Birmingham’s bid to offer a training base to the US Track and Field Team in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympic Games will cost the city council more than £400,000, it was confirmed last night.
The majority of the figure, £205,000, represents the provision of security for the visiting athletes.
A further £52,920 is the estimate for the cost of flying the team from America to Birmingham.
Marketing, PR and media costs will be £56,000, while the bill for a sports development programme in local schools is £50,000.
The cost of providing training venues, including Alexandra Stadium, is £25,000.
City Council leader Mike Whitby said Birmingham would benefit from substantial favourable publicity and the economic impact of having the camp in the city could be as high as £6?million. The figure is a calculation of the value of publicity and the spending of the visiting team in shops, restaurants and hotels.
