Strong cooperation between Sport Event Denmark and the strategic partners from host cities and national sports federations is a major part of the Danish success. Nation branding and tourism is also important.

Lars Lundov, CEO of Sport Event Denmark, the Danish national sport event organisation, made a presentation at Tuesdays City Forum at SportAccord 2009 taking place in Denver, Colorado. The subject for the presentation was event funding and practicalities of finance.

To fund sport events Denmark has devised a simple model called the Sport Event Triangle.

– “We believe in a very close cooperation between three parties: Sport EventDenmark, the host city and the national federation organising the event. Our role is mainly to support in terms of finance and general advice. For the national federation, the focus is on securing revenues. The federation is responsible for areas such as ticket sales, sponsorship, VIP hospitality sales, television and merchandising,” says Lars Lundov, CEO of Sport Event Denmark.

Despite good efforts from many national federations, these revenues do not cover all the cost. To make ends meet Sport Event Denmark pays approx. 50% of the remaining costs, while the host city and for instance the regional government jointly covers the other 50%

– “The Sport Event Triangle secures that the three main parties all contribute – and all feel responsible for funding the event. To have these players on board gives us a solid financial and organisational platform for our long term event strategy,” says Lars lundov.

Sport Event Denmark receives a substantial amount from the national government. Therefore Sport Event Denmark makes sure, that the country in general benefits from the work. This Lars Lundov referred to as Sport Event Denmarks ‘obligation’.

-“Sports events today are much more than a sports competition. They are an experience for the athletes and participate – and for the tv-viewers at home. They are a tool to attract visitors to a country. They are a catalyst for social development and communication of values. To increase the impact of sport events in Denmark, Sport Event Denmark have a close cooperation the Danish Board of Tourism, called VisitDenmark,” Says Lars Lundov.

The strategic approach is funded in a national action plan for global marketing of Denmark. Through this Denmark is promoted as a creative nation, a tourist destination, a study destination and an investment location.

– “We believe that sports events can have a great impact on the success of the national plan and have therefore developed a campaign called “Inviting the World of Sport” where we focus on branding different Danish values through sport events taking place in Denmark. This whole area of sports events and nation branding – or perhaps we should call it place branding – is something we think will become increasingly important in the future,” says Lars Lundov.


Danish Year of Sport 2009

In 2009 more than 50 major international sports events are taking place all over Denmark, including the IOC Olympic Session and the Olympic Congress. The World Taekwondo Championships, the UEFA Congress, the World Wrestling Championships and the LEN Congress are also among the many events taking place in Denmark.

Due to the many events the Danish Government has appointed the year 2009 as the Danish Year of Sport. The Year of Sport is part of a national effort to realise a vision of the Danish Government: to place Denmark firmly as one of Europe’s leading hosts of major international sports events and congresses.

View the entire event calendar for 2009 on sporteventdenmark.com

For Further Information please contact:

Project Manager for The Danish Year of Sport 2009, Christian Ankerstjerne. Tel. No.: +45 3051 0096 or ca@sporteventdenmark.com.

Communication & Event Manager, Eline Andersen. Tel. No. +45 5122 5385 or ea@sporteventdenmark.com