotland and beyond.

Economic analysis from Birmingham University suggested that city’s Commonwealth Games generated a net profit of about £100m, on a budget of £778m.

Some £594m came from central government, while the city council and its partners paid £184m.

Another government-commissioned study found the Birmingham event contributed at least £870m to the UK economy, and £454m of that was spent in the West Midlands.

One aim is to scale back the Games so that other cities can bid in future. But if they become financially viable only because the infrastructure is in place, one possibility is to follow the Ancient Greek example, and hold them in the same place. Multi-sports events could be like tennis tournaments.